Conservative councillor Iain Whyte thinks a bike hire scheme should be deliverable within 6 months...
https://twitter.com/CllrWhyte/status/910530557309853697
Edinburgh Uni also helping to identify station locations.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Cycling News
"Public Bike Hire Scheme"
(102 posts)- Started 9 years ago by chdot
- Latest reply from toomanybikes
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Posted 7 years ago #
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I saw a couple of hire bikes going round Gt Cumbrae on Saturday. The looked like the red ones, with numbers built into the frame, that I saw at Dynamic Earth a year or two back.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I think Abelio have hire bikes at largs station. We like a wee day trip down to Largs Vegas ,thought of hiring one next time for a wee tour of Cumbrae.
Posted 7 years ago # -
I overtook a car whilst I was riding a bikeshare bike tonight*. This made me happy.
*The following circumstances, whether or not they were applicable at the time, are all irrelevant:
-whether the driver may have been approaching a red light
-whether they may have been obeying the speed limit in a residential area
-whether I was on a segregated cycle route which didn't have traffic lights
-whether I was completely knackered after 30s and had to slow downPosted 7 years ago # -
@ECT, that makes sense, so long as the bike shop in Millport does not go under, though I have not hied a bike from them since Elvis died
Posted 7 years ago # -
Bike and go is at present a bit clunky as a city bike share scheme as you need to go to the staffed counter for collection & return - it is a UK version of the Dutch OV-Fiets system designed for commuter use, but lends itself to day-hire.
The Batavus bikes (some branded Raleigh with subtle variations to spot) are identical the the bikes used for one of the first EU automated systems funded by VIVALDI and using smart cards, in Rotterdam in 1996, with the fleet number burned/laser-cut in the frame brace (which also provides a handy standing platform for small passengers!)
New dockless systems, largely using electronic nurses locks release with bluetooth or record hire by Q/R code read through phone app.
Nextbike is longest established (2004 onwards) and offers a variety of operating models and access modes They are in Glasgow & Stirling with both fleets now doubled in size. If you are signed up to Nextbike all their public systems are open across 23 countries. Nextbike already offers cargo and kids bikes in some German cities, and has their electric bikes in the UK with a sub-contract operator Co-Cars in Exeter. Some of their German operations are with a regional equivalent of SPT, and branded as such.
In Germany thay are head to head with the DB offering Call-a-Bike which hhas been a dockless offering since 2001
Donkey Republic (DK) also opens the scope and is a roll-over from the 1995 Copenhagen bikes which were also effectively a dock-less system as they only required a scaffold bar/handrail to clip on to and were locked with a supermarket trolley coin deposit system. Their first UK site was Oxford - unusual in that they operate alongside Hourbike and Brompton Hire
Ofo have major Chinese backing and deliver a bike with real metal mudguards and are now on a Mk 3 UK model. This (at last) is a bike that has seat height adjustment for a rider over 5'7"! Their UK CEO used to run the BMW Drive Now car club, an interesting choice for career progression? Bike weight is quoted at 17Kg. Ofo are moving to start a small operation in Sheffield despite that city having Hourbike, albeit with a near invisible presence.
Mobike uses monoblade forks and cast spoke wheels, with a shaft drive. British Cycling has endorsed the system (as the first scheme ran in Manchester. The MD for the UK used to run the Serco team providing the London bike hire system.
Urbo are Irish - based in Cork and again provide a robust step-through frame and nurses lock system. They also cater for larger European riders.
O-bike were not present at the Manchester event
Hourbike were in Dumfries, and Blackpool, and have trimmed back on Liverpool. They are running an Oxford electric/non/electric fleet and plan to go in to Derby in spring 2018 with a potent electric bike, however the dockless folk are often offering 24hour delivery for a trial fleet.
I'm also keen to see if some Brompton Hire locations can be delivered to key transport nodes - to match to one at Kings Cross, which has a high level of utilisation, sufficient to cover costs, but with the hurdle of covering the capital costs, and often low potential for delivering amortisation a key challenge.
London Boroughs are now getting systems, many using the TfL document which provides guidance for agreements and setting KPI for the operations.
AXA - the bike lock people are supplying many of the electronic-release nurses locks.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Posted 7 years ago #
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TfE chief executive George Lowder said: “On current planning, we hope to issue a contract notice and invitation to tender in early December. We are aiming for a pilot scheme to be in place by summer 2018.”
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Posted 7 years ago # -
"Bidders are likely to include nextbike, which runs the Glasgow scheme for the city council, and one in Stirling to which 50 electric bikes will be added next year."
Interesting.
Posted 7 years ago # -
Posted some detail - Nextbike offers a wide portfolio of choices for managing a bike scheme and once joined for your location the bikes in Glasgow, Stirling, Milton Keynes, Belfast,.... & 22 other countries are also available. I had a data entry error and apparently hired a bike in Riga, Latvia, but that was neatly cleared up by the call centre operator. A range of docking stations from basic to deluxe are normally solar panel powered and bolt down for immediate operation. The issue of tidal commuter flows and special events can be managed by allowing bikes to be parked next to docking stations when the spaces are full, saving the costs of moving bikes around.
I'm also keen to sound out the interest in a Brompton Hire location in Edinburgh/Glasgow - but that's another thread perhaps.
Many of the aggressive claimed to be 'first' dockless bike systems have limited options for hirer access (the first managed scheme I can nail down is the 1995 city bikes in Copenhagen where you used a chain and supermarket trolley coin release to secure the free to use bikes to railings) the first automated one in Europe was DB Call-a-Bike, where they soon learned to have bikes returned to defined locations, and 'fined' for bikes left elsewhere.
Ofo, MoBike, Urbo (EI), Obike, and the older Donkey Republic (DK) all use Nurses locks on the rear wheel, most using Q/E codes to read the bike identity, and unlock it or link to providing a release code. Donkey Republic does offer access to all their public schemes world-wide, less clear about others, and Hourbike (abandoned Dumfries and Blackpool) don't offer interoperability between schemes.
NB there are some 'indicator metrics' which became apparent from my work around 10 years ago to collate bike share schemes, plus some business models that will deter a few operators (JCDecaux declined to bid for London as the deal would not hand them exclusive rights for all on street media in return - likewise DB Call a Bike dropped out from the 6 prequalifiers as TfL insisted on hard wired and constructed docking stations - and this was even a massively more expensive option that the standard Bixi bolt-down units used everywhere else that the London bikes were supplied to.
A 'member base' of 15-20 members per bike, hiring each bike an average of 8-16 times per day generally indicates a healthy system (with the hires/day figure varying to reflect the local patterns of use - short (free) hires or long-day use, as might be the case of a shift worker keeping a bike on hire as it is cheaper than a taxi and less waiting than the Night bus service. A diversity ratio of 1.5:1 Spaces to bikes in circulation seems to be the minimum provision of spaces to maintain a smooth circulatiom. Decaux would not consider any scheme smaller than 250 bikes
Posted 7 years ago # -
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And, for their part, drivers should recognise the world is changing and cycling is becoming a part of everyday life for many. And they should realise they will benefit from the resulting reduction in congestion, as people switch from car to bicycle, helping to speed up journeys for everyone around the city.
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Posted 7 years ago # -
Sounds positive. It seems unlikely that we will be getting anywhere near close to the ridiculous situation in China anytime soon https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/nov/25/chinas-bike-share-graveyard-a-monument-to-industrys-arrogance
Posted 7 years ago # -
Come and meet us at the "Soderberg Pavilion" where we'll be setting out our bike sharing vision for Edinburgh
Jan 18, 11am-1pm: One of the companies wanting to set up #Edinburgh #BikeShare. May be a good chance to see how their bikes cope with snow!! Their website--
https://www.ofo.com/uk/enPosted 6 years ago # -
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Police refuse to collect vandalised Sheffield Ofo bikes
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-42705531
Posted 6 years ago # -
Pretty slick PR exercise from Ofo there. Took a bike on a quick tour of the Meadows. Feels sturdy, but not quite as stately as a Boris bike. The three-speed gears have a reasonable range for lowish-speed urban cycling and easily handled the slope of MMW. Certainly preferred it to the Glasgow Nextbike - also app and bluetooth lock seem very smart.
Nifty touch that bikes can be re-distributed by e-bikes towing a trailer that can carry four bikes. I think this re-distribution and on-street parking are the main issues with a dockless system. Ofo had a good spiel about creating hubs for parking and how they incentivise good behaviour and re-distribute bikes, but it would all be down to actual implementation.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Pay folk to leave them at the castle and I'm sure it'll be fine other wise you can bet they'll all be dumped out side Holyrood.
Posted 6 years ago # -
I was reminded by a friend that calling the Santander bikes "Boris bikes" is a misnomer - it was Ken Livingstone that got the bike hire scheme started in London... I think we should all stop calling them Boris bikes as he's gleefully taken credit for them.
Posted 6 years ago # -
@algo
How about de Pfeffel Fiets?
Posted 6 years ago # -
I was thinking more Levende Steen Fiets
Posted 6 years ago # -
Ah. Livélos?
Posted 6 years ago # -
Excellent. That's decided then.
Posted 6 years ago # -
Suggestions needed for a name for the Edinburgh bikes (
ifwhen they finally arrive).(Greyfriar's) Bobby Bikes?
(Jean) Brodie Bikes?
You'll Have Had Your Bike?Posted 6 years ago # -
Suggestions needed for a name for the Edinburgh bikes
Bay City Rollers? JK Rollers? Festivélos?
Posted 6 years ago # -
Velocipedwins.
Posted 6 years ago # -
“
Mr Spence added: “People are incredibly receptive to ofo bikes and bike sharing in general and we strongly believe that Edinburgh will be exactly the same. People are crying out for a bike sharing platform and we definitely think we’d be right for the city.”
It is hoped the cycle hire scheme, which is being led by transport body Transport for Edinburgh (TfE), could launch this summer and bring with it around 600 new bikes. Companies have until January 30 to submit their bids.
“
Posted 6 years ago #
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