Bike Sharing is Rolling into the New Year!

Sorry for the delay in info folks, we have been EXTREMELY busy working on our own bicycle sharing programs. Big things in the works, not only for us at The Collegiate Bicycle Company but worldwide. We hope 2010 brings big things to the bike sharing world. I am just happy to be a part of it. Happy New Year all! Here's whats happening right now! (more to come)...

Electronic City ECity in India Doing It! - LINK
Wow, the World is Coming! Copenhagen Entries - LINK
Bixi has Seoul - LINK
Dublin Update - LINK
Basic Boston Question: Answered - LINK
Auckland Bike Share Issues (Helmet Laws) - LINK
Mexico City Update (Treehugger) - LINK
Cities Want to Change, but Change Isn't Easy! - LINK
Santa Clara County gets $500k Grant - LINK
Too Many Bicycles in Montreal: A Cyclist's Lament - LINK
OPENbike - LINK
Hanover Germany Bike Sharing Video(I wish I understood German) - LINK

Vienna, etc.

Bike Sharing in Vienna LINK (Thanks for the correction!)
Ways to Pedal Towards Bicycle Advocacy LINK
China Rolling With Bike Sharing (3 Decent Links within article) LINK
Industrial Design Social Bike Sharing LINK
Response: This is a very cool idea that, in time, can be explored. Public bikes need to be very gritty, "bomb proof" bicycles that can withstand a beating (See Paris). With all of the technology on the handlebars it wouldn't last a few hours in the public way. Something tells me no city is ready for "bone conduction technology to transmit sound through the head's bones." All in all still a very cool idea.
Bixi Toronto Update LINK
Worst Advertisement Ever: (AUDI)


How does an advertisement portraying alternative forms of transportation negatively ever reach the airwaves in this day and age?

Green Ways to Travel LINK

Santa Clara County!

Bay Area Is Doing It! Silicon Valley! LINK 1 LINK 2 LINK 3
Conquering Bike Phobia LINK
New York: From Good Enough to Great LINK
Los Angeles Taking A Closer Look LINK
Sharing Services is Good (For Your Wallet) LINK
Bike Sharing in the U.S. LINK (Natl. Geographic[not much new here])
San Francisco Pushing Forward With a Pilot LINK
Japan Kicked Off Bike Sharing (Oct. 3rd) LINK

Will Boston Work? LINK
Need to Improve Philadelphia Infrastructure LINK
Mobility as Privilege LINK
BIXI is closing down! (for the season) LINK
Ad Firm Goes Green with Bikes LINK
Bike Sharing Expanding in Ottowa LINK

You would already be there!

(Do you still drive a car? If you rode a bike you would already be there![Girona, Spain])

Where is Chicago's Program? LINK (Chicago Tribune)
Lessons Learned from Bike Sharing Pioneers LINK (MotherNatureNetwork)
Bikes: Bright Idea vs. Human Nature LINK (Boston Globe)
Irishman's Personal Account of Dublin Bike Share LINK (Irish Times)
San Francisco announces bicycle plans after injunction is lifted LINK (SF StreetsBlog)
Crazy Bike Storage Tower in Tokyo!

A Vexing Issue

New York Bike Sharing Could Start in Upper West Side LINK
Bike Sharing not just for French Commies LINK
Velib Article (New York Times) LINK
Articles Addressing Velib:
LINK1(Sustainable Cities Collective)
LINK2(Greenr.ca)
LINK3(Metropolis Mag.com)
LINK4 (Tokyo Green Space)
LINK5 (Treehugger.com)
LINK6 (examiner.com)
LINK7(The Gazette, Montreal)

Melbourne Chooses an Operator LINK




A word from Jonathan Sobin:

I was listening to a radio talk show today and the subject of the conversation was alternative cars and traffic in Los Angeles. Much of the dialogue centered on hybrid and electric cars. The commentators chatted about the technology, market conditions, and consumer trends. They explored tactics to convert more people to alternative cars and the motivations of consumers. Then a listener called in and made the pivotal point in the discussion. He made the common sense observation that even if you convert every driver on the road to an alternative vehicle, you still have the same amount of cars on the road, creating the same amount of congestion! The problem isn’t the type of energy the cars run on; it’s the abundance of the cars themselves. From a traffic and parking perspective, it does not matter if the cars are running on gasoline, electricity, natural gas, plant algae, or rocket fuel – a roadway crammed with cars is a roadway crammed with cars.

The solution to this problem is to convert drivers to other modes of transportation, not other types of cars. One way to accomplish this is to increase the number of people who commute by bicycle. A proven way to increase the number of people who commute by bicycle is to implement a third generation (automated) bike share program. Already utilized in more than 120 cities worldwide, such programs are in the queue for transportation professionals throughout the U.S. By providing on-demand and conveniently located bike stations, consumers can rely on a healthy, sustainable and practical form of transportation that doesn’t clog our roads.

Jonathan Sobin

COO, The Collegiate Bicycle Company

jonathan@collegebikes.com

More to come....

Ecotrip Zotwheels Launch!

The UC-Irvine Zotwheels bicycle sharing program is set to launch.

The program will be a 3rd Generation (automated) bicycle sharing network, utilizing RFID tracking technology. After signing up, students will use their student ID card to check out a bicycle and return it to any station in the network. Using patented software administrators will have the ability to track all the bicycles in real time and collect valuable information.

The Zotwheels program was developed by UC-Irvine Parking and Transportation Department, The Collegiate Bicycle Company, and Central Specialties Limited. Like other programs of its kind it was developed to eliminate single occupancy car trips within and around the campus. Some effects of the program will be: reduced carbon emissions, traffic and parking relief, and increased overall health and physical fitness.

The bicycles are provided by The Collegiate Bicycle Company, a San Diego based company that specializes in meeting bicycle needs on college and university campuses nationwide. Zotwheels bicycles include a custom UCI design, with UCI logos, colors, and graphics. The high quality of the bicycles will help to maintain the program. It has been proven that the quality of the bicycle in the program directly correlates with the success of the program.

The Collegiate Bicycle Company is a leading provider of bicycles for numerous bicycle programs of all shapes and sizes. The company provides custom bicycle designs and consulting to accommodate each client's needs. For more information please contact info@collegebikes.com.

TV COVERAGE: