Public Bikes in Latin American Cities:

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World Streets

• Public Bikes in Latin American Cities
• Great idea but what next?

Eric Britton , EMBARQ, Cuernavaca, 2 July 2009
New Mobility Partnerships www.newmobility.org
World Streets The voice of sustainable
transportation Europe 8/10 rue Joseph Bara,
75006 Paris,  France.   USA 9440 Readcrest
Dr. Los Angeles, CA  90210   
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Authors introduction

• This presentation was made to a strategy session
  organized by the EMBARQ program of the World
  Resources Institute that took place in Cuernavaca
  Mexico on 2 July 2009. I was asked specifically
  to report on the role that public or shared bike
  systems might eventually play in Latin American
  cities. There has been considerable interest
  shown by politicians, some planners and
  transporters, public interest groups (mainly
  cyclists of course) and the media across the
  region over the last year or so. But how to move
  ahead with a concept which until now has been
  largely successful in European cities, under
  circumstances on the ground that differ
  considerably in most cases. This presentation
  represents my attempt to plant a few seeds.
• Eric Britton
• New Mobility Partnerships and World Streets
• Paris, 2 July 2009
• Eric Britton
• New Mobility Partnerships and World Streets
• Paris and Los Angeles

Author checking his hot air
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In brief

• Why bikes in cities?
• And public bikes?
• Short history of PBS time line
• Shared bikes today Worldwide, and by region
• Planning and decision checklists
• Criteria for success
• Alternative approaches
• Reinventing the public bike for LA cities
• Now what?
• The planners challenge

Pointing the way
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Challenges of transport in cities?
(And whatever are those?)
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Bikes are important, because they offer . . .

• High quality, no-wait O/D transport
• Economical for users
• Lost cost to public sector
• Excellent environmental impacts
• Takes pressure off the transit system
• Public health benefits
• Increase city amenity and neighborly behavior
• Because they are democratic
• Because they simulate new thinking inspire new
  approaches
• And because they are cool

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Whats a Public Bike?

• Day to day city transportation by shared (public)
  bicycles
• Open to all registered users/clients.
• Bikes located in on-street stations (i.e., not
  garaged)
• Pick up/drop off at multiple locations within
  service area
• Fully automated check-out/check-in service
• Available 24/7.
• Free or almost free for very short periods
• Implementable with many different variants
• It is, in fact, a true form of automobility.

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The Public Bike Tsunami Some highpoints, 1966 -
2009

• 1966 Amsterdam White Bikes (Netherlands)
• 1973 La Rochelle Vélos Jaunes (France)
• 1996 Copenhagen Bycyklen (Denmark)
• 1998 Rennes Vélo à la Carte (France)
• 2002 DB Berlin Call-a-Bike (Germany)
• 2003 Citybike Wien Vienna (Austria)
• 2004 Dutch Rail OV-fiets (Netherlands)
• Lyon Vélov (France)
• 2005 Chivasso Bicincittà (Italy)
• 2007 Paris Vélib (France)
• Barcelona (Spain)
• Seville SEVici (Spain)
• Montreal BiXi (Canada)

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A genuine new urban transport mode
Very quickly, we have moved from being a
curiosity to a genuine new urban transport mode.
We invented the public/individual transport
system. - Gilles Vesco, Vice-president, Grand
Lyon, on his citys experience with Vélov
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World Wide Bikesharing The big picture, July
2009
Source MetroBike/Google
Green go. And ? ?
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Bike-sharing in Europe
Edited copy of Paul's PBS map
The original Bikeshare project White Bikes,
Amsterdam, 1967
Source MetroBike/Google
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Bike-sharing in North America
Source MetroBike/Google
Look at all those question marks.
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Bike-sharing in Latin America
Edited copy of Paul's PBS map
Source MetroBike/Google
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Bicycle modal share in selected European cities

Protected cycling
Source Cycling in the Netherlands 2009
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City cycling trends International comparisons

Cycling as daily transport for all
Source Cycling in the Netherlands 2009
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Common Public Bike Features

• Add a new dimension to urban mobility
• Extend and complete range of public transport
  services
• Integrate the options into a seamless multimodal
  package
• Available on-demand
• For city-length journeys.

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Multiple advantages and benefits

• Provide cost-effective on-demand transportation
• Huge environmental and public benefits
• Reach out to destinations un- or under-served by
  other transit modes
• Require less infrastructure than other modes of
  transportation
• Inexpensive to produce and maintain
• Do not add to traffic congestion
• Do not create pollution in their operation
• Improve cycling safety by increasing number of
  cyclists on the street
• Cut back on theft of personal bicycles
• Provide users with the added benefit of healthy
  exercise.

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The bottom line for your city

• City Bikes work! Get the planning right and your
  project is going to be a success.
• Low cost Your City Bike project is not going to
  gut your transport budget.
• Fast on line Planning and implementation time
  for a large city may range from one to two years,
  max. For well prepared smaller cities
  considerably less. 
• High synergies Good project will provide strong
  synergies with your public transport and traffic
  control /restraint programs.
• Revitalizing the center Remember what excessive
  dependence on cars did to your central city the
  last time? Well, city bikes provide a means for
  restoring the center.
• Lots of ways of doing it We strongly recommend
  you have a close look at all available choices.
• Partners Numerous viable partners with whom you
  can work to ensure your projects success

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A public bike? But its not just one more pretty
bike project.
Rather its a . . .

• Significant public transport project in its own
  right.
• A roads and infrastructure project of some
  dimensions.
• A city center economic development/revival
  project.
• A social project that works to tie people
  together in soft ways
• A public health project in a time of need.
• A climate project for your city that can make a
  difference.
• A nudge to changing the minds of planners, the
  public the media
• A 21st century exercise in deep democracy
  active citizenry.

This is the true nature, scale and range of your
public bike project. And this is your
opportunity. But are you really ready for it?
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Not just one more pretty bike project. Rather
its a . . .
Comprehensive, integrated, complex
physical/logistics system
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Not just one more pretty bike project. Rather
its a . . .
Complex, ubiquitous, social system that knits
people together
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What kind of shared bike project for you?

• Full-scale Paris, Barcelona, Lyon, Seville style
  city bike project?
• (Operational services with thousands of bikes
  blanketing the city)
• Comprehensive small city system ex. Orleans,
  Dijon , Brescia?
• (Hundreds of bikes with good area coverage)
• Transit node service Berlin, Frankfurt,?
• (Hundreds of bikes focusing on main transit/rail
  nodes)
• City learner system such as Brussels,
  Washington DC?
• (Characteristically hundred or so bikes serving
  a limited zone)
• Tourist/Visitor service More than 50, from N. to
  S. of Europe?
• (Small fleets of bikes to encourage tourist
  movements during their visit)
• Campus shared bike project ?
• (As many as several hundreds of bikes serving a
  specific area/group)

Each of these are radically different in just
about all key respects. Our main focus here
today is on full scale city bike projects.
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Confirming the role of cycling, walking public
space

• After decades of neglect
• Reaching beyond the boundaries of long entrenched
  car-based transport planning and investment
  approaches
• Opening up new questions and new possibilities in
  a high profile manner
• Changing the public political discourse
• Engaging citizens of all ages social classes
• Drawing in the media in new ways
• Transforming the city and daily lives

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For public bike project success, ask yourself . .
.

• Is your citys topography adapted to bike use?
• What about the weather?
• Is necessary (critical!) supporting
  infrastructure in place?
• Extent, density and quality of public transit
  coverage?
• Land use/Activity mix/ Are there places to go in
  service area?
• Is your city government 100 behind this project?
  
• Do they fully appreciate the full dimensions of
  the challenge?
• Is it understood that this is a full-scale public
  transportation project . . . and (not just one
  more nice bike project )
• Vandalism? Bike thefts? Public attitudes to
  public facilities?
• And what about . . . street maintenance levels,
  police support, driver attitudes and training,
  public attitudes to cycling/cyclists . . .
• Degree of citys continuing commitment to
  sustainable development?

Checking in for the 1st time
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More challenges/criteria for success

• Job creation and skills development
  opportunities?
• Road maintenance?
• Vandalism/bike thefts, public attitudes to
  public facilities?
• Commitment to, capacity for law enforcement?
• Driver attitudes and skill levels
• What about that on-street outdoor advertising?
• Are we up to the deep communications,
  negotiation challenges?
• Cycle clubs, environmental and support groups?
• Capacity for working with public/private
  partnerships?
• So, whats our business plan?
• Now, where do we go next?

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Alternatives to a full scale city bike project

• Are we too small for a city-wide PBS?
• Is it too early for us to face the full
  challenges involved.
• What about a project aimed at tourists and
  visitors, as opposed to a more ambitious public
  transport project ?
• Campus shared bike projects?
• Strategies for demo or pilot projects?
• Can these serve as starter projects
• Growing your small project.

Shared bikes at St. Xavier Univ. in Chicago
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Some closing thoughts

• Safe cycling provision. Are you really up for it
  in your city?
• Caveat Injuries and deaths of cyclists are the
  direct accountability of the city authority!!!
• What about a Street Code for your city?
• Business model? (Remember this is a new field)
• Financing strategies? (Lots of options there)
• Identify and work with all qualified suppliers
• Supplier/partner selection
• Phased negotiation with your new partner
• Contractual sticks but dont forget the carrots
• Planning for the long term
• Getting time on your side
• Next stage expansion strategies

It takes a bit of work to get there
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My best suggestions for PBS development in Latin
America.

• Every city in region should be encouraged/helped
  to carry out a careful (public) bicycle survey?
• Such a survey, well done, will lead to many new
  visions and ideas
• In most cases, will show city not (yet) ready for
  PBS, but
• Will yield many valuable clues for new
  sustainable transition policies
• Would help greatly to have some good templates
• Detailed guidelines to assist the city teams in
  doing this well
• access to supporting information and counsel
  via the web
• Expert workshops could be very useful
• First and ASAP in a cycle of major LA cities
  with high visibility
• Then possibly as national workshops
• Bring in international experts with hands-n
  experience
• Welcome supplier participation
• What kind of support to pioneering cities?
• Where to start? We need some strong examples in
  the region?
• When to start? Why, this morning, of course.

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What will the first great Latin America PBS look
like?

• NOT like the mainline European examples
• And Not like what we are seeing in the US
• Will be tailored to the realities and priorities
  of Latin American cities
• Will strategically substitute people for
  technology (surprise)
• Will combine job creation and training, aiming to
  create employment and social integration
  possibilities for the young
• Will be planned in deeply democratic, highly
  strategic, wide open manner
• Bring in as active players full range of all
  public groups and interests in city and region
• Will specially target , try to integrate all
  groups/interests that a priori are against
• Will invite all potential suppliers to join
  discussions from the beginning
• Will bring on board international participants
  with hands-on experience
• Will be a matter of enormous pride of the city as
  a whole
• Will bring the media on board from the beginning
• And be 100 ready to roll on Day 1.

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The planners challenge

• The great weakness of most PBS projects to date
  has been the result of utterly insufficient depth
  of knowledge on the part of the local plan team.
• The challenge is being consistently
  underestimated. So almost every project is
  repeating the same fundamental errors.
• To give you a first module, we estimate that at
  least several hundred hours of in-depth research,
  contacts with suppliers and successful cities are
  necessary just to be able to start to understand
  the issues and trade-offs for planning and policy
  purposes.
• Google and its extensions are a nice help to get
  you started, but they are, lets guess, less than
  10 of what you need to do and know. What to do
  about the remaining 90?
• A few days in a city with a successful project is
  barely a beginning. You are going to have to
  simulate at least 100 use cycles yourself to
  appreciate the user perspective.
• Without direct collegial access to at least three
  qualified suppliers, you are not going to have
  the depth of insight needed for your project.
• Likewise for in-depth contacts with cities with
  successful implementations
• The critical factor is your full understanding of
  the benefits a project brings. This is a
  demanding technical exercise, but without it you
  will never get the scale right.

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Why one citizen likes his public bike

• Because they accomplish an important job for all
• And they are fair (democratic, classless
  transportation)
• Because they are nimble and fast
• And there when/where you need them (or almost
  always)
• Because they are free (almost always)
• And let you chose where and how
• They offer a nice little workout for the
  sedentary city dweller
• They make you more aware of the weather (i.e.,
  life)
• Certainly the best way to see your city
• They are social, invite eye to eye contact
• People often help out each other at stations
• Small mutual compromises with pedestrians and
  motorists
• The slight question of uncertainty (available
  bike, parking slot)
• Because you can ways find a work-around for it.
• They make you smart (because you have to keep
  thinking)
• The provide potentially good transition jobs for
  young people
• And when you are on a bike in the city, you
  belong

A typical Parisian transferring from shared-Metro
to shared-bike
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New Mobility Partnerships 2009 - 2012

• For latest versions of this presentation
• English language version at
• http//tinyurl.com/ws-embarq-ppt
• Spanish language version at
• (perhaps to follow?)
• To join discussions of this presentation
• (To follow on World Streets)

Pointing the way to New Mobility

•  
• Europe The Commons, EcoPlan International
• 8/10 rue Joseph Bara 75006 Paris, France
• 331.4326.1323 postmaster_at_ecoplan.org
• Skype ericbritton SightSpeed.com ericbritton
• North America  New Mobility Partnerships
• 9440 Readcrest Dr.  Los Angeles CA  90210
• 1 310 601-8468 partnerships_at_newmobility.org.
• Skype newmobility SightSpeed.com newmobility

An article on bad PBS planning appeared in
World Streets on 11 May 2009. Maybe worth a read.
World Streets The sustainable transport
dailyInsights and discussion points from leading
thinkers and practitioners around the world. Pick
it up this morning at http//www.worldstreets.org