Barcelona Has Gone Bicing Crazy: 30.000 Users in 2 Months!
by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona, Spain 
on 05.29.07
Renting bikes is definitely one of the most successful PSSs (Product Service Systems- access over ownership) in Europe.
Lyon, Paris and London amongst others have already added the bike to their public transport systems. Still, when at the end of March the first Bicing stations appeared in Barcelona, most people here were a little sceptical; will they be used? Is it just another act for the upcoming elections? Will they put enough stations around the city for it to work? Will the bikes survive in a city where even pedals get stolen of your bike?
Well, two months later EVERYBODY is talking about the Bicing and most importantly driving one! It works. With 1500 bicycles and 100 stations, connecting other public transport stations such as metro, train, buses and major car parks, the red and white bikes are to be seen all over town. 30.000 (!) people have subscribed online, in these first 2 months, which is what you have to do to be able to borrow a bike.
The Bicing web site has all the information you need: the stations, how many bikes are available at each one, your bike renting history, maps with existing bike lanes and even the weather forecast. The annual subscription is €24 (or €6 before July 6th!) which includes your swipe card to unlock the bikes. The great thing is that the first 30 minutes are free and if you need the bike longer you pay €0,30 for each half an hour. The maximum time you can keep a bike is 2 hours.
We tired it out and had quite a few very comfortable & free rides. The Bicing bikes are fitted with a carrier, a bell and a light, are fully adjustable to all heights, apparently thief-proof and serviced regularly. Owning a bike in Barcelona can be an all too short experience. So the best thing about Bicing (apart from it being almost free) is that you don’t have to fiddle around with any locks but just slide the bike back into a parking slot and off you go. If you’re however planning a day trip by bike, the Bicing web site guides you to bike renting places around town, as their service is not for tourists but rather ‘an ideal complement to the traditional transport system of Barcelona. It’s purpose is to cover the small daily routes within the city centre.’ ::Bicing
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Uhh, is that 30.000 (ie. thirty!) or 30,000 people. The title and body of the text seem to have a decimal point. I'm assuming, since counting kids as half a person is a little cruel, that you mean thirty thousand people :) !
Stockholm has the exact same system...their bike program just started this year and the bikes are identical, except blue.
There are only 40-something stations so far and the website isn't as comprehensive, but those bikes give such a smooth ride, even over cobblestone!
OverMatt, since you've clearly stayed within English-speaking North America for your entire life, here is a little lesson. Elsewhere, periods are used in the place of commas.
"Uhh, is that 30.000 (ie. thirty!) or 30,000 people. "
In Europe they use decimal points as commas and commas as decimal points.
It weirded me out the first time I saw it, too.
what does 'apparently thief-proof' mean? This is the most curious part of the article to me.
I believe that if the author is in Barcelona then 30.000 actually is correct and also means thirty thousand. If I remember correctly they use the decimal points and commas in their numbers a bit differently then we do in the US.
Also, if I understand the concept then the idea of the bike's being theft proof is reasonably valid. Due to the fact that the bikes are easily recognizable they aren't going to be as easy for thieves to sell.
I will definitely have to check this out next time I am in Barcelona.
OverMatt, in many European and South American countries, "decimal comma" is used to separate the radix point of a number, and conversely, use the "point", "period" or "full stop" as a thousand separator.
@Matt
*sigh* You must be American ;-) It's thirty thousand. In European countries, the decimal point is used as a comma with numbers.
Hi, it's the author here. Just to clarify: it's thirty thousand and I'm European. Can we talk about the bikes now? Thanks!
In Frankfurt the Railway Company DB offer rent-a-bike service all over the city. Just call one time, register and by calling the serviceline they can unlock the bike whereever you are. You can pick up the bike in a place and leave it in another place without giving the bike back to a station, just drive home let it infront of your house and the next one whos passing the street can pick it and drive to another place.
El bicing no funciona como deberia. It doesn't work as it should.
Read an analysis here, froms somebody who used the service for a couple of months already:
http://valugi.ro/es/article/se_ha_desiflado_Bicing
I moved to Barcelona 2 months ago and this service is amazing.
What a great way to get about town quickly, healthily and doing your bit for the environment too!
Yes sometimes there are problems i.e. there might not be enough bikes or a light isn´t working but c´mon what do you expect!
On the whole its a great system, it works(just look how many people use it) and an asset to the people of Barcelona!
There are also a lot more stations being fitted and more bikes as we speak!!!
Viva Bicing!!!
It's a great service for a great city !! For 24€ a year you can use as many times as you want. the only problem is that it doesn't works after 12:00 a.m.
Hi,
You miss some more color codes from the bicing maps, and another few features as I was? Give a try to statistings.com: Statistics for each station, graphical visualization of the day usage, address localization with respect to bicings stations...
Jeff
I was just a week in Barcelona as a tourist.
It seems the bicing-system can't be used by tourist as I couldn't find any information about that. Also the user information at the bicingstation was only in spanish and catalane language. A pity, as I surely would have used it.
Hi,
One of the problems that often arise while using bicing is to find bikes and free spots to park them. I set up a system to be able to check the availablity of bikes though the cell phone, via sms.
Basically you send an SMS with the direccion or the bicing station and you recieve back the availability. You can find more details in the following website:
http://www.smsbicing.com
This is a non-profit system but the sender has to pay the sms back, total about 30 cents + tax.
Happy cycling!
sounds like a great program.
but non-profit? really? I was under the impression that it was a deal with an advertising company that got ad revenue from billboards the city gave in exchange for implementation of the bike program. Opportunity cost of the revenue on those billboards... I wonder if it wouldn't have been cheaper for the city to keep the revenue and contract out a bike program. but probably not enough public support. maybe i'm wrong. idk.