Barcelona Bicing, part of Europe’s shared-bike revolution
The International Herald Tribune has featured Barcelona’s shared-bike system, Bicing, as an example of a strong trend in major European cities to offer bicycles as an alternative method of public transport.
On my regular visits to Barcelona while I lived abroad, I noticed an increasing presence of bicycles on the streets, especially over the last four years or so. Since Bicing was launched in early 2007, they seem to have taken the town over. One reason, no doubt, is the increasing concern about sustainability and the urban environment (and Barcelona’s pleasant weather). But I suspect that another very strong asset of the system has to do with the flexibility it affords its subscribers to get hold of a bike at one end of town and leave it at the other. If you travel across the city from the Tibidabo mountain towards the sea, you’re on a lovely downhill ride. Trekking uphill the other way, however, is an entirely different matter. Luckily for Bicing-ers, the City Council has lots of trucks picking up bikes downtown and dropping them off again at the top of the hill. Woo-hoo!
In any case Bicing has been an extraordinary success, with 6,000 bikes on the road and heavy daily usage. It is supported by the latest technology which makes it extremely easy to use at the pick-up and drop-off points, and which offers real-time monitoring of existing bike stands and availability, allowing users to check online to see if there is a bike available at their nearest Bicing station.
And Bicing subscribers now have even more opportunities to be sustainable in the city, with special discounts and prices in the hybrid car-sharing venture Avancar.
