White bicycles for free use, in Hoge Veluwe national park, the Netherlands

Community bicycle programs (also known as Yellow bicycle programs or White bicycle programs) are one variation on an international movement to provide environmentally friendly transportation options to citizens. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (960x1280, 619 KB) White cycles, for free use, in national park Hoge Veluwe, the Netherlands, mei 2005, picture by User:Ellywa File links The following pages link to this file: Bicycle rack Community bicycle program Cycling in the Netherlands Metadata This... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (960x1280, 619 KB) White cycles, for free use, in national park Hoge Veluwe, the Netherlands, mei 2005, picture by User:Ellywa File links The following pages link to this file: Bicycle rack Community bicycle program Cycling in the Netherlands Metadata This...

Community bicycle programs appear in all shapes and sizes in cities throughout the world. The central concept of these programs is the offering of free (or nearly free) access to bicycles for inner-city transportation. The goal of these programs is to reduce the use of automobiles for short trips inside the city and cut down on traffic congestion and air-pollution.

Community bicycle programs struggle against theft and vandalism. In one program tried in 1993 in Cambridge, United Kingdom, all 300 bicycles were stolen on the first day of operation, and the program was abandoned.^{[citation needed]} Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... Geography Status City (1951) Region East of England Admin. ...

In many community bicycle programs, each bicycle is painted yellow, white, or another solid color. This is usually done for two primary reasons. First, as a fleet of colored bicycles begin to appear around the city, it helps to get the word out about the program. Secondly, many programs paint over the brand name and other distinguishing features of the bicycle, some even going so far as to paint every component such as the pedals, shifters, and wheels. This is very helpful in deterring theft since the painted bicycle has little resale value. A brand is a name, logo, slogan, and/or design scheme associated with a product or service. ... A bicycle pedal provides the connection between the cyclists foot or shoe and the crankarm allowing the leg to be used to turn the crank. ... A twist-style seven-speed indexed shifter made by SRAM A bicycle shifter or gear control or gear levers is a component used to control the gearing mechanisms and select the desired gear ratio. ... For the Marcel Duchamp sculpture, see Bicycle Wheel. ...

Types

There are many ways to provide community bicycles, but most programs are loosely based around one of the following designs:

Unregulated

In this type of program the bicycles are simply released into a city or given area. In some cases, such as a university campus, the bicycles are only designated for use within certain boundaries. Bicycles in this type of program are not intended for use by a single person. Instead, you are expected to leave the bike unlocked in a public area once you reach your destination. Representation of a university class, 1350s. ...

In Amsterdam, the police were concerned about the possible theft of white bicycles, so a municipal ordinance was passed, requiring every bicycle in the city to be equipped with a lock. Within a week, every white bicycle sported a combination lock, with the combination painted legibly on the lock. It is not known whether any of these bicycles were stolen; It is not clear what the term "stolen" would mean in this context,

Deposit

A small cash deposit releases the bike from a locked terminal and can only be retrieved by returning it to another. Since the deposit (usually one or more coins) is a fraction of the bike's cost, this does little to alleviate the theft problem.

Membership

In this version of the program, bicycles are kept either at volunteer-run hubs or at self-service terminals throughout the city. Individuals registered with the program identify themselves with their membership card (or a debit card, via cell phone, etc) at any of the hubs to check out a bicycle for a specified period of time. The individual is responsible for the bike until it is returned to another hub. A debit card is a plastic card which provides an alternative payment method to cash when making purchases. ... Motorola T2288 mobile phone A mobile phone is a portable electronic device which behaves as a normal telephone whilst being able to move over a wide area (compare cordless phone which acts as a telephone only within a limited range). ...

Long-term checkout

These bicycles may be given free of charge, for a refundable deposit, or sold at a reduced price. They are assigned to one person who will typically keep the bike for months or years and lock it between uses.

Public-Private Partnership

Several European cities, including the French cities of Lyon and Paris, have signed contracts with private advertising agencies that supply the city with thousands of bicylces free of charge. In return, the agencies are allowed to advertise both on the bikes themselves and on other select locations in the city. These programs also prevent theft by requiring users to pre-purchase bike cards with credit cards and by equipping the bike with complex anti-theft and bike maintenance sensors. City flag City coat of arms Motto: (Franco-Provençal: Forward, forward, Lyon the best) Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country Region Rhône-Alpes Department Rhône (69) Subdivisions 9 arrondissements Intercommunality Urban Community of Lyon Mayor Gérard Collomb  (PS) (since 2001) City Statistics Land... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ...

See Vélo'v for more information. A Vélov Bicycle A Vélov Station Vélov is bicycle rental service run by the city of Lyon, France, in conjunction with the advertising company JCDecaux. ...

Partnership with railway sector

In a national-level programme which combines a typical rental system with several of the above system types, a passenger railway operator or infrastructure manager partners with a national cycling organisation and others to create a system closely connected with public transport.

See OV Fiets for more information (in Dutch with English summary).

History

An early white bicycle project started in the 1960s by Luud Schimmelpenninck was possibly the first large-scale community bicycle program. This program provided free bicycles that were supposed to be used for one trip and then left for someone else. The program is still active in some parts of the Netherlands and other places like Helsinki and Copenhagen. It originally existed as one in a series of White Plans proposed in the street magazine PROVO. Laurens (Luud) Maria Hendrikus Schimmelpennink (Amsterdam, 27 May 1935) is a Dutch social inventor, industrial designer, entrepreneur and politician. ... Nickname: Location of Helsinki in Northern Europe Coordinates: Country Finland Province Southern Finland Region Uusimaa Sub-region Helsinki Charter 1550 Capital city 1812 Government  - Lord Mayor Jussi Pajunen  - Mayor Pekka Korpinen  - Mayor Ilkka-Christian Björklund  - Mayor Pekka Sauri  - Mayor Paula Kokkonen Area  - City 187. ... For other uses, see Copenhagen (disambiguation). ... The White Plans were a series of plans put forth by Provo, a social movement active in the Netherlands in the 1960s. ... For the Utah city, see Provo, Utah. ...

One of the first community bicycle projects in the United States was started in Portland, Oregon in the mid-1990s and took the approach of simply releasing a number of bicycles to the streets for un-restricted use. This program failed initially due to theft and vandalism of the bicycles. The program was later revised to operate under a more restrictive system. Since then many community projects around the country have attempted similar models and met with varying degrees of success. Nickname: Location in Multnomah County and the state of Oregon Coordinates: Country United States State Oregon County Multnomah County Incorporated February 8, 1851 Government  - Mayor Tom Potter Area  - City  145. ... Official language(s) (none)[1] Capital Salem Largest city Portland Area  Ranked 9th  - Total 98,466 sq mi (255,026 km²)  - Width 260 miles (420 km)  - Length 360 miles (580 km)  - % water 2. ... For the band, see 1990s (band). ...

See also

• Bicycle culture

Many cities contain subcultures of bicycle enthusiasts, including racers, bicycle messengers, bicycle transportation activists, bicycle mechanics, and cyclists who share an interest in peace and justice activism or various counter-culture groups. ...

External links

• White bikes in Hoge Veluwe
• The Austin Yellow Bike Project
• List of community bike programs in the USA
• Map of community bike programs in North America
• Roanoke, VA Community Bike Program
• Lexington, KY Yellow Bikes
• Discussion about possible shared bike programme in Portland, Oregon, USA
• "Bicing" service in Barcelona, Spain (in catalan/spanish)