Bike sharing (engl. bike = Wheel, to share = share) is the organized communal use of bicycles. Bike sharing can complement public transport. While traditional bike rental involves renting bikes at a given location and returning them there within a certain period of time, some of the new types of bike sharing no longer require fixed rental and drop-off points. Instead, the bikes can be rented off the street and parked at any point within the urban area defined by the provider. Others still require fixed stations at which you have to return your rental bike, but often there are many of these stations in the city.
Bike sharing began to establish itself in major German cities around 2011 and will play an important role in the mobility of the future.
Germany
Call a bike
The bike sharing service of Deutsche Bahn is the largest German provider of station-independent bike sharing. There are mobility networks of the service in several major cities. Those who register in one city can also use bicycles in other cities where the service is offered. Call a Bike had almost half a million members in 2012, and the fleet consists of 7,000 bikes, some of which are electrically assisted. The booking is made over the phone, the internet or a smartphone app. The four-digit code obtained in this way is used to open the bike lock - and with a code issued by the bike at the end of the ride, the rental process is ended again by sending it back via the app or phone. The minute costs 8 cents here, the day 15 €, Bahncard holders and students pay 9 € for it. E-bikes cost € 12 per minute or € 22.50 per day (24 hours)
Call a Bike in Stuttgart and Hamburg offers a price variant, co-financed by the respective cities. That's how it is "StadtRAD" in Hamburg the first half an hour is free, each additional minute then costs 8 cents and a maximum of € 12 per day.
In Stuttgart and Aachen, an extended system is currently being tested in which pedelecs are used. There are different prices here.
Nextbike
The Leipzig provider is much cheaper nextbikethat it is now in numerous large and medium-sized German cities and abroad there. Here the first 4 hours cost € 1 each, after which the 24-hour fee of € 9 is due. When registering for free, a starting credit of € 9 must be created. For regular customers there is a Radcard tariff (€ 3 per month), which roughly halves the rental fee. In coordination with the respective city, Nextbike maintains a network of stations where bikes can be rented and returned by phone, computer or at the station terminal. Even if it is the same provider in neighboring cities, the bikes must always be returned to the stations in the same city. Since Nextbike sometimes operates the network on behalf of the respective city, the rental may have local conditions and discounts.
After registering with the payment method, the respective loan goes in a few seconds: You enter the number of the desired bike via mobile phone, laptop or at the station terminal. Then the combination for the bike lock is announced in the telephone computer and also communicated via SMS. When you return you have to report again and state the station number where you parked the bike. On the Internet you can see whether and how many bicycles are at a station, whereby you always have to take into account that previous customers have not correctly indicated the return.
The bikes are simple 3-speed bikes with a shopping basket. They have rentable advertising space and are somewhat susceptible to cross winds at high wind speeds.
- in the Ruhr area is the Nextbike subsidiary metropolradruhr the market leader and offers a comprehensive network in ten cities (Duisburg, Mülheim, Oberhausen, Bottrop, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Bochum, Dortmund and Hamm). The machines can be used with MasterCard and VRR subscription cards. The service can also be used with bank transfer (registration with a bank account must be made several days in advance because of a test transfer). Registrations can be made by phone, computer, at the station and in tourist information. In contrast to other places with Nextbike rental, the metropolradruhr bikes can be rented and returned at all stations in the ten participating cities. Thanks to the cooperation between the ten cities, metropolradruhr has been the largest bike rental system in Europe since 2013.
At Nextbike and metropolradruhr, the number of bikes will be reduced between November and March and some stations will be deactivated. Bicycles can still be returned at such stations, but the terminal is switched off, there are no bikes in stock and the parked bike will be taken by the technician on the next maintenance tour. This applies to stations in the outskirts that are primarily used by recreational cyclists in summer.
Borrowing Nextbike bikes is a bit prone to errors. Telephone computers and terminals sometimes have technical problems. You should always have a mobile phone with you in case the terminal does not work. You also have to check your account on the Internet afterwards to see whether the loan data was entered correctly. In the event of malfunctions, however, the company has so far been accommodating and a complaint about the loan data goes without any problems.
Other
The most dense lending network has Mainzer Verkehrsgesellschaft with the system "MVGmeinRad" with almost 100 stations and over 1000 bicycles. It extends beyond the city limits to Mainz-Kastel, Budenheim and Bodenheim. Half an hour costs € 1.
See also:Germany by bike - bike rental
Austria
In the federal capital Vienna exists with Citybike Vienna a bike sharing service that enables users to register almost free of charge. The one-time registration fee of € 1 will be credited back on the first paid trip. The first hour is free, the second hour costs 1 euro, the third 2 euros, and from the fourth hour each additional hour costs four euros. If the bike is not returned 120 hours after it was borrowed, or if the bike is lost, 600 euros will be charged. In February 2013 there were 102 stations all over Vienna. Many of these are at train stations and underground stations.
Tourists from abroad should be said: only Austrian Maestro cards are accepted, a credit card is required!
Europe
The city in Europe where bike sharing has been most widely accepted by the population is London. According to Mayor Boris Johnson, who ruled when it was introduced in 2010, these bikes are popularly known as "Boris Bikes", officially after their carrier, an English bank Santander Cycles. This rental system is station-bound, which means that the bikes can only be found in designated parking spaces scattered across the city center and have to be returned to such a place. The booking is made by credit card: there are machines at all parking spaces. As in some German cities Call a bike staggered riding is possible at a very low price: You can ride a Santander Cycles bike for thirty minutes, drop it off at a station and after a short waiting time continue riding for another thirty minutes, etc., at a daily price of £ 1.
The development of Car sharing-Concepts where cars can be rented flexibly within cities and parked freely.
