The A,B,C of the everyday bike
30 10/09
What can we learn from bike share programs?
Bike share programs are not the only solution to implementing bike riding within cities. Yet, it triggers something off. Whether in Barcelona, Boston, Paris or Montreal, the same massive joining can be seen and entails similar positive effects (See also Vélib accélère le droit à la mobilité).
What is important is the shift in the way people consider their travelling. Riding a bike becomes an alternative to driving one's individual car or even taking the public transports. The urban dweller is a responsible actor, who can monitor his mobilities, his time and the way he wants to experience the city.
From Léa Marzloff, october 2007
Bike share programs also put forward the very notion of sharing in transportation. By definition, they are networks of bikes and they are linked to other networks such as buses, tube or car networks... It thus opens the way to car-pooling, car-sharing and different combinations of modes, whether the bike is part of it or not.
Bike share programs are not an end in themselves. What they point out is the autonomy of practices, the potentialities of sharing in urban travelling and the necessity to control and manage all means of transport.
The study "Vélo en mode actif*" (Bike as an active mode) that you have been conducting pointed out that parking is a crucial element in bike use and development.
People consider bad weather conditions as the primary obstacle to biking. But then, how can the Danes keep riding their bikes despite the coldness, the rain or the snow in winter time? When it's snowing, bike lanes are salted before the part of the street devoted to cars. More than that, bike is the easiest solution for door-to-door travelling. However, there is a long way to go to overcome bad weather arguments and reach this instinctive reaction (at least in France).
Infrastructures are the backbones of the behavioural changes. Bike lanes obviously are important when one considers the speed differences between riding a bike, walking and driving a car. The understanding of biking as an "active mode" that one does not only use to wander around but as a proper mean to commute to work or go shopping, makes bike paths even more important.
And, above all, what people pointed out in the study, is the need for parking spaces (See also Le modèle du vélo urbain passe par le stationnement). Indeed, the main competitive advantage of the bike is that it allows a door-to-door transportation, as close as possible to the destination. In the meantime, bike stations partly solve the issue of bike stealing. Many different kinds of solutions can be envisionned, from the light roll bar to the obligation for companies and residential buildings to provide parking spaces for bikes. Shops, stadiums, cinemas and museums see what they can gain with the spread of these spaces... all over the city.
What should be implemented to enhance the efficiency and the plesure of riding a bike?
The only way for the bike to find an efficient and pleasant role within cities depends on people's willingness. And, they will only be willing to ride a bike if it's part of a global system where chosing a bike is a relevant decision because the main obstacles (security, safety, comfort...) are removed. Hence, one can say that the place of the bike will be alike the city that we build (What kind of city do we want?).
Among its goals for 2015, the Municipality of Copenhagen plans to increase the bike modal share from 37% to 50%**. New means are needed to make current non-riders ride a bike and make it be a relevant choice in more travels. The limit is the city that goes with it. Cities are speading out and distances increase. It is thus necessary to compose with other modes while rethinking the local systems. Under these conditions, the urban dweller obtains the relevant means to make his own choices and bicycles can then become the base of the urban mobilities.
* The question asked by the Ministry of Transport was how to promote bike use within cities. The study focusses on the notion of bike as an active mode, which shows the gap between a week-end and holiday bike and a massive use of bicycles within cities, as a utilitarian and effecient mean of transport. The work has been conducted by four partners : le Club des Villes et Territoires Cyclables, RATP, JCDecaux and Vinci Park (Download the French report here).
** The bike modal share in Copenhagen is around 55% within the cities and 37% in the whole agglomeration. The Municipality plans to reach 50% of bike use in the agglomeration in 2015.
