<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16788" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=136164702-09012009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff>My observation in Stockholm, Paris and I think in Berlin and
Frankfurt was that there were large parking areas of these strange bikes, with
not many people using them. They were taking up space, and a lot of this was
advertising, but most people riding bikes seemed to have brought their own. So
when I see the comment "successful programs in Europe such as Velib", I would
like to see an analysis of why they are successful, and for
whom?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=136164702-09012009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=136164702-09012009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff>In all these places in Europe, people ride bikes anyway. There is
room for them, and the traffic is calmer. The people tend to live in apartments
within, or close to the city, not out in sprawling suburbs accessible only by
car, mass public transport, and fitter cyclists. There are thousands of "city
bikes" ridden by people in their work clothes, who don't have to shower when
they pull into where ever they are going.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=136164702-09012009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=136164702-09012009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff>So what is to be accomplished in Brisbane with this free/rent-a
bike system? Would I catch a train to Central, then grab one of these bikes and
trundle down to QUT at Gardens Point? Or would I walk out of QUT-GP, grab a
bike and pootle up for a drink with friends at Eagle St? Maybe, but only
because I am experienced and game enough to ride on the roads in Brisbane -
there certainly is not space on the footpaths; I would be worried for less
experienced cyclists to try it. I would do it in two shakes in the European
cities, and I would do it without concern for a helmet like the folk there.
</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=136164702-09012009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=136164702-09012009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff>Frankly I think if the time was right for this proposal in
Brisbane, there would already be many bikes on the city streets, and there
aren't. Many other things need to be fixed first, before joining forces with the
advertisers to provide free bikes, when the commercial partner really doesn't
care whether they are ridden. This really seems to be a bit backassackwards and
that someone is getting cosy with Ads-Hell or their ilk.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=136164702-09012009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=136164702-09012009><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff>Pete</FONT></SPAN></DIV><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> bikeqld-bounces@bikeqld.org.au
[mailto:bikeqld-bounces@bikeqld.org.au] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Michael
Yeates<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, 8 January 2009 6:24 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
bikeqld@bikeqld.org.au<BR><B>Subject:</B> [bikeqld] Fwd: [WorldCityBike]
Systems integration and the lack ofit<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>Could the BCC Citibike proposal be yet another example of the
reliance on commercial deals where the main concept is not supported by the
small print (and by the 'real'
agenda)?<BR><BR>MY.................<BR> <BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite">Date: Wed, 7 Jan 2009 15:03:29
-0800 (PST)<BR>Subject: [WorldCityBike] Systems integration and the lack of
it<BR><BR>Richard Layman<BR>Citizens Planning Coalition<BR><A
href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/"
eudora="autourl">http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com</A><BR> <BR><BR>
<H2><B>Wednesday, January 07, 2009</B></H2><BR><BR><A
name=600713270613434220></A><BR>
<H3><B>Systems integration and the lack of it </B></H3><BR><BR>It happens
that one of the things I am interested in is the diffusion of innovation. In
college (not required for class), I happened to come across the work of <A
href="http://www.ciadvertising.org/studies/student/98_fall/theory/hornor/paper1.html"><FONT
color=#0000ff><B>Everett Rogers</A></B></FONT>, who was a leader in the
study of innovation and its adoption (first in the seminal text,
<I>Communication of Innovations</I>, then in the expanded version
<I>Diffusion of Innovations</I>). His dissertation studied the adoption of
agricultural innovation. (Note that the field of community development is
derived from Agricultural Extension, and the creation of that model of
technical assistance starting in the 1860s.) Malcolm Gladwell and Geoffrey
Moore have extended and amplified this work.<BR><BR>If you are interested in
technology, I am sure you are aware of the classic discussion of <A
href="http://www.klondikeconsulting.com/blog/?p=197"><FONT
color=#0000ff><B>VHS vs. Beta</A></B></FONT> (or by extension Windows-based
computers vs. the Macintosh) in terms of success. Another example is VHF vs.
UHF television broadcasting (in short, Dumont didn't get rich, even though
his stations were the basis of what became Fox Television decades later), or
the failure of AM Stereo, because the U.S. government under the Reagan
Administration wasn't willing to pick a winning technology, it left that to
the market.<BR><BR>I bring this up because we are now running into that
problem in DC with bicycle sharing. Washcycle points out, in "<A
href="http://www.thewashcycle.com/2009/01/say-hello-to-dcs-third-public-bicycle-program.html#comments">
<FONT color=#0000ff><B>Say Hello to DC's Third Public Bicycle
Program!</A></B></FONT>" that the National Park Service has created its own
bicycle sharing program, as has the U.S. Congress. These are bicycle "fleet"
programs, like DC Government's small program for employees. Both are in
addition to the nascent SmartBike DC program that launched in August as
North America's first public bicycle sharing program modelled after
successful programs in Europe such as Velib.<BR><A
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rllayman/2864000284/"><IMG height=180
alt="SmartBikeDC station, 7th and F Streets NW, Washington, DC"
src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2257/2864000284_938886503b_m.jpg"
width=240 NOSEND="1"> </A><BR>DC Smart Bike station.<BR><BR>When the U.S.
Congress system was proposed (discussed in "<A
href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2008/04/us-house-of-representatives-to-launch.html">
<FONT color=#0000ff><B>U.S. House of Representatives to launch bikesharing
program</A></B></FONT>"), Washcycle and I counter-proposed that an
institutional form of membership in <A
href="http://www.smartbikedc.com/"><B>DC's SmartBike</A></B> program should
be created, that institutions could buy into the program by adding bicycle
sharing stations, and have different terms of use and payment. I don't know
if that idea is being considered. I know that one of the problems with
advertising-supported systems like DC's (by <A
href="http://www.adshel.com/content.aspx?ID=31&ParentID=27&MicrositeID=0&Page=1"><FONT
color=#0000ff><B>Adshel</A></B></FONT>) is that the contract terms are very
specific and the ability to be flexible is constrained by the contract
provisions.<BR><BR>I find this to be another example of deploying different
technologies, rather than agreeing to a common system or platform. It
doesn't surprise me that federal agencies and local government can't or
won't work together. I don't know if this yields other lessons that can be
employed by other cities considering launching bicycle sharing
systems.<BR><BR>My advice is to build institutional buy in before launching
the system, come up with a way for organizations to have different kinds of
memberships within the same system (i.e., colleges, businesses, and
government agencies), and develop a common platform.<BR><BR>Another problem
in the DC region (and a problem in Paris too), is because of insurance
requirements and because of the three different political jurisdictions (DC,
MD, and VA), there isn't a common system across jurisdictions. (Although the
bikes aren't styled in a way that you would want to go on long trips...)
This also limits take up or acceptance and diffusion of the
innovation.<BR><BR>Also see the past blog entry (paper
reprint):<BR><BR><B><A
href="http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2008/07/ideas-for-making-bicycling-irresistible.html">Ideas
for Making Cycling Irresistible in DC</A></B><BR><A
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rllayman/2863189731/"><IMG height=180
alt="Bikesharing at Adams Morgan Day 2008"
src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3097/2863189731_1b4ee9ab6e_m.jpg"
width=240 NOSEND="1"> </A><BR>Bikesharing at Adams Morgan Day
2008<BR><BR>__._,_.___ <BR><A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldCityBike/message/574;_ylc=X3oDMTMzbTdlY2tsBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIxNTcyNjczBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTI5NTI2NwRtc2dJZAM1NzQEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDdnRwYwRzdGltZQMxMjMxMzk5MTYzBHRwY0lkAzU3NA--">Messages
in this topic </A>(1) <A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldCityBike/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJwa3EwZWNhBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIxNTcyNjczBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTI5NTI2NwRtc2dJZAM1NzQEc2VjA2Z0cgRzbGsDcnBseQRzdGltZQMxMjMxMzk5MTYz?act=reply&messageNum=574">Reply
(via web post) </A>| <A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldCityBike/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJmdjdzNzQyBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIxNTcyNjczBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTI5NTI2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNudHBjBHN0aW1lAzEyMzEzOTkxNjM-">Start
a new topic </A><BR><A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldCityBike/messages;_ylc=X3oDMTJmamY0aTA2BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIxNTcyNjczBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTI5NTI2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNtc2dzBHN0aW1lAzEyMzEzOTkxNjM-">Messages</A>
| <A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldCityBike/files;_ylc=X3oDMTJnZGhsMW10BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIxNTcyNjczBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTI5NTI2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNmaWxlcwRzdGltZQMxMjMxMzk5MTYz">Files</A>
| <A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldCityBike/photos;_ylc=X3oDMTJmOWxha2QzBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIxNTcyNjczBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTI5NTI2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNwaG90BHN0aW1lAzEyMzEzOTkxNjM-">Photos</A>
| <A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldCityBike/links;_ylc=X3oDMTJncW5yY2dkBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIxNTcyNjczBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTI5NTI2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNsaW5rcwRzdGltZQMxMjMxMzk5MTYz">Links</A>
| <A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldCityBike/database;_ylc=X3oDMTJkMGNraG8yBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIxNTcyNjczBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTI5NTI2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNkYgRzdGltZQMxMjMxMzk5MTYz">Database</A>
| <A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldCityBike/polls;_ylc=X3oDMTJnc2M2czU4BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIxNTcyNjczBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTI5NTI2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNwb2xscwRzdGltZQMxMjMxMzk5MTYz">Polls</A>
| <A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldCityBike/calendar;_ylc=X3oDMTJlMzNybGttBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIxNTcyNjczBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTI5NTI2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNjYWwEc3RpbWUDMTIzMTM5OTE2Mw--">Calendar</A>
<BR>Check in here via homepage at <A
href="http://www.citybike.newmobility.org">http://www.citybike.newmobility.org</A>
<BR>To post message to group: WorldCityBike@yahoogroups.com <BR>Please think
twice before posting to the group as a whole<BR>(Might it be that your note
is best sent to one person?) <BR>MARKETPLACE<BR><BR><A
href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=13r442n4p/M=493064.12016295.13271503.10835568/D=groups/S=1705295267:MKP1/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1231406363/L=/B=j89DeELaX.U-/J=1231399163309675/A=5530388/R=0/SIG=11nuutlas/*http://explore.yahoo.com/groups/kraftmealsmadesimple/">From
kitchen basics to easy recipes - join the Group from Kraft Foods </A><BR><A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTJlcnJqMjAwBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIxNTcyNjczBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTI5NTI2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTIzMTM5OTE2Mw--"><IMG
height=15 alt="Yahoo! Groups"
src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/yg/img/logo/ma_grp_160.gif"
width=106 NOSEND="1"> </A> <BR><A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldCityBike/join;_ylc=X3oDMTJna3IxbjE4BF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIxNTcyNjczBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTI5NTI2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNzdG5ncwRzdGltZQMxMjMxMzk5MTYz">Change
settings via the Web</A> (Yahoo! ID required) <BR>Change settings via email:
<A
href="mailto:WorldCityBike-digest@yahoogroups.com?subject=Email Delivery: Digest">Switch
delivery to Daily Digest</A> | <A
href="mailto:WorldCityBike-traditional@yahoogroups.com?subject=Change Delivery Format: Traditional">Switch
format to Traditional</A> <BR><A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldCityBike;_ylc=X3oDMTJldmRoNGttBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIxNTcyNjczBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTI5NTI2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNocGYEc3RpbWUDMTIzMTM5OTE2Mw--">Visit
Your Group </A>| <A href="http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/">Yahoo! Groups
Terms of Use </A>| <A
href="mailto:WorldCityBike-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com?subject=">Unsubscribe
</A><BR>Recent Activity<BR><A
href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WorldCityBike;_ylc=X3oDMTJmcnA2ZWlsBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIxNTcyNjczBGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTI5NTI2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzEyMzEzOTkxNjM-">Visit
Your Group </A><BR>Yahoo! Finance<BR><BR><A
href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=13o7mtdlp/M=493064.12016257.12445664.8674578/D=groups/S=1705295267:NC/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1231406363/L=/B=kM9DeELaX.U-/J=1231399163309675/A=4507179/R=0/SIG=12de4rskk/*http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=50284/*http://finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance">It's
Now Personal</A><BR><BR>Guides, news,<BR><BR>advice & more.<BR>Weight
Loss Group<BR><BR><A
href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=13pas1v5e/M=493064.12016300.12445692.11323196/D=groups/S=1705295267:NC/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1231406363/L=/B=kc9DeELaX.U-/J=1231399163309675/A=5170419/R=0/SIG=11b5gu1oe/*http://new.groups.yahoo.com/specialKgroup">on
Yahoo! Groups</A><BR><BR>Get support and<BR><BR>make friends online.<BR>Find
helpful tips<BR><BR><A
href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=13o7bqstm/M=493064.12016258.12582637.8674578/D=groups/S=1705295267:NC/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1231406363/L=/B=ks9DeELaX.U-/J=1231399163309675/A=5191954/R=0/SIG=112mhte3e/*http://www.ygroupsblog.com/blog/">for
Moderators</A><BR><BR>on the Yahoo!<BR><BR>Groups team
blog.<BR>.<BR><BR>__,_._,___ <BR>No virus found in this incoming
message.<BR>Checked by AVG - <A href="http://www.avg.com/"
eudora="autourl">http://www.avg.com</A> <BR>Version: 8.0.176 / Virus
Database: 270.10.5/1881 - Release Date: 7/01/2009 5:59
PM</BLOCKQUOTE><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>