Several years ago, while visiting Paris, we tried unsuccessfully to use the city’s new bike sharing system. We thought that any credit card would do, not understanding that the Vélib’ was only for locals. I was frustrated and hoped that one day I would indeed be one of these locals, or at least a resident of a city with bike sharing. Of course, in my absence, San Francisco has apparently launched a system. While I expect long-term success there, despite the hills, I question whether the slow launch with few stations is the right move.
Barcelona has a fantastic bike sharing system, called “Bicing”, and we have been regular users. In order to participate, we had to prove through our residence cards that we live in Barcelona, as Bicing is specifically not for tourists, but rather for commuting, shopping, etc.; this is a system similar to others around the world to help locals move around their city and ease congestion and pollution.
After swiping your Bicing card across a machine bordering a row of bikes, a screen lists the bike number to which you are assigned. Now that the bike has been “released”, you remove it from the station, adjust the seat and pedal away, but not for more than 30 minutes, or else penalties are assigned (very small unless you continue to abuse the 30 minute rule). Of course, the time limit is so the system can be for its designated applications, which do not include recreation or sightseeing. There is a 10 minute required waiting period between uses, seemingly a comfortable gap, be it for a Spanish class, a lunch, or a shop.
The cost is just 46 Euros (about $62) for one year of Bicing use. There are stations everywhere, 600 in total—generally, there is always a bike within a few blocks of where you are standing. The mobile app is great; a simple map shows each Barcelona station in 3 different colors and depending on the color, you can tell if there are bikes available. I estimate that about 10% of the time that I need a bike the station is vacant, and I walk to the next one, on average a length of 300-400 meters.
I hit 100 segments on roughly my 100th day in Barcelona, so I am taking advantage of this great form of transportation as is Evelyn; required age is 16, so MEM are sticking to their metro cards.
