Inside Bratislava's Low-Cost, Open Source Bike Share Solution

An anonymous reader writes: The Bike Kitchen started WhiteBikes in Bratislava after a failed attempt by the city to finance a similar program. At first users shared donated bikes with the same lock code. They needed a system that would work somewhat automatically without the need for manual rentals (e.g. somebody giving out bicycles). From there, smsBikeShare was born. Users registered with a mobile phone number and could send basic SMS commands (RENT, RETURN, FREE, WHERE, etc.). The system used an inexpensive SMS gateway API and a local message-back number to receive and respond to messages. Shared bicycles have a coded U-lock with a four-digit number, and upon renting a bike, users receive a code to unlock the bicycle and another to reset it to once they are done. Send a message, receive the answer, unlock the bike, reset the lock, and you're off pedaling.

Comments

For me a bike is a personal thing

[MichaelSmith]

If I can't ride my bike I will walk or take public transport.

Re:For me a bike is a personal thing

[Anonymous Coward]

But with bike share you can do both - I have a friend who walks a block to a bike share stand, rides it to the DC metro, then grabs another bike share for the last few blocks to her office. For commuting, it can be super convenient.

Re:For me a bike is a personal thing

[dunkelfalke]

Same for me. But there was a situation when I was visiting my parents who live about 250 km away. I took the train. On my way back it was already so late that the last bus from the station to my home was gone. A rental bicycle would have been perfect for this situation. I had to walk instead, not a problem but it took me almost two hours. Would have been more like half an hour on a bike.

Re:For me a bike is a personal thing

[dunkelfalke]

From the train station to home, not from my parents. It is about 10 km away. I think 30 km at once is about my limit when walking - I am unfortunately not as fit as I used to be.

Re:SMS gateways

[MetalliQaZ]

In the US, most carriers have email addresses that can receive messages that get sent to SMS. (for example, vtext.com for Verizon)

Not here

[Sowelu]

Am I just having a really, really cynical day today, or could this never work in the USA because people are much bigger jerks here?

Re:Not here

[Paco103]

I don't know that it's just here. I think most people are good and honest, but there's enough assholes to ruin a program like this for everyone. They'd have to have credit cards attached or something, or it would be a matter of weeks until someone either stole or destroyed them all. Unfortunately it would be the .01% of people that would ruin things like this for everybody!

Re:Not here

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't get much bigger jerks than in Slovakia.

Re:Not here

[SirSlud]

Even when it involves being jerks, Americans think they're unique. ;)

Re:Not here

[Em Adespoton]

http://tulsa-townies.com/howit...

Credit card is used to pre-authorize until the bike is returned to a rack. Seems to me SMS would work better, as you could have them directly billed to the person's phone bill in a similar way (agreements would have to be made with the carrier).

And yes, even in this system, there's a certain amount of damage, both to bikes and to the racks.

Re:Not here

[DNS-and-BIND]

They tried this "yellow bike" program in Austin in the 90s. It went about as well as you would expect. The yellow bikes lasted about a couple months until they were all gone. Shipped to Mexico.

Re:Not here

[Kjella]

The people who want to ride the bikes are rarely the problem at all, as long as you got a credit card/safety deposit linked to them that's not a big issue. They can break it, but the service will typically eat that as part of doing business. One problem is theft by breaking the locks, which is why the city bikes around here are all a corny model with custom color. It would be fairly obvious it's not a regular for-sale bike, even if you removed the ads that pay for it. The big problem is vandalism while they're locked up. Slice open the tires or the seat, cut the brake wires or just give the wheel a solid kick and it's broken, not just one bike but a whole row in a matter of seconds. Sure it's a dick move but a lot of strange shit happens at night with drunkards roaming the streets. Around here it costs $15/year, though it's just inner city bikes and you need to return it within 3 hours which means you can't use it as a day lease to bike somewhere, spend the day and return in on your way home. I'd probably prefer the bus most of the time.

Upkeep

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm a little fuzzy. With a free bike service, who pays for the maintenance?
tires get flats, treads wear thin, chains corrode, brakes wear out, cables fray, gears rust,...

Links that should have been in the article

[Anonymous Coward]

video: http://opensourcebikeshare.com/how-it-works

code: https://github.com/mmmaly/OpenSourceBikeShare

Re:SMS gateways

[hawguy]

Use one of the N services that does SMS. You will have to pay for it.

Twilio is one provider that provides this service.

Copenhagen system

[billstewart]

The Copenhagen bike-share system is free with a deposit of a coin that's worth about $5, which unlocks the bike, and you get your coin back when you relock it to a bikeshare rack. As the tourist guidebooks say, if you don't want to go to the trouble of returning your bike to the rack, a local bum will happily do it for you. (Ifound this to be correct, even when "not returning the bike" meant "hiding it in the shadows behind the store I was popping in to" - there wasn't a bikeshare rack nearby.)

Re:Copenhagen system

[jemmyw]

Was free. That system was abolished in 2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

They have the white bikes now, which I've used but they're quite pricey, and there's no bum replacement service. They do have electric motors and GPS, so I guess they're more aimed towards tourists than casual use.

Re:SMS gateways

[chipperdog]

One of these or one of these if you want to do direct SMS...