Polis members of working group on bike sharing met in Manchester to take a closer look at the first free-floating bike scheme launched in a major European city

The meeting was opened by Councillor Chris Paul, Deputy Cycling and Walking Commissioner for Greater Manchester, who stayed for the entire meeting and gave his in-deph insights into cycling policy as a decision maker.

Kevin Toye, Advanced Solutions Manager at Transport for Greater Manchester, illustrated the local cycling strategy and the arrival of free-floating bikes in late June 2017.

Mobike representatives presented visualised data, update on scheme, and explanation of e-cargo bicycles and trailers to move bicycles (with data to compare against van redistribution). Bike-trailers where showed to workshop delegates at the entrance of TfGM premises.

A Virtual Reality Cycle Simulator was hooked up to a Mobilke for us to try. That was fun!

Cityverve Smart City Cycle Innovation presentation focused on data hub, GPS data, smart locks, Internet of Things (IoT) network, open data, hackathons/open innovation.

Richard Armitage introduced Manchester Bike Hire, launched in 2013 it offers a traditional bike hire, retail and corporate bike repair and maintenance, and guided bike tours. Manchester Bike Hire are also contracted by Mobike UK to provide its Manchester Operations.

Micheal Aherne, Ireland National Transport Authority, illustrated the approach to free-floating bikes adopted in Dublin earlier this year. The City Council drafted the Control of Stationless On-Street Bicycle Hire Bye Laws 2017 which was submitted to a public consultation. Bye laws will regulate a multi operators environment.

AMAT Milan was connected online and illustrated the arrival to Milan of the first two free-floating operators in the past weeks. More inforamation here.

After discussion with members, input will be collected in the next weeks into a set of recommendations for local authorities on free-floating bikes and published in a Polis paper before the end of 2017.

The working group meeting was attended by the following Polis members: Ireland National Transport Authority, Rotterdam, Reading City Council, BKK Centre for Budapest Transport (Bubi Bike Sharing Product Manager and the Project Manager for Cycling), STIF Île-de-France, Gothenburg, EMT Madrid (EMT BiciMAD manager and EMT General Manager), Capital City of Prague, Transport for Greater Manchester, The New Drive/Fietsberaad and our associated member Bike Plus. Invited guest: Pascal van den Noort, Velo Mondial.

The Future of UK Bike Share Conference 2017

The Future of Bike Share Conference organised by Bike Plus was held on September 27-28. The event  offered a great opportunity to local authorities to understand the fast growing bike share business.

The Bike Share conference focused on the dizzying growth seen in the bike share sector over the last 12 months, the development of new models driven by tech investments, especially from Asia, and the social, health, and environmental benefits being experienced by residents in areas that have been equipped with bike share bikes, dockless or otherwise.

Among the140 conference delegates, Polis members Rotterdam, Transport for Greater Manchester, Transport for London, Reading City Council, BKK Centre for Budapest Transport, EMT Madrid, Gothenburg and Capital City of Prague attended the 2-day event.

Read more about the Bike Share conference here.

Join the working group on bike sharing schemes!

The working group on bike sharing is a service to Polis members.

For information and to join the Polis working group on bike sharing schemes, please contact Florinda Boschetti via e-mail at fboschetti@polisnetwork.eu or by phone +32 (0)2 500 56 74.