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Bicycle Sharing
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B-Cycle in Denver, the USA -Just a few hours ago, I was watching a tv program in VOA which depicts how an NGO in Denver promote cycling to the citizens by providing B-cycle station. In that station, city dwellers can rent a bicycle to paddle around for one day. Citizens who want to use the bicycles frequently can sign up for one week, one month or even one year subscription. I saw that the bicycles which are provided in the B-cycle station are not equipped with gears. I don't know the terrain of the cities but gears (mostly supplied by Shimano) are really needed in hilly areas. Even in the Netherlands whose terrains are mostly flat, people need gears to paddle their bikes against strong wind blow. The bike sharing program that is introduced in Denver by the non-profit NGO should also be introduced in many other cities and towns around the world.
Even though major car manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda, Ford, BMW and Mercedes Benz are now trying to develop hybrid and electric vehicles that are more environmentally friendly, the cost of each unit of such car is still expensive. In addition, the cost of one unit electrical car is the same as the cost of at least 50 bicycles. Electric vehicles need batteries to store electrical energy. Those batteries contain chemical substances that will have to be properly disposed off when their usage limit is over. Bike sharing is one of the most feasible and economical ways that can be introduced to citizens around the globe to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions. Bike sharing can effectively improve air quality of even the most polluted cities such as Surabaya, Jakarta or Mexico city, New York and Tokyo. Cleaner air in such cities will automatically improve the health condition of the city dwellers.
City dwellers will feel that cycling in the streets of their cities safe if authorities provide adequate infrastructure of safe cycling. Special lanes, bicycle parking lot and other necessary signs are needed to encourage people to ride bicycles. Someone needs a balancing skill to ride a bicycle but not every city dweller has that kind of skill. To accelerate the adoption of cycling as the daily lifestyle of city dwellers, bike-ability training program has to be introduced. This program will help people train themselves to ride bicycles. The duration of the training can last between one week and one month. During the training, participants learn how to ride a bicycle, how to maintain or repair bicycles and how to use safety equipments or gears that are needed by cyclists.
When the number of cyclists is growing, special bicycle stores should be opened in the city. These stores can sell a wide range of bicycles that are suitable to the terrain condition of the city or regions where they are located. Other services that they should provide include maintenance and repair service, spare part replacement and seminars or workshops that are aimed at promoting cycling as environmentally friendly lifestyle. Cycling should not be seen as an old fashioned means of transportation but modern approach to fight the trend of global warming.
How to Promote Cycling Culture in Your Town
