Bicing
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Bicing station and bikes in Barcelona.
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| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Ajuntament de Barcelona (municipality) |
| Locale | Barcelona |
| Transit type | Bicycle sharing system |
| Number of stations | 420 (2014) |
| Daily ridership | 28,093 (2014) |
| Annual ridership | 10,113,500 (until October 2014) |
| Website | www.bicing.cat |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | March 22, 2007 |
| Operator(s) | Clear Channel |
| Number of vehicles | 6,000 |
Bicing is a bicycle sharing system in Barcelona inaugurated on March 22, 2007. It is similar to the Vélo'v service in Lyon or Vélib' in Paris, and using the same bicycles and stations as used in , Oslo, and Zaragoza. Its purpose is to cover the small and medium daily routes within the city in a climate-friendly way, eliminating the pollution, roadway noise, and traffic congestion that motor vehicles create..
The city council and Clear Channel manage and maintain the system. To use it, users must acquire a yearly membership. Currently the network consists of more than 420 stations to lend and return over 6000 bicycles distributed throughout the system. The stations are situated through most of the flat areas of the city with a distance of around 300 to 400 metres between each one, with many situated next to public transport stops to allow for intermodal use. Metro Stations usually have signs pointing to the locations of nearest Bicing stations. The bikes can be lent from, and returned to, any station in the system, making it suitable for one-way travel. Each station has between 15 and 30 parking slots to fix and lock bicycles, but in highly transited areas many stations may be close together.
To rent a bike one simply swipes the contactless RFID card at a service station to be personally identified by the system, which then unlocks a bike from the support frame. Bicycles can be used for the first 30 minutes with no extra cost, with subsequent half-hour blocks (up to 2 hours) costing 0.70 € each. Use of a bicycle for more than 2 hours at a time is discouraged with a penalty rate of 4.20 € per hour, but also with the possibility of having membership cancelled after a certain number of uses in excess of two hours. To return a bicycle one simply places the bike in a spare slot at a Bicing station; the bike is recognised automatically and is locked into place.
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Wikipedia