Bike sharing in North America has been a roller coaster ride for the past few years. In 2009, the first Bixi launch in Montreal, Quebec, had 3000 bikes. In 2013, Citi Bike in New York, NY, the largest in North America with 6000 bikes, was delayed for months because of software problems. Persistent software glitches dogged their system after opening. A month later in Chicago, Il, Divvy opened with 750 bikes. A couple of months after that, San Francisco, CA, Bay Area Bike Share had to make do with 700 bikes instead of a planned 1,000 because of problems with the bicycle manufacturer, Public Bike System Co. (PBSC or Bixi). Then, in January of 2014, PBSC filed for bankruptcy.
The good news comes from the entry of a new player on the North American bike share scene. Motivate, a company backed by investment from fitness company Equinox and real estate firm Related Companies, took over Alta Bike Share and now operates ten bike share systems across Canada, the US, and one in Melbourne, Australia.
In March 2015, Motivate changed the software that powers the Citi Bike system in New York and upgraded the stations and docking points, explained Motivate Communications Director, Dani Simons. Citi Bike will also double in size from 6,000 to 12,000 bikes. The expansion will begin this year and be completed by the end of 2017.
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