Citybike Vienna

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City bike rental station on the Schönbrunn Bridge

The City Bike Vienna is a large area-scale bike sharing system in Vienna that the advertising company since 2003 Gewista is operated. The aim of this system, based on the idea of ​​the free bike, is to make it easier for people to switch to bicycles for shorter and medium-sized inner-city trips and to supplement the range of public transport .

development

In 2001 the creation of a free bike system based on the Copenhagen model was agreed, but this initially failed. The project called Viennabike , started in 2002, was run by a private association funded by the City of Vienna through advertising on bicycles and grants. The Vienna City Council unanimously decided at the beginning of 2002 to subsidize 1.2 million euros for 3 years. In the entire area within the belt , bicycle racks were set up, where a two-euro coin could be used as a deposit to unlock a bicycle - exactly according to the same system as is known from many supermarkets with shopping carts. However, the public appeals of the operators to use the free bikes “fairly” did not work: after just a few weeks, hardly any of the initially 1,500 bikes could be found in the rental stations. Although the bicycles were kept simple (three gears ) and provided with eye-catching billboards , selfish use, coupled with vandalism and bicycle theft , caused the project to fail. Employees of the operator went on the hunt for misused Viennabikes in backyards and in the outskirts for a few weeks (the calls to report stolen Viennabikes were promptly criticized by some as a "call to denounce ") until the bicycles took a "winter break" were drafted, from which they never returned. The remaining 1,230 bicycles were auctioned on the Internet.

As a result, the FPÖ criticized the failed project in the local council and the subsidies of 654,056 euros for 2002; In the two following years, 300,000 euros each would have flowed to the club, but that no longer happened. In the search for an alternative replacement system, the advertising company Gewista , which has a close relationship with the city of Vienna, was awarded the contract. In 2003 the Citybike Vienna was presented.

The starting shot for the trial operation of Citybike Wien was given on May 19, 2003 by the City Councilor for Urban Development and Transport Rudolf Schicker .

In April 2006, the Citybike central computers registered over 10,000 trips per week during periods of good weather.

Citybike Wien has been available all year round without a winter break since 2007 .

In July 2013, a new record was set with 129,279 trips, which corresponds to an increase of 45 percent compared to the same period of use in 2012 with the city bike. In September 2013 the system had a total of 2,750 boxes at 111 stations and 1,300 bicycles. The further expansion in the western inner districts and the connections to new university buildings such as B. the business university is in progress (as of September 2013).

In December 2014, with the opening of the 120th station, the preliminary final expansion was achieved and no further stations are planned for the time being.

This means that the forecast from the “Mobil in Wien Masterplan Verkehr 03/08” p. 7 (2nd edition; status 2010) could not be met with 2,500 bicycles. The number of stations, however, was exceeded by one.

It is noticeable that the distribution of bicycles shifts to the outskirts in the evening. In the morning there are often hardly any bicycles available at the bicycle racks in the inner districts.

In July 2020 it was announced that negotiations with the City of Vienna about higher cost coverage had finally failed. As a result, numerous stations are to be deactivated and dismantled from July 13, 2020. This affects 61 of the current 120 stations. These are the stations that were built in the first expansion phase and financed by the operator. Most of these are in the districts within the belt.

functionality

Rental terminal

For a one-off registration fee of EUR 1 (initially EUR 2), which will be credited the first time it is used for a fee, a bicycle can be rented at self-service points with touch screens around the clock at currently (March 2018) 121 locations. The return takes place at any location. The location of the locations, which, as in the previous system, are limited to the central city area, the number of bikes and free bike boxes currently available there (this is how the individual pillars on which the bike is anchored to secure it against theft are called, and which also register the return of a city bike) can be queried from any rental terminal, but also via the Internet.

Use of the bike is free for the first hour. The second hour costs 1 euro, the third 2 euros, and from the fourth hour onwards it costs four euros. If 120 hours are exceeded or the bike is lost, 600 euros will be charged.

To avoid theft and acts of vandalism, identification is required using an Austrian Maestro card (commonly known as an ATM card ), international credit cards (Visa, MasterCard), the Citybike Card, a mobile phone or, especially for tourists, the Citybike Tourist Card can be made. Most users use the debit card (75 percent), followed by credit cards (17 percent), the Citybike Card (five percent) and the Tourist Card (three percent). In addition, a password that was specified during registration must be entered for each borrowing process. When you return the bike, all you have to do is click the bracket provided in a terminal. Any rental fees incurred can be paid the next time you use it. In order to prevent free journeys over several hours, there must be at least 15 minutes between two rental processes. According to internal statistics, 95 percent of all journeys end within an hour and are therefore free of charge for the user. The average rental time is 22.5 minutes, the most frequent 10 minutes.

statistics

year Cycles Stations Boxing Rides km source
2003 214 12 4,689 19,039
2004 747 41 78,821 230,462
2005 874 48 199,380 568,308
2006 897 49 277,759 867.299
2007 1,015 54 336,787 1,077,190
2008 1,251 60 363,428 1,141,630
2009 1,282 61 397.778 1,317,111
2010 1,200 78 434.296 1,392,467
2011 1,200 92 2.176 571,334 1,876,979
2012 1,200 102 2,471 714.141 2,320,064
2013 1,300 111 2,750 790.084 2,579,111
2014 1,500 120 3,065 980.361 3,166,099
2015 1,500 121 3,097 1,014,532 3,287,588
2016 1,500 121 3.115 1,066,703 3,654,960
2017 ~ 1,500 121 1,013,369 3,464,740
2018 ~ 1,500 121 1,005,992 3,517,317

The source for the trips and approximate annual kilometers (values ​​for 2003 to 2018) is the answer to an email request.

See also

literature

  • Discover Vienna by city bike - the most interesting routes to culture, nature and enjoyment ; Metro Citybook, Metroverlag 2014; ISBN 978-3-99300-171-1

Web links

Commons : Citybike Wien  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Vienna City Council, 27th meeting on April 23, 2003. Accessed July 10, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Monday, May 19: Starting signal for trial operation of City Bikes Vienna. Retrieved July 10, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Anniversary year 2018: Citybike Wien celebrates its 15th anniversary ( Memento of the original from April 10, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: gewista.at , February 5, 2018, accessed on April 10, 2018. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / gewista.at
  4. ↑ Partial closure of stations - Citybike Wien. Retrieved July 11, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b c Citybike Vienna, press release January 1, 2010
  6. ↑ Gewista Magazin - A Success Story - Citybike Wien
  7. ↑ Citybike Vienna: Through the city with Vöslauer - Gewista. Retrieved July 5, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Annual balance sheet 2011 - Citybike Wien. Retrieved July 5, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Annual balance sheet 2012 - Citybike Wien. Retrieved July 5, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Annual balance 2013 - Citybike Wien. Retrieved July 5, 2017 .
  11. ↑ Citybike Wien - usage data 2013. Accessed on May 2, 2018 .
  12. ↑ Annual balance sheet 2014 - Citybike Wien. Retrieved July 5, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Annual balance sheet 2015 - Citybike Wien. Retrieved April 20, 2017 .
  14. ↑ Citybike Wien - usage data 2015. Accessed on May 2, 2018 .
  15. ↑ Annual balance sheet 2016 - Citybike Wien. Retrieved April 20, 2017 .
  16. ↑ Anniversary year 2018: Citybike Wien celebrates its 15th anniversary. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on April 10, 2018 ; accessed on May 7, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / gewista.at
  17. ↑ Annual balance sheet 2018. Retrieved on January 31, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Citybike Wien answer to email inquiry 2003 to 2018