Bike Share

Bike sharing is short term bicycle rental available at a network of unattended locations.  There are a number of different ways in which to implement a bike share, often conveniently grouped into generations. 

For example in the 1960s an anarchist group released free bicycles into the city of Amsterdam to kick start a bicycle sharing program.  The idea being that when you were finished with a bike you would just leave it wherever for the next person.  The whole system collapsed in just a few days because of theft and vandalism.  This is an example of a first generation bike share. 

In subsequent generations the anti-theft and user tracking features of the bike share become more sophisticated. 

Hamilton is looking into implementing a bike share so stay tuned.  Also, thank-you to everyone who filled out the bike share survey.  

Click here to download a presentation on bike sharing.  The presentation reviews the work to date on a Hamilton bike share feasibility study being completed by two McMaster students.  Included in this is an overview of the different generations of bike share and the results of the Hamilton bike share survey.