Frequently asked questions

(In case you have additional questions which cannot be answered by reading the FAQ section, send those to the contact email account. We will publish the answers in the FAQ section.)

Definitions:

Bikes: When we talk about bikes or public bikes in the following section, we mean simple bikes which are cheap and functional. Bikes which everybody uses for driving to work, which can be left at a train station without the fear of loosing it to thiefs, simple, functional, cheap bikes.

At the same time we are not talking about sport bikes or bikes dedicated to a hobby or travelling and so on. Latter remain private bikes and are not affected by this topic.  

How did the idea come about?

The idea appeared during the waiting time infront of the train station in Erlangen. Hundreds of bikes are “piling up” left hand of the entrance and are left there unintended forever. The train station owner (Deutsche Bahn) is periodically collecting unused bikes after a specific time. Afterwards the bikes are disposed or auctioned to the public. Many times I left the train station and I had the thought “if I could use one of those  ‘waste-bikes’ right now, it could safe me some time”, but they all are locked and are just primed for disposal. This situation you can find in many locations and most cities.

The idea came to my mind, that even in general it should be possible to have low cost public bikes available for free. 

What is the project about, what are the main goals?

It is about inceasing the mobility in citys and towns by providing easy and free access on public bikes to the people. It is about recycling of bikes and avoiding the disposal of them, about making more bikes usable to everybody.

And it is about saving our recourses by reduction of car usage and decreasing the overall amount of bikes.

How does it work?

It is quite simple. Bikes will be available in cities and towns and populated areas for everybody and they will be free of charge. In the close future bikes will be public and belong to the traffic like the road where you driving on, like the side walk, the street light or the traffic sighn at the junction. The can be found at any corner of the street, can be used and left behind whereever desired,

Any person can use the next available bike in her vicinity. The bikes are not locked in any way and will belong to the city. The person can use the next bike and go to a place of interest and will just leave it at any other place unlocked. After the person has finished her job or doings, she can use any other available bike and go to the next place. The first bike will most likely be used in the mean time by other people, so it is most unlikely to use the same bike twice during a longer waiting time.

What if you can not find another bike?

It is expected that a city or town at some point gets “saturated” with bikes. Take the current situation is whatever city as an example. It is rarely the case that you can not find a unused bike in your vicinity when looking around. This means the number of bikes is already sufficient. Now just imagine that 90% of the bikes a free and public and can be used, thats it.

Of course there are cases where you are in a less populated area and no bike is around. But this is no problem at all if it happens once. And if it happens daily, of course you will own a private bike which you will lock in that area, this is not forbidden. The old saying is valid “exceptions prove the rule”.

How many bikes will be needed per 10.000 people?

This question can not be answered across-the-board, it depends at least on the population density and on the structure of the town or city. In centralized cities with high population density the amount of bikes per population will most likely be smaller than vast long cities with low density

But at the end we will learn more about this question after realization of some pilot projects.

Who is paying for all the bikes?

Its payed already. Currently we have more of this low end bikes in the cities than needed. The bikes can be given from private people to the cities for public ownership. The cities can grant some small refund (current marked value). If you look into second hand pages, those bikes can be bought at around 20-30€ per piece. While you are also able to buy a brand new standard bike from china for 35€ (considering the tax, it might bei 70€).

How can you differentiate between private bikes and public bikes?

Public bikes will receive a standard color and a sign dedicated to the city or town.

Who is returning the bikes to the initial place, if the people leave it somewhere?

There is no need to return the bikes in the majority of cases. As already described, there is a specific point at which a city is “saturated” with bikes. At this you will find sufficient bikes at each place and you will find the bikes concentrated according to the demand. The crowded places will have more bikes and the uncrowded will have less bikes. Of course there are cases were bikes are left somewhere in the far “outskrit” where they can not be returned. And also this will happen im bikes are left with a broken wheel and so on...in this cases the bike has to be returned.

If the concept is integrated and if people use the bikes and there is sufficient benefit for all, we will find ways to return the bikes on one or the other way. Of course this will require service, which will cost money, but nothing is for free...not the street, not the trafic light not the pavement...it is there, it is used and no tax payer would ever question it.

Where can I find the terms of use?

The terms of use can be found unter the following link: terms of use