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A new City Bike concept

A common good should be just that:

Good.

This is a proposal for an ambitious City Bike concept with high-end features, doing away with the philosophy of the lowest common denominator.

It includes a bike design, a docking station design and proposals for a booking system, features and a pricing system designed to combine maximum convenience with ways to eliminate or minimize vandalism and theft.

The overall designThe main motivation for the design is convenience and accessibility. This bike must be rideable for people of all sizes and abilities.

As the bike will be used by commuters and tourists carrying briefcases, shopping or maybe extra clothing, there must be means for carrying this as well.

The looks should be striking.

Here, it is dominated by the colored shells. The shells could be in different colors on different bikes, or used as advertising space for sponsors.

They echo danish yacht building and furniture design traditions.

The center section will be in muted colors, anodizing or bare metal, following the Scandinavian tradition of honesty in materials.

Features

Relaxed ergonomics

Step-through frame for easy access

Low saddle for easy access and safe low speed handling

Easily adjustable seat height

Low center of gravity for easy handling

Integrated luggage racks

Integrated lights

Integrated GPS

Electric assist motor

Closed transmission for reliability and clean exterior

Partial weather protection

Good visibility and presence for safety in traffic

Large surfaces for sponsor advertising

Shells

The shells are the bike's main design feature. They do multiple duty as fenders, fork, luggage rack, subframe and sponsor billboards.

They could be plastic film covered like taxis, making sponsor changes and graffiti removal easy.

The shells are made from composite sandwich for strength and light weight. With modifications, molded plywood could also be considered, echoing danish furniture design.

Wheels

The wheels are based on the Tweel concept pioneered by Michelin.

It offers a way to combine a rugged, puncture-proof design with low weight and good ride comfort.

The concept has been chosen for the next lunar rover due to these characteristics.

The bike wheels are held from one side only, with the large hub containing brake and motor.

Motor and lights

The motor, batteries and transmission are fully enclosed in the center section.

The electric motor is always engaged when pedaling, making the bike easy to ride.

When the user brakes, the motor will assist, recharging batteries.

The motor can also function as a lock if the user wants to leave it for a short while.

If the bike is stolen, the lack of battery charge and docking identification will cause the motor control to function as a brake, making the bike unusable.

The lights are always on when riding for better safety.

Integrated GPS

Guides the rider and offers virtual community features.

Display shows instructions for activating the bike when this is docked.

Ergonomics

In the biking world there is a continuum of riding positions available, from extreme prone to extreme recumbent.

By rotating the traditional riding position slightly towards the back, the saddle is lowered making the bike easier to handle.

The more upright position allows a better view of the city and traffic.

Also, the saddle can be made wider and more comfortable.

It stops short of being a recumbent so as to not alienate riders of normal bicycles.

Docking stationsThe docking station arrays are spread all over town.

Unlike the present system, the they can vary in size: Train and Metro stations have many docking stations available, places of public interest like museums and tourist attractions have fewer, all according to their popularity.

When empty, the single stations allow pedestrians to pass between them, minimizing obstructions.

The stations are made from molded concrete for durability and appearance

The upper and inner surfaces are covered by rubber, protecting the bikes. This also makes the stations comfortable as seating when not occupied by a bike.

Activating and docking

The bike is locked to the docking station until activated by the user.

When a bike docks, it identifies itself using RFID technology. The user receives a text message as receipt.

The dock locks the bike until activated by another user.

Batteries are charged using induction, eliminating the need for physical contact.

Configuration

As the single-bike stations allow for different configurations, these could be adapted to the space available, aesthetic requirements and possible other uses (traffic regulation, seating etc).

Three different possibilities are shown: Fan, Face-to-face and Staggered. They each offer advantages for different applications.

Also, the docking stations could hold different numbers of bikes, down to single-bike stations.

Cell phone

This is the users' key to the bike. The bike is activated and the GPS controlled by it.

Server

Receives cell phone request, activates bike and uploads destinations.

All GPS services are based on the server linking cell phones, destinations and bike.

Internet

The travel plan can be input in advance and linked to cell phone number. Any bike activated with this phone will now guide the user to his destination.

This can also be coupled to buying tickets online.

Ticket vendors

A more advanced version could act as travel planner for train, bus and City bike.

Bike

Receives user information from server on activation. Automatically guides the user to the destination coming up first.

GPSThe GPS will automatically guide the user to his destination.

This can also be a tour of the local attractions.

Every time the user stops the bike for more than a few seconds, the bike will give a show of attractions, events and shopping possibilities in the vicinity.

This way, if a visitor wants to see what's around here, she will simply pull over and get a presentation. This also gives new opportunities for sponsorship.

On a guided tour, the display can signal the rider to stop at attractions, then give a short introduction to these.

If the user is going to continue in other forms of transport, the travel plan can be integrated, by integrating the City Bike destination input with the website for buying tickets, for example.

This way the bike can guide the user to the train or bus.

And more...

The GPS can do more than just give directions. It can be used for tourist guidance and virtual community building.

Cell phone messages to the Bikeshare server could be:

bike vesterbrogade 42

Give directions to the nearest bike and reserve it for 10 minutes.

2168

Activate bike #2168.

to tivoli

Give directions to Tivoli.

public

Broadcast my position on website.

twitter 12345678

Send messages about my progress to this cell phone number.

group 12345678 98765432

Group with these two cellphones. Display their position on your own display. Use them as destinations to find your friends.

tour 2h

Give a guided tour of approx. 2 hours around town.

cpx

Join Copenhagen explorers. See their position on the display. Meet up and explore the city together.

lock/unlock

Lock the bike and go shopping or exploring. Unlock to continue.

The more advanced options

Finding a bike

With a Smartphone, an internet based map can be accessed and the nearest bike found.

By texting “BIKE” to the Bikeshare server, a GPS cellphone will receive coordinates for the nearest available bike.

It would also be technologically feasible to let the cell phone masts pinpoint the users position.

Finding the destination

On the Bikeshare website, the user can input his cellphone number and travel plan as destinations and arrival times. At any point where the user activates a bike, it will automatically direct him towards the destination coming up next.

Surfing the web with a Smartphone, the user finds the website for a place he wants to go. Clicking a link on the page puts his destination and cell phone number into the system in one go.

The postcardsFor convenience, the most popular destinations could be assigned a destination code for shorter texting.

These codes could be printed on free postcards along with instructions for using the bike. The postcards will be used, then sent to friends and family abroad, telling the story of a modern, environmentally responsible metropolis.

Theft prevention

When the user activates a bike, he is responsible for getting it back in good order.

He can go where he wants with the bike, and leave it parked when he goes shopping, to meetings etc.

The bike has an SMS activated LOCK/UNLOCK function.

If he loses the bike and reports it stolen, the bike will be put in LOCK mode from the central, making it unusable for the thief.

If the bike is removed from Copenhagen altogether, it will need major modification, as it will refuse to function without regular docking. The motor will just act as a brake.

How to pay

Using the bike will be free for a limited period. If returned to a docking station within this period, there is no basic fee.

If the user keeps the bike for longer than this, he will be charged a small fee. This will allow a tourist to keep the same bike all day, or a commuter to bring a bike home in the afternoon and keep it until the next morning if availability is critical. The fee will discourage this use as a permanent solution.

As the users' cellphone is already linked to the bike, the fee will be charged through the phone bill.

If the user loses the bike, he will be charged a fine. This will be more than the 20DKK currently used, probably equivalent to a parking ticket or fine for riding the train without a ticket.

Variable pricing

The free period could be extended or shortened according to the time of use: if used in rush hour, the period could be as little as 15 minutes, extending to several hours when the need for bikes is smaller.

Fee could also depend on direction of travel. If the user brings his bike to place place with many bikes already an additional fee could apply, whereas helping to distribute the bikes evenly over town would earn a credit voucher.

Sponsorship options

Moving billboards

The large surface shells offer ideal spots for sponsor advertising. The sponsors would get moving billboards all over town.

GPS guide sponsoring

As the GPS is used for displaying points of interest in the vicinity whenever the user stops the bike, it can be used for targeted advertising, only addressing people close by.

As tourists are often looking for shopping possibilities, and have the capacity to carry shopping on the bike, it would be an ideally located advert.

Now, about that wooden bikeMolded plywood is an immensely strong material used in performance yachts and even the Mosquito fighter bomber in WW2.

It has a proud heritage in danish furniture design.

With some modifications, this material could be used for the shells, along with bare metal, rubber and plastic components in raw material.

How cool would that be!

Get a bicycle. You will not regret it, if you live...

Mark Twain