The information presented in this section derives from a research project conducted around 2000 and may be outdated.

Bicycle Sharing Research Project

In recent years, entrepreneurs around the world have developed various systems for “sharing” privately owned modes of transportation in response to environmental and urban challenges. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, for example, Zipcar’s car-sharing program has been widely adopted by students and young adults who cannot afford private car ownership, particularly given the high cost of parking in a competitive real estate market.

Meanwhile, in Europe and Japan, a number of bicycle-sharing programs have been piloted in major metropolitan areas to address urban mobility problems. Although various attempts to provide “free bicycles” in cities have been made worldwide for more than 30 years, most early initiatives failed, largely due to theft and vandalism. More recent approaches rely on membership-based, fee-for-service models, in which bicycles are leased to registered users. Such bikeshare programs can function as an efficient mode of transportation for short urban trips, requiring relatively low investment, minimal lead time, and producing no direct emissions.

In Japan, bicycles are particularly popular among urban residents for commuting between homes and nearby train or subway stations. As a result, millions of bicycles are parked on sidewalks around stations, often leaving insufficient space for pedestrians. To address this problem, a growing number of cities across the country have begun experimenting with bikeshare programs.

The purpose of this research project was to examine how entrepreneurs in the bikeshare sector have overcome various obstacles in implementing these programs. Unlike traditional academic studies, this project openly “shares” the insights gathered through the research, with the aim of enabling transportation planners around the world to benefit from these experiences when designing their own bikeshare initiatives.