Descrição

This essay is about public bicycle systems and the role that civil society
organisations (CSOs) can play in the set up and management of these systems. In
the past decade urban public bicycle systems have mushroomed around the
globe as a successful form of non%motorised public transport. Dozens of
systems have been implemented in Europe, but their popularity has recently
also spread to North%America, South%America and Asia. In this essay, special
attention will be paid to public bicycle systems in developing countries; a very
new and interesting phenomenon.
This essay is of interest for those who want to understand more about public
bicycle systems in general and about public bicycle systems in developing
countries and the possible role of CSOs in the process, in particular. The essay
should also be of interest to policy makers in cities which consider
implementing a public bicycle system and to CSOs that want to push the issue.
In most cases public bicycle systems are implemented by a company which
works together with the local authority. In some cases however, civil society
organisations, in most cases organisations representing certain groups of urban
cyclists, have played a role in the development, implementation and for
promotion of these systems. This essay pays special attention to those cases
and explains the role these CSOs played.
In chapter 2 the concept of public bicycle systems and the different types of
public bicycle systems will be explained. This chapter also pays attention to the
mobility function of public bicycle systems and to factors that are important for
success or failure of the system. In chapter 3, a number of cases are discussed
of public bicycle systems currently operating outside of Europe, including in
developing countries.
The next chapter, chapter 4, focuses especially on public bicycle systems in
developing countries where CSOs have played a role. Chapter 5 zooms in on the
process that led to the introduction of the public bicycle system in Rio de
Janeiro. This case is particularly interesting because here a civil society
organisation has been very active in all the stages of the introduction of such a
system in a city. The 6th chapter concludes with some recommendations for the
implementation of public bicycle systems with special attention to the role civil
society organisations can play.
With the rapid developments in the world of public bicycle systems with new
systems being inaugurated every week, this essay does not intend to provide an
exhaustive overview of public bicycle systems around the world. Examples
3 The rol e of CSO’ s in the impl ementa t ion
of publ i c bi cyc l e sys tems
discussed are merely illustrative and also to provide a better understanding of
the many types of systems that exist and the many functions they can perform.