Have you ever wondered if a bike-sharing subscription is worth it? The following blog post weights not only the benefits and disadvantages for you as an individual user but also for cities, the environment, and society. To make it more concrete, I chose for the analysis the Swiss Provider PubliBike. So, let’s first examine who this company is.
Who is PubliBike?
PubliBike is one of nine bike-sharing providers in Switzerland, which is offered in eight cities (Anbieterinnen, n.d.). This includes, for example, Zurich, Lausanne, or Bern. To use the service, a smartphone and a registration via the PubliBike app or website is necessary. The company’s app (or the SwissPass) is the key to unlock bikes, which are placed at popular spots in the city. The user can decide between a “normal” bike or an e-bike. After use, it can be placed at any of the PubliBike’s locations – that’s what’s called a one-way-sharing service (Auf der Maur et al., 2019).
Why do we need bike-sharing services?
From the perspective of individuals
Due to the strongly automated service, PubliBike isn’t bound to opening hours (Strösslin, 2017). Let’s have a look at the following scenario post- or pre-corona: While dancing to your favorite song in the club, you realize that you missed the last train to go home. There are two options if you live in one of the bigger cities in Switzerland. Either you call a cab, or you look for the closest PubliBike station to your current location and you burn the calories you have just ingested from your drink. This example presents the freedom and spontaneity that is offered to the users 24/7 for 365 days.
Another positive factor the example above points out is the health benefit the service includes. We all know that riding a bike is healthier than driving a car because of physical movement. But what about accident statistics? Is driving a bicycle less dangerous than driving a car? In total, more people in Switzerland die in a car accident than in a bike accident (Strassenverkehrsunfälle, n.d.). However, the mortality risk per distance traveled on a bike is higher (Verkehrsunfälle, n.d.). Nevertheless, a study of BMJ (British Medical Journal) evaluated the health risks and benefits of bike-sharing compared with car use. They concluded that through physical activity 75 times more deaths can be prevented (Rojas-Rueda et al., 2011). Another factor that would certainly reduce the number of deadly accidents is if PubliBike would offer helmets. A study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology revealed that 65% of fatal head injuries can be reduced by wearing helmets (Olivier & Creighton, 2016).
From the perspective of the cities:
Cities with a bike-sharing system have an attractive future-proof, diverse mobility offer for its citizen and tourists. Additionally, in cities with overloaded public transportation, bike-sharing can relieve public transportation. Or also vice versa, in cities with a poor public transportation network, bike-sharing can simplify mobility (Strösslin, 2017). Furthermore, cities hope to curb motorized individual traffic with the service. This brings us to the third sphere – the environment.
From the perspective of the environment:
Did you know that 38% of the energy consumption in Switzerland is used for mobility? “Furthermore, traffic is responsible for almost one third of our CO2 emissions” (Mobilität, n.d.). We, therefore, need a quick rethinking in this area. To lower the energy consumption and CO2 emission in mobility, we need to reduce the motorized individual traffic and shift to public transportation and bicycles. Individual traffic means, for example, the car, which is often owned by only one person or a small group. For this type of traffic, the user decides independently on the place and time of use (Von Stackelberg, n.d.). Can bike-sharing thus make a successful and sustainable contribution to the problem?
First of all, the sharing concept reduces resource consumption. Having a bike-sharing service in your town means you no longer need to own your own bicycle. Nevertheless, this is a matter of scale (Strösslin, 2017). A saving of resources can only be achieved if every inhabitant gives up his or her vehicle instead and doesn’t use the service only for optimizing his or her mobility.
What also shouldn’t be forgotten is that PubliBike offers, like many other providers, e-bikes. They are equipped with a lithium-ion battery – a very controversial topic. The issue is especially the mining of lithium, cobalt, and nickel, which are all components of the battery. Besides the leakages of toxic substances and great energy and water costs, often child labour is involved in mining. Another problem is that the recycling of lithium-ion batteries is still in its infancy. In the process, the valuable raw material lithium gets lost (Schmitt, 2020). However, it’s still up to the user if he or she uses an e-bike or a “normal” one.
The downside of PubliBike
Besides the battery, where science is simply not ready for alternatives, and the safety, which can be improved with the offer of a helmet, the whole bike-sharing concept sounds all well and good, but there are also flaws.
Deep dig into the pockets
For a lot of factors, we have examined from the perspective of the cities and the environment, it’s a question of scale. There will be only relief of public transportation if many people use PubliBike. Resources can only be saved if many do no longer own their own vehicle. And the CO2 emissions can only be reduced if many people take the bike instead of the car.
It’s therefore crucial that the service PubliBike is accessible to all social classes. The cheapest subscription of PubliBike is 108 CHF per year. The first 30 minutes per ride with a “normal” bike are 1 CHF and every additional minute is 0.10 CHF (Abos, n.d.). Compared to the provider City Bike in Vienna, this is rather expensive (with consideration of the purchasing power) (Auf der Maur et al., 2019). In Vienna, City Bike provides the first hour for free and charges 1 Euro for the second, 2 Euros for the third, 4 Euros for the fourth, and 4 Euros for every additional hour (Tarife, n.d.). City Bike makes it thus possible for economically weaker people to use the service. Something that can’t be said about PubliBike.
Mishaps again and again
Even though Bikes from PubliBike are every day and night provided, it doesn’t mean that they are always accessible. If you are already an owner of a PubliBike subscription, you are probably familiar with the following scenario: You want to move from one point in the city to another in a short time. That you don’t have to switch between different means of public transport and lose time, you take a Publibike. Unfortunately, the lock of the bike doesn’t open. You have to try again and again with different bikes. In the past years, PubliBike has been in the headlines more than once due to such technical issues.
Space that belongs to all
The company PubiBike has to deal with conflicts of interest. Space, for example, is a scarce resource and many parties are interested in it. PubliBike needs well-developed cycle routes and also room for parking spaces. This is connected with an intervention in the public space. Interest groups such as private individuals, on the other hand, want the cityscape to be preserved (Strösslin, 2017). Even though PubliBike’s concept is a one-way-sharing and not a free-floating system, where users can park the bikes wherever they want, a preserved cityscape isn’t always given. Again and again, the company has to cope with vandalism, where people break bikes and dump them somewhere they don’t belong. Another issue the company is dealing with is that there are locations that are popular for returning bikes. This phenomenon can be observed, for example, in the hot months at the shore of the Aare in Bern. People are taking the bike upstream and are swimming their way back. You don’t see the problem yet? Only a few are picking up bikes from this place and thus, a huge gathering of vehicles happens. Bikes are parked on the walkway and pedestrians have to dodge (Publibike, 2019).
What now?
To take up the initial question of whether the service is a curse or blessing, it can be said that the idea is beneficial for the spheres I looked at (individual user, cities, and environment).
You as an individual are spontaneous and it’s beneficial for your health, it makes cities attractive, and it’s beneficial for the environment if we all stop using the car and do without our own vehicle.
Furthermore, most flaws we detected of the service can be overcome by PubliBike – it’s just a question of time. To improve safety, the company could rent helmets with each bike. To reduce conflicts of interest about the cityscape, more frequent redistributions of bikes by the company is necessary.
Let’s move on to the improvements that can be implemented less quickly. PubliBike certainly needs to improve the technology behind the service so that customers always have a smooth use. To make the service accessible for everyone, the prices must come down. However, PubliBike is writing red numbers and is in some regions already dependent on financial support (Sparkurs, 2019; Wer finanziert, n.d.). As the company is not self-financing, a public funding from the cities is currently subject of political discussions. But maybe there are other ways, like generating more income through advertising on bikes.
And, last but not least, we have the issue of the e-bike battery, where the technology first has to make progress to find sustainable alternatives.
After mastering all these hurdles, I am sure that PubliBike is offering a sustainable and social solution and is changing the way we move.
Will you soon be a PubliBike subscriber? Let me know in the comments.
Author: Jeanne Streit
Sources
Abos. (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://www.publibike.ch/de/publibike/pricing
Anbieterinnen in der Schweiz. (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://www.bikesharing.ch/de/bikesharing/anbieterinnen-in-der-schweiz/
Auf der Maur et al. (2019): Shared Mobility Kollaborative Mobilitätsservices europäischer Städte im Vergleich, Winterthur
Mobilität und Verkehr in der Schweiz. (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://www.energieschweiz.ch/mobilitaet/
Olivier, J., & Creighton, P. (2016). Bicycle injuries and helmet use: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/46/1/278/2617198?login=true
Publibike Stadt Bern – wenn plötzlich alle den „berner Triathlon“ machen wollen. (2019). Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://www.srf.ch/news/regional/bern-freiburg-wallis/publibike-stadt-bern-wenn-ploetzlich-alle-den-berner-triathlon-machen-wollen
Rojas-Rueda et al. (2011). The health risks and benefits of cycling in urban environments compared with car use: Health impact assessment study. Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d4521
Schmitt, M. (2020, March 03). Bike Akkus – Herstellung, Lebensdauer und Umweltverträglichkeit: E-Mountainbike Magazine. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://ebike-mtb.com/e-bike-umwelt/
Sparkurs wegen Roter zahlen. (2019). Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://www.srf.ch/news/wirtschaft/sparkurs-wegen-roter-zahlen-publibike-expandiert-nicht-nach-genf-und-chur
Strassenverkehrsunfälle. (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/mobilitaet-verkehr/unfaelle-umweltauswirkungen/verkehrsunfaelle/strassenverkehr.html
Strösslin, T. (2017). Erfolgsfaktoren für nachhaltige Bike-Sharing Angebote in der Schweiz. Universität Bern
Tarife. (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://citybikewien.at/de/tarife
Verkehrsunfälle. (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/mobilitaet-verkehr/unfaelle-umweltauswirkungen/verkehrsunfaelle.html
Von Stackelberg, F. (n.d.). Definition: Individualverkehr. Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://wirtschaftslexikon.gabler.de/definition/individualverkehr-36761
Wer finanziert die Publibike AG? (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2021, from https://www.parlament.ch/de/ratsbetrieb/suche-curia-vista/geschaeft?AffairId=20183723
What first got my attention was the question within the title „PubliBike: Curse or blessing?“. I expected that the blog would analyze the pros and cons of PubliBike and I wasn’t disappointed. The author begins by giving a short introduction about what PubliBike is, how it works and where the reader can make use of that service. I found this a great way to start as the author assures that readers understand the service and can follow the rest of the blog. I also think that adding a picture of the PubliBikes was helpful to understand the concept better.
The author then analyzes why such a bike-sharing service is needed and states the benefits for all three key stakeholders, the individual, the cities, and the environment. These three viewpoints are then consequently integrated throughout the whole blog, including the conclusion. Finally, the author engages the user one last time with the end question. This was an excellent end and will certainly be a good way to have people involved in a discussion.
Furthermore, the blog is clear and well structured. The subtitles gave me a good overview, and the paragraphs‘ length made the blog very comfortable to read. Furthermore, the sections were also well linked. What stood out to me was the fact that the topic was very well researched and all facts are backed up with evidence. Furthermore, the author did well by integrating the reader through giving relatable examples and asking questions.
The blog post is very informative and that is also where my critic lies. The three different perspectives offered a lot of knowledge and gave a well-rounded analysis. However, sometimes it was a bit difficult to digest because there was so much information. For example, the second paragraph under „From the perspective of individuals“. Finally, I think it would have also been nice if the blog had ended with some tips on how the user should use the PubliBike (e.g., using a helmet) or how the user can help improve some of the issues.
Overall, I truly enjoyed reading the blog as it made me look at the service from different perspectives, presented new ideas and thoughts, and broadened my horizon.
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