I guess we’ve gotten on the radar of the bike-sharing system community a bit. Someone representing a bike-sharing system in Greece recently shot me a note about the earl growth and success of a program there.
Aristotle University (AUTH) System is reportedly a pilot program. It consists of 60 bicycles, and after one and a half months it has already received over 500 subscriptions.
“Entitled members consist of the University’s students, academic staff and employees,” Harris Siakantaris of Cyclopolis wrote to me. While the program is part of the university’s broader environmental program (eco-auth), the bikes are for use around town (not only on the campus).
“The whole process is supported by a Cyclopolis software tackling all issues of registration, rentals, maintenance, stats and so forth,” Harris noted.
And here’s a rather interesting/unique feature of these systems. Members can “leave their mark” (i.e. drawing, messages, etc.) on the fenders covering the back wheels. While that might just seem like a little fun, creative feature of the system, I think it must also reinforce the message that these bikes are the community’s and the members’, presumably instilling more ownership and responsibility in them.
If you’re interested in checking out a video of the system with some fast-speaking Greeks, this is for you:
And the bike-sharing movement continues to grow….
Image via Ποδήλατα ΑΠΘ facebook page
Sign up for daily news updates from CleanTechnica on email. Or follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica, want to advertise, or want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Electrifying Industrial Heat for Steel, Cement, & More
I don't like paywalls. You don't like paywalls. Who likes paywalls? Here at CleanTechnica, we implemented a limited paywall for a while, but it always felt wrong — and it was always tough to decide what we should put behind there. In theory, your most exclusive and best content goes behind a paywall. But then fewer people read it! We just don't like paywalls, and so we've decided to ditch ours. Unfortunately, the media business is still a tough, cut-throat business with tiny margins. It's a never-ending Olympic challenge to stay above water or even perhaps — gasp — grow. So ...
