viaCycle Blog

Need Economic Stimulus? Try Bikeshare.

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 11:48:00 -0400

Summary: Bikesharing is often considered only for its environmental benefits and congestion reduction, but data is beginning to reveal that it also provides an economic punch. The added bicycle infrastructure and increased bicycle traffic that accompanies bikeshare is shown to promote local commerce. Bicycles can access local stores more easily than their gasoline powered counterparts, and cyclists have more disposable income due to reduced automobile upkeep. Increased bicycle friendliness improves livability and quality of life, which attracts young entrepreneurs and provides an added edge for companies trying to recruit the best talent.

Bikesharing is often discussed in terms of being environmentally friendly and a “feel good” addition to communities, without much of a foundation in practical, quantifiable returns. However, data is beginning to show that the increase in bicycle infrastructure and ridership associated with bikeshare programs has a very direct, positive economic impact. In fact, data has shown such a strong connection between improved bicycle access and economic growth that there’s an emerging trend of Bicycle-Friendly Business Districts (BFBDs), where bicycles are integrated into a district’s operations, events and promotions (Emerging Trend: Bicycle-Friendly Business Districts). This economic stimulus occurs in several ways: (1) by diverting customers to local businesses; (2) leaving potential customers with more cash in their pockets; and (3) by providing incentives for young, tech-savvy employees to relocate to areas.

One of the best ways to improve local economies is to deliver paying customers. Bicycles are an ideal way to do this because they make it easy for commuters to make quick, frequent stops. Parking a bicycle is far easier than parking an automobile. In Manhattan, where a protected bicycle lane was added on 9th Avenue, “local businesses saw a 49% increase in retail sales. In comparison, local businesses throughout Manhattan only saw a 3% increase in retail sales” (How Bike Lanes can Boost the Economy). Increased bicycle usage in areas also has secondary effects by ensuring “a steady flow of people through a space even after dark, keeping ‘eyes on the street’ and making other constructive after-hours uses more likely,” extending peak business hours and increasing bicycle and pedestrian traffic (Project for Public Spaces | Three Reasons That Bikeshare Stations …). Respondents to a Capital Bikeshare study found that nearly two-thirds of respondents would not have made their trips without the bikeshare program because it was too far to walk, bringing in customers who would have otherwise stayed away (2011-2012 Capital Bikeshare Member Survey).

Getting people to places of business is important, but it’s also vital that they arrive with disposable cash in their pocket, and few transit modes can compete with bikeshare on cost. In Minnesota, users of the city’s Nice Ride bikeshare system spent, on average, an extra $1.29 per week because of the program. Extrapolating this out to the entire population of Nice Ride subscribers would generate an additional $150,000 over the season, and the system continues to grow in popularity (Catalyst July 2012: Nice Ride spurs spending near stations). A study by Alison Lee at the University of Melbourne found that cycling generates 3.6 times more expenditure than driving. Car users spent, on average, more per hour than bicyclists, but the small area of public space required for bike parking suggests that each square meter allocated to bike parking generates $31 per hour, compared to $6 generated for each square meter of automobile parking space (economic contribution of cyclists compared). Capital Bikeshare riders were found to save an average of $15.75 per week on personal transportation costs. Across the estimated 18,000 Capital Bikeshare members back in 2011, this is a collective savings of $15 million (2011-2012 Capital Bikeshare Member Survey). Money that would be spent on automobile ownership is now being spent on local businesses. Erik Kugler, the owner of Bicycle Space has noticed an increase in local spending as a direct result of Capital Bikeshare, noting “money becomes available for the local economy. You see new restaurants open up, cafes, niche shops, and small businesses like ours. We employ 18 people here” (D.C.’s Bikeshare Program a Boon to Local Stores).

Economic progress is also accelerated by attracting high quality, well-educated talent, and improved bicycle access has been shown to drive young, well qualified professionals to an area. Good biking opportunities are important to tech-savvy 25-35 year olds, who represent the “creative class” sought by high-tech firms and startups. Recently, “thirty-three executives at New York high-tech companies—including Foursquare, Meetup and Tumblr—urged Mayor Michael Bloomberg last year to ‘support a bikeshare system as a way to attract and retain the investment and talent for New York City to remain competitive in the fast growing digital media and internet-oriented economy’” (Bikes Boost Economic Opportunities in Your Town). This drive for talent growth is seen elsewhere as well. Eric Matthews, CEO of new business initiative Launch Memphis, he notes, ‘Biking correlates with entrepreneurs.’” Dr. Steven Bares, President of the Memphis Bioworks Foundation, an initiative to bring emerging health companies to Memphis agrees, feeling that “the bike is part of the overall strategy to compete for talent.” In Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel explained, ”One of the things that employees look at today is the quality of life and quality of transportation because of the ease that comes with it” (Bikes Boost Economic Opportunities in Your Town). And the importance of improved bicycle infrastructure and ridership is an issue gaining favor not just on the liberal side of the political spectrum, but on the conservative side as well. Indianapolis’ republican mayor Greg Ballard recently spoke about improving the city’s bike culture in an interview saying, “it’s about talent attraction and business attraction, and you need to know the trends that are coming forward now. So when you look at what young people are looking for, when you look at businesses who want to hire those people, you have to create that kind of city, and that’s really what we’re trying to do” (A Conversation With Greg Ballard).

Bikeshare remains in its infancy, with many programs still gaining traction. The full economic potential has yet to be realized. City planners and decision makers can draw a clearer picture as more data becomes available, but initial findings show a lot of promise. What’s easy to understand already is that bikesharing has the potential to change how cities function. Bikeshare can drive better bicycle infrastructure that makes bicycling appealing for everyone, benefiting personal bicyclists and bikeshare riders alike. Doing so also fosters a sense of community and an investment in the local economy. The low cost of bikeshare programs compared to other mass transit solutions, combined with its potential for economic improvement, make bikeshare hard to ignore in today’s economic climate.

viaCycle@GT: viaCycle video awesomeness

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 13:25:00 -0400

Here at viaCycle, we think biking is pretty awesome. When others think so too, we get excited. That’s why we want to give a huge shoutout to Christine and Caitlin, two Tech students who took the time to make a rocking video on viaCycle for Georgia Tech Auxiliary Services:

Check it out to see what viaCycle@GT has to offer (note: the GT website is actually gt.viacycle.com), and if you see Christine or Caitlin on campus, give them a high five. Thanks girls!

Do you have a viaCycle experience you can share? Let us know! We welcome all pictures, stories, choreographed mime dances… you name it, and we want to hear about it.

Don’t Overpay for the Most Affordable Transit Solution: Part 2

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 12:27:02 -0400

Here’s a closer look at how viaCycle is able to reduce bike sharing costs. Large stations can cost as much as $52,000, and that’s before any bikes have been added. This capital expenditure is exactly what spurred us as engineers to rethink the model. Transportation systems can be made better and less expensive. Let’s make the bikes smart, not the kiosk. Thanks to mobile technology, wireless communications and GPS are easily available and compact. As mechanical engineers we can design a robust, theft-resistant lock. We made the move to transfer much of the traditional infrastructure into the cloud; where all our data and operations are managed. The result is the ability to deploy bike shares of equivalent size for 1/3 the cost. Or better yet, even larger, more expansive systems to transport more people for the same cost.

Let’s illustrate with an example. Capital Bikeshare initially began with a small implementation of 15 stations and 117 bicycles with a price tag of $556,965 plus an additional $83,265 to install the stations. An equivalent program by viaCycle would have cost Washington D.C. $175,500 in hardware on the ground. Or, viaCycle could have implemented a program with nearly 430 bicycles for the same price as Capital Bikeshare. More bikes, in more places, for more people. And this was just an initial phase, as Capital Bikeshare will soon grow to 288 stations.

There are numerous costs associated with a kiosk installation. The following chart compares the costs of existing programs versus viaCycle:

That’s the power of moving physical hardware to a cloud-based system. All the functionality of existing programs is still available, with added benefits. Bicycles can be locked up anywhere, relieving riders of the necessity to arrive at a station just to lock the bicycles up. Distribution and reliable check out points can be maintained by GPS control. Seasonal shifts in usage can be easily adjusted for. More stations or bikes can be added for special events with almost no lead time. Most importantly, cities and university can operate the most effective transportation network at a minimum of expense.

Don’t Overpay for the Most Affordable Transit Solution: Part 1

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 23:49:09 -0400

As an industry, bicycle sharing has experienced over 50% growth every year since 2005. There are now almost 200 modern bike sharing programs in major metropolitan areas with over 100 North American universities operating their own programs. Existing systems have outperformed expectations, and many are even operating at a profit despite armies of naysayers and pushback. However, despite the expanding scale and extent of bike sharing, current systems could be greatly improved.

Existing programs treat bike sharing as a big-city problem, approaching it with big-city solutions. Bike sharing has become far more expensive and inflexible than it needs to be. There is just too much red tape, too much infrastructure, and too much wasted money. viaCycle sees the problem and strives to make bike sharing smoother, more seamless, and more flexible than existing programs while cutting costs by over 60%. The key is in taking advantage of cutting-edge mobile and wireless technology to remove the need for heavy equipment.

So what is wrong with the infrastructure that makes it so expensive? Kiosks! Existing systems rely on specialized bike docks to secure their bikes. One of these stations can cost as much as $52,000, and this doesn’t even include the bikes. Programs start with six figure price tags and easily escalate into millions of dollars in capital costs. These systems rely on scale and are not well suited to smaller customers. On the other end of the spectrum, viaCycle works just as well with 10 bikes as with 10,000 bikes.

Kiosks also have limited flexibility, costing as much as $2,000 to move a single station. viaCycle takes the kiosks off the sidewalks and puts all that functionality on each bike. Not only is installing and moving kiosks expensive, but it can also be a time consuming process. Since custom infrastructure is being installed on public property, permit and zoning issues can occur. Furthermore, these specialized stations serve a very specific purpose: securing a particular bike belonging to a particular vendor. Smart-bikes are the solution that make bike sharing better. Issues with flexibility and adaptability can also be addressed by making each bike its own stand-alone unit. viaCycle’s integrated lock allows each bike to be secured to any bike rack already being used for regular bikes. Moving stations can be done on-the-fly and in real-time for virtually no cost.

viaCycle is a significant step forward in the realm of bicycle sharing because it is a significant step forward in the realm of mobile tracking technology. We’re reinventing bicycle sharing by integrating cloud-enabled wireless devices with physical hardware. However, we don’t want to stop there, because our platform can easily translate to other modes of transportation. Starting with bikes, viaCycle is redefining the way in which people stay mobile.

In the next post, we’ll take a closer look at the numbers and show why there is such a disparity between the costs.

viaCycle Launches

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:24:00 -0400

viaCycle has officially launched! Okay, we’ve been launched for a while, but now we can say we are a Y-Combinator backed company. Check out the TechCrunch article. We’ve had our heads down this summer working on a new hardware iteration and expanding our software, and are excited to get back out there and help bring cheap, clean, and easy mobility to your neck of the woods.

@GT: Join us for a Pint this Friday!

Sat, 07 Jul 2012 18:29:00 -0400

Happy summer from viaCycle! As a thank you to all the users trying to beat the heat on campus this summer, we will be hosting a little shindig this Friday the 13th.

Meet other viaCycle users, chat with Sid and some of the viaCycle staff, and have a drink on us!

Tell us what you like (and dislike) about viaCycle and how we can serve you better. And if you happen to ride a viaCycle to the event, just let us know and we’ll make sure your ride is free!

Location: Cypress Street Pint & Plate (6th and Cypress)
Time: 4:00 PM - 7:00PM, July 13th

Hope to see you there.

@GT: Reduced Prices, More Locations, New Fresh Scent!

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 18:28:00 -0500

Cheaper rates
We’re significantly lowering our fees! Prime customers can now check out bikes for free for up to two hours. Standard users will only pay $1.95 for the same time. The new rates offer up to a 60% reduction in price. Check out the new pricing plan.

New bike locations
Three new locations (see the map) are available for use or will be shortly:
1. Clough Commons (CULC) on the 4th Street side
2. East Campus between Glenn and Cloudman Halls.
3. Graduate Living Center (GLC) on 10th Street (Coming Soon)

New signage is finally here!
We have received numerous feedback comments suggesting we add signage to the viaCycle locations, and we couldn’t agree more. Look for signs like the one shown here to identify a viaCycle location. There are also reminders for how to unlock a bike and a handy map in case you’re wondering where to head next.

LED indicator and what it means
We’ve added decals to the bikes that explain what different colors on the LED mean. Here’s a quick rundown:

Green - Ready / Available
Yellow - Reserved
Red - In use
Off – Asleep or offline for maintenance

We’ve heard that the yellow LED can be a bit hard to differentiate in some conditions, but it gets easier once you’ve seen it. Depending on the time of day and individual bike, it may be more of an orange or light-green. If the bike is available, the LED will be a full, rich green.

@GT: More Bikes, More Upgrades, More Awesome

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:28:00 -0500

Greetings to a new year and a new semester. We have so many things to discuss, but we’ll try to keep it short! There are some important updates so please read:

Pricing: Introducing Prime, viaCycle to class, and other changes
For our regular users we recommend viaCycle Prime, with the first 30 minutes free and other perks It costs $8.95/month (taxes included), and you can cancel anytime. The standard pre-paid plan is still available for those who prefer it. There are other changes too. We have reduced rates for rental up to 1.5 hours so you can take viaCycle to class. Please note that 30 minute rentals now cost slightly more at 45 cents. For all details, please see our pricing page.

More bikes, now with front and rear lights
Ten more bikes will be added this week, with even more coming online by the end of February. Most bikes have now been outfitted with lights, with the remaining ones to be retrofitted in the near future. If you are checking out a bike at night, please make sure it has the lights installed!

More central Tech Square location
The viaCycle location at the College of management is moving to a more central location next to the main entrance to Barnes & Noble, at the intersection of 5th Street and Spring Street. These are the pi-shaped racks!

Changes to signup, credit card now required
New users are now required to enter valid credit card information, though you won’t be charged anything for the standard prepaid membership. We’d also like to remind existing users of the minimum balance requirement. Once your promotional balance drops below $10, you will need to provide a valid credit card to keep using viaCycle@GT. The minimum balance only applies to the promotional balance, and will not be enforced once you have entered your credit card info.

Still a pilot program, we need your participation
Please keep in mind this is only a pilot program, so while we hope to provide viaCycle@GT beyond the Spring semester, it is only planned to run through the end of it. However, your participation and interest in this program can help us keep it on campus! We would like to remind you however, that if the program ends, the balance on your account cannot be reimbursed, so if you are on the standard prepaid plan, add only as much balance as you plan to use. Prime members need not worry, we will cancel their subscriptions in the event of discontinuation.

We hope viaCycle@GT has made your time on campus a little less strenuous. We’re working hard to make improvements with more expansions and upgrades on their way. Let us know what you like and don’t like by sending us feedback.

viaCycle@GT Launch

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 18:13:00 -0500

We’re happy to announce our official launch for the viaCycle@GT program! We’ve been working hard to get the kinks ironed out, and understand many of you are excited to start using the program. Here’s a little bit about what you can expect as we roll it out.

There are currently 10 bicycles in the fleet. We will gradually add more bicycles as we assembly and test them. We’re also starting with a small fleet so we can carefully manage issues that may arise early on. We have thoroughly tested our hardware, but with all new technology there is the possibility of quirks. We appreciate your understanding should issues arise, and would like you to work with us to make this program a success.

Our bicycles can be locked even if there are problems or the bike has no power, so you will always be able to secure them. If you do encounter a problem with a bicycle, lock it up in a secure location and notify us of the problem and location of the bicycle at support.gt@viacycle.com or call 678-256-BIKE, press 3 on the main menu and leave a message. We will respond as quickly as possible. If you find the bicycle damaged or not usable, please notify us as well.

As Georgia Tech students and alumni, we’re excited to bring this program to our campus and home. We hope you find the system useful and look forward to working with you to make Georgia Tech a more livable community.

Soon

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The viaCycle team continues to make strides towards Beta testing the first of our bicycles on the campus of Georgia Tech. We’re excited to have people take our bikes out for a spin.

All the team members of viaCycle, Inc. have sharpened their teeth at some of the most rigorous engineering colleges in the country (the world?), and we’re no strangers to late nights in the library staring distantly into our textbooks. Despite all that schooling, the volume of things that must be learned to bring something like viaCycle to the market has been tremendous.

We’ve all wired our own circuits in Electrical Engineering 101, but they never tea you how to deal with international suppliers, how the surface treatment of circuit boards can reduce shelf life, or just how unbelievably small some of these components have gotten. We have to solder how many of those onto the board?

It gives you a humbling realization of just how sophisticated the devices we take for granted are. Most of us now carry smart phones packed with technology that researchers spent decades perfecting and engineers spent years designing, shrinking, and developing ways to mass produce with a minimum of defects. Almost everything we purchase has been through numerous similar iterations. It’s worthwhile to take a moment and consider the incredible effort it took to provide us with our modern daily conveniences.

So where does that put us? Well, we’re getting ready to release our viaCycle@GT Beta soon. We are performing final assembly on bicycles, getting circuit boards printed, and putting finishing touches on our online user interface. All the while we’re finding ways to improve our design. We could, theoretically, keep improving with an infinite number of design iterations, but at some point you have just got to put something in the real world to see how it will really preform. We’re excited and perhaps a little nervous.

Regardless, the information our Beta will provide us will ensure future iterations will be all the better. Keep tuned in for more updates as we release viaCycle@GT Beta onto the wild streets of Georgia Tech!

Production Shifts to High Gear

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 19:14:00 -0400

Quick Announcement: GT Bike Week is coming! We will debut our bicycles to the public during GT Bike Week. Come on down and give the bikes a test spin, and talk to Kyle and Sid; two members of the viaCycle team! They will be available to answer questions. We’ll be manning a booth on the Georiga Tech’s Skiles walkway Monday, September 26th from 1-3pm. Or, take a cruise on one of our new bikes during the Tour de Tech on Friday, September 29th. Find out more on the GT Bike Week page.

Beta Production is Underway

Boards have been fabricated and are being populated, racks are being mounted, and tire pressures checked. Yes, you heard right. We are kickin’ it into high gear and beginning our first production run of viaCycle@GT beta bicycles!

Because of the small volumes for the Beta, we are assembling most of the components ourselves. The circuit boards are made at a fabrication house, but we add the individual components on the boards ourselves. This requires a good pair of tweezers and a lot squinting.

Final assembly of the bicycles is completed right on the Georgia Tech campus by the viaCycle team. We even let the viaCycle hardware hit the showers…weatherproofing still needs some work.

Countdown to Launch...

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 19:13:00 -0400

Greetings! We’ve been hard at work putting the finishing touches on our hardware and software. First, we’d like to thank everyone who turned out for GT Bike Week and joined us for our ride around campus. We hope the bicycles rode well. We got lots of great feedback and enjoyed talking to everyone.

So, you’re probably wondering how and when the Beta is going to be implemented. Here’s a quick rundown of the schedule:

1.) A small group of selected riders will start using the bikes on campus. The goal here is to put the bicycles through their paces and make sure they’re ready for everyone. This phase will begin this week!

2.) After the system has been tested to a satisfactory state, we will open the program to a larger group of 25-50 riders. These riders will be selected from those of you who are signed up for our newsletter. You’ll be a vital part of making sure our program is ready for our full launch. We’re trying to get this group up and running by next month.

3.) Go full-public! Once we are confident we can support all riders, we will open signups to all Georgia Tech students, faculty and staff. Keep an eye out for this announcement in November. We want all of you to get your autumn cycling on!

As any engineer knows, taking a prototype from the lab into the real world always has surprises. That’s the reason we have chosen this staggered roll-out approach. We know people have been anxious to see viaCycle get running, and we are too. We simply want to make sure we provide an intuitive, reliable program rather than something that’s flaky or frustrating to use. We will keep you updated on our progress and hope you’re as excited as we are for the launch!

Selling Smart Bicycles: A Delicate Dance, Part 2

Thu, 26 May 2011 09:20:00 -0400

Intelligent bikes! Get yer intelligent bikes here!

In a previous post, we covered some general aspects of trying to make a first sale as a startup. That advice applies fairly universally, but over time we’ve learned a few things about the bike sharing market that we think are worth, well, sharing.

Our primary advertising method. Photo by infomatique

Public biking is expanding rapidly around the world. A quick trip over to the bicycle sharing world map is enough to confirm that the trend is spreading far and wide. Major city programs have increased from approximately 92 in 2008, to 160 in 2009, to 238 by the end of 2010. Even though North America is still looking a bit sparse compared to our European brethren, we’re catching on quickly: viaCycle estimates that the North American market has increased over ten-fold in the last several years. Programs are sprouting up in cities such as Denver and D.C., with Boston, NYC, and San Francisco on the way. All of this is good evidence that public bikes are a real transportation alternative, and not just a fad.

So what makes building these systems so hard? If everybody and their grandma wants one, viaCycle should have IPO’ed already and we founders should be sipping margaritas on an island somewhere, right? Well, truth is, we really like what we do, so we probably wouldn’t trade it for an island unless it had cool bikes. But it’s also not quite that simple.

Bike sharing systems have a few issues that have prevented adoption in a lot of places. They’re all important in various contexts, so in no particular order, we’ll discuss each issue and some ways to solve them.

1. Program Costs

Photo by pandemia

At the moment, biking systems geared towards large cities and lots of use cost approximately $3000 to $5000 per bicycle. This is a lot of money, and is often a difficult case to make to transportation chiefs or city planners. Why, they ask, would we install public bicycles when we could purchase scooters, heck, even golf carts, for that price? We’ve been asked by numerous people why we don’t just buy $100 Wal-Mart bikes and leave them scattered around whatever area we’re trying to serve. This has been tried in the past: see Amsterdam’s White Bikes in the 1960′s and similar experiments in Portland and other places.

Unfortunately, with free bike systems, you get what you pay for. Sure, a city can toss out cheap bikes or golf carts or anything they want, but with no accountability, users will treat them accordingly. The White Bike program failed miserably due to theft and vandalism, as did every other “free” bike program in recent history. Every once in a while, a university or smaller town will try something similar, but the majority last for a few years at most before sputtering out.

Here’s what some don’t realize: when installing a modern, fully automated bike sharing system, the extra expense goes towards building a sustainable, repeatable infrastructure. By creating a platform that keeps track of bikes and users, operators can provide better service and recoup their costs over time. Continued revenue streams are a key focus for viaCycle and many other companies in the public biking space. As with any transportation system, an investment is required up front, but the costs are made up quickly. In comparison to other modes of public transit, bike sharing is incredibly inexpensive, and can get to profitability much faster.

Finally, viaCycle is working to remove the perceived cost barrier. Now that most of us have cell phones sitting in our pockets, there’s no reason not to leverage this technology to create a low cost, easy to use system. By transferring infrastructure from heavy racks and kiosks to the bikes themselves, we’re helping to bring system costs down and bring biking to more places. We’d like to cover the economics of bike sharing in more detail soon, so keep your eyes out for a future post on the topic.

2. Operations and Maintenance

Melbourne Bike Share. Photo by avlxyz

Operations and maintenance for public biking programs is proving to be a tough nut to crack. Public transit like buses and trains are centrally controlled – their schedules and routes are decided and enforced by a single entity. Bicycle sharing, however, is an example of shared consumption – schedules, routes, and overall demand are decided by individual users. This allows for incredible flexibility, but also makes system logistics much harder to manage. It’s hard to predict where bicycles will be at any given time, and even when general traffic patterns are known, they are sometimes difficult to counterbalance. The predominant solution is to transport bicycles en mass from stations with too many bikes to stations with too few, usually with trucks or vans.

Redistribution using vehicles can work, and has its place in many programs. However, there are other possibilities for balancing a large system. One emerging solution involves dynamic pricing based on real-time supply and demand. The system monitors the number of bikes at every station throughout the system. If a station is almost full, the system can raise the price of taking a bike to that station. Alternatively, if a station is almost empty, the system can reduce the cost for users headed there, make trips to that station completely free, or even give users a credit. This all happens instantaneously, depending on movement of bicycles throughout the system. Some bike sharing programs are testing versions of this idea, such as the V+ scheme in Paris’s Vélib.

ViaCycle enables such real-time monitoring and adjustment on an entirely different scale. Because each of our bikes knows its location and is communicating with our servers at all times, we can anticipate supply and demand immediately, rather than simply reacting once bikes arrive at a station. We also envision ways to use our data to make bike sharing more socially connected – perhaps a viaCycle user needs a bike far from any designated location, and could offer other users a bounty to deliver one to them. Our team has all sorts of ideas on how to utilize our platform to provide a better experience. How would you use extensive travel and route data to optimize bike sharing, or other types of transportation?

3. Culture and Adoption

Finally, despite recent changes, bike sharing still faces an uphill cultural battle in some parts of the world, particularly in the U.S. Many perceive bikes as children’s toys, or something to be used as a hobby but never as serious transportation. Here in Atlanta we’re very excited about how many people “get” viaCycle, but we occasionally talk to those who serve up blank stares when we try to explain how bikes can be extremely effective for getting around. Sometimes this just means we need to work on our message, but there are still a lot of people for whom “not driving” just doesn’t compute. Changing such views takes time, ample evidence, and patience.

Even in cities with established programs, many systems have yet to prove their utility and financial bottom line. Most forms of public transit are subsidized in some way (as is most private transit, but that’s a story for another day), but bike sharing programs need to show that they can at least provide comparable service levels. In some places this is happening. Capital Bikeshare is experiencing some growing pains, but has been a resounding success so far. DecoBike, the first large privately owned system in the U.S., has taken off rapidly. In other places, people are still holding their breath. Simply letting the market grow organically and collecting more data will help us and fellow advocates make the case for public bike systems.

The bike sharing market is a fascinating place to be right now. The viaCycle team is constantly challenging ourselves to solve existing problems and bring public biking to a wider audience. Our technology is one tool at our disposal (we’re pretty proud of it), but there are lots of other ways to improve bike sharing and urban mobility in general. If you could change how we moved ourselves from place to place, what would you do?

Let's discuss this over coffee

Sun, 08 May 2011 00:00:00 -0400

Arlington’s GOP has taken a stance against bike-sharing, citing the issue of lost parking spaces as a major issue. Eight parking spaces were removed in Rosslyn to make way for a bike rack for the Capital Bikeshare program. In a blog posting by the political group they claim that the loss of parking spaces is a financial burden for the county due to the loss of parking meters. The blog post also argues that fewer parking spaces create inconveniences for shoppers and shop owners alike.

It’s hard to imagine that the loss of several parking spots can result in so much agony. Then again, I’m sure we’ve all been circling that city block for ten minutes cursing the lack of parking, wishing JUST ONE spot would open up.

As a company, we’re dedicated to bringing a clean transportation solution to the masses. As engineers, we’re motivated to find solutions. Political organizations aligning against bike share programs are a definite obstacle for bike-sharing, since it’s an undertaking that often relies heavily on government support.

Complaints such as those posed by the Arlington GOP are largely what dictated the concept for viaCycle, and continue to drive our design decisions. As it turns out, viaCycle formed in part as a way to avoid dealing with large government entities all together. ViaCycle is based primarily in Atlanta, a city not known for its bicycle friendliness, and this has shaped our concept from the beginning. The idea for viaCycle sprung from difficulty in bringing existing systems to areas where parking and sidewalks spaces were limited, and where large bureaucracies ensured infinite permitting and red tape when it came to placing hardware on precious urban real estate. It’s why viaCycle was designed to function without the need for large powered bike racks, and can integrate easily with current bike racks already in place. No lost parking spaces, no permitting, no fuss.

A funny thing happens when you tell people you’re a bike-share company based in Atlanta. They stare at you wide-eyed, expecting you to name a more bike-centric city like Portland, Seattle, or Minneapolis. We take pride in that. ViaCycle’s goal is not to cater only to the most progressive cities, but to develop a solution that can succeed in any American city. The truth is that most cities are not going to quickly adopt bike-sharing with open arms. Rather than trying to convince everyone in the world that they have to adopt bike-sharing, we’re working to remove any reason not to.

So, Arlington GOP, maybe we can sit down over a cup of coffee and sort this whole thing out? Maybe we can persuade you that with the right strategy, bike-sharing can enhance your way of life, rather than impede on it. Let’s meet at the local coffee house – we’ll go by viaCycle, and you can take all the parking spaces you want. However, a word of caution… once you start getting from place to place for pennies using an (unsubsidized) bike, paying $4 a gallon for gas and hunting for parking might not seem worth fighting for after all.

The Freedom of Choice

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0400

P.J. O’Rourke recently wrote an article featured in the New York Times titled “Dear Urban Cyclists: Go Play in Traffic”. In the article O’Rourke takes an aggressive stance against sharing the road with bicyclists, going as far as to claim that “bike lanes violate a fundamental principle of democracy.”

That’s obviously a bit of a stretch, but O’Rourke is a satirist, so his complaints should be taken with a grain of salt. Many other blog posts have taken the time to point out the error of O’Rourke’s comments, so I won’t bother repeating what’s already been said. This is more a reminder to play nice to everyone. O’Rourke’s skewed view-point, although an exaggeration, is undoubtedly shared by many check-my-blind-spot-be-damned drivers, which should be a concern to bicyclists everywhere.

As bicycling becomes more and more part of the daily commuting landscape, the clash between vehicle and bicycle is likely to become more apparent. Drivers seemingly have a hard enough time paying attention to each other, let alone a bicyclists pulling up alongside their right tail-light.

The road, however, is meant to be shared. In fact, it has always been shared. What was once shared by roman solider and chariot evolved into Model-T and horse-drawn cart, then on to the vehicles and bicyclists of today. It’s not a new concept, but our expectations seem to have changed, or replaced by a sense of entitlement. As people continue to move into cities and population densities increase, we will have to learn to live together more so than ever.

Such togetherness includes bicyclists – we’ve all seen the holier-than-thou cyclists weave mindlessly among the lane or cruising through a four-way intersection without even bothering to slow down. These riders are a danger to themselves and those around them; and it’s frustrating for everyone. They also give people like O’Rourke reason to take up a cause against bicycles; a cause that could potentially be heard by politicians who have spent many years fighting for funding to put in bike lanes. The road-rage junkies are always looking for a scape-goat for their traffic woes, and bicycles are primed to be the next target. Why give them another reason?

Bicyclists expect motorists to follow the rules or the road, and in fact, the rules of the road dictate that bicycles are legally obligated to be in the road; not on the sidewalks (despite many motorists claiming otherwise). But in exchange for such equal rights, bikers should observe the same obedience to the rules as they expect from their four-wheeled counterparts. While on the road, bicyclists must operate their bike as if it were a vehicle. That includes coming to complete stops at stop signs (although that has enough material for a completely separate debate), and properly using hand signals when changing lanes. Doing so will make the roads safer for everyone, and give less ammunition to those opposed.

The truth is that most people are just trying to find a cleaner, healthier, cheaper way to get through their daily routine. It’s their choice to pursue things that could lead to a better quality of life, and not have their safety threatened by others. Oh, and Mr. O’Rourke: last time I checked, such freedom of choice was one of the fundamental beliefs of democracy.

Selling Smart Bicycles (or any other product): A Delicate Dance

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 12:04:00 -0400

How do I successfully sell my product?

Every entrepreneur must ask themselves this question at some point during their development cycle. Often, the issue of sales appears simple on the surface. Of course people will buy my product… it solves a problem, and it does it better (at least in some way) than any other solution out there. What more needs to be said?

As we and many other startups have discovered (some more painfully than others), there’s much more to it than that. A couple of weeks ago, viaCycle attended a brownbag seminar at ATDC called “Closing the First Five Sales”. ATDC is Georgia’s local start-up accelerator, and provides fantastic resources for entrepreneurs. The workshop was led by Bill Kunz, an ATDC mentor and Executive in Residence. Bill started out selling computers for IBM, and later moved to Stratus and Cisco where he established a highly successful sales management career. At the seminar, he covered the basics of moving from an idea and a business plan to the point where money exchanges hands, and later, on to repeating that transaction. The seminar was great, so we thought we’d share some of the key points, as well as some insights into our own market.

Bill made very clear distinctions between sales 1-5, and emphasized how the process can be vastly different for each sale. Five doesn’t sound like a lot, but in each case, you are using that sale to learn something very specific about the validity of your business model and product. In this post, we’re going to discuss the first sale in detail, because that’s where viaCycle is at in our own development process. In Part 1, we’ll go over some general considerations of making a sale (many of which are from Bill’s excellent advice), and in Part 2, we’ll discuss viaCycle’s own experience and some unique aspects of the bicycle sharing market.

Without further ado, let’s break it down:

1st sale: Find the pain

The first sale for any new company is going to be difficult. You have no credibility, no track record, and sometimes, not even a working product to show while you’re trying to pitch. The trick is to find a problem or pain point that your customers are willing to pay money to solve. If that pain is large enough, your track record won’t matter; someone will step up to the plate in an effort to get rid of their problem. This has the added bonus of validating your market; if you successfully find the pain and make a sale based on it, you know that your product can be seen as a viable solution (at least occasionally).

The concept of finding a pain point is old hat to many entrepreneurs. Here at viaCycle, from the moment we decided to write a business plan, advisors repeatedly told us to identify the problem we were solving and describe it in detail. The story of that unmet need speaks front and center in every aspect of the startup: the business plan, the executive summary, and every company pitch. I sometimes wonder if the entrepreneurial community as a whole places too much emphasis on new companies marketing themselves as heroes and game-changers, but nobody can deny that people identify strongly with a good narrative.

There is a key difference between describing the pain in your business plan and using that pain to make your first sale: the latter decides whether your unmet need is real or not. Until the sale, it’s just a bunch of pretty words on a page. People may agree with those words, but before they pull out their wallet, such agreement should be considered lip service. For this reason, Bill emphasized that it’s critical to charge actual money for your product. Everyone is eager to get their idea up and running, but doing unpaid demos and pilots doesn’t accomplish the critical step of proving your pain point.

Oh crap, I just signed a contract. Now what?

Now that you’ve asked people to pay for your product, you’re faced with a critical juncture: in order for the first sale to succeed, your product must work. Even if it doesn’t come out perfectly or work quite as you intended, you have to make sure that your customer is validated for their leap of faith. The first customer forms the foundation for your reputation going forward, and negative feedback can set the company back further than if there had been no sale at all.

For this reason, it’s important to evaluate where you are in your product development cycle before jumping headfirst into sales. Has the product been tested enough to be ready for primetime? Do you have enough resources to provide proper support and maintenance? Are the terms of the sale reasonable so you can properly meet them? Sometimes these questions are forgotten in the rush to generate revenue, but they must be addressed. If not answered beforehand when you have time to carefully evaluate them, they’ll be answered by default later on, in ways that you may not expect and may not like.

If you’ve thought about these issues and are satisfied, then you might be ready. Well, probably not. But you’ve got a chance. From here, it’s important to follow through on the sale while still keeping sight of the larger company vision. In many cases, the first sale may change that vision to some degree. That’s ok, as long as it’s due to valid customer and market feedback, and not from trying too hard to appease the people who gave you your first dollars.

The seminar included more advice on the first sale that we’ve probably forgotten, and any omissions or mistakes are our own. It also discussed the critical followup stages, so for any company at a similar stage of development, ATDC is the place to go to find out more.

Didn’t you mention bikes?

We did. The principles above generally apply to selling bike sharing systems, but our market is unique for a number of reasons. Discussing them all here would make this post dissertation-length, so in Part 2, we’ll share some of our personal experiences as we get our own product ready to enter the market. Stay tuned!