Bikeshare is at an inflection point. The smart-dock model made famous by Vélib’ is too expensive and too inflexible. Working with Bike and Roll NYC, the nation’s largest bike rental company with 2,000+ bikes in New York City alone, E3Think is deploying a lower cost, more flexible approach to bikeshare for cities as diverse as New York, Nairobi and Nanjing. Called Bike-the-Skyline, this newer business model is also designed to be a local economic engine. Whereas the older smart dock model which is largely imported, this newer approach will foster local entrepreneurship. It very much follows the vision for the future of New York City as outlined recently by Fred Wilson (twitter, tumblr, foursquare, zynga) at Borough President Scott Stringer’s Start-up City.
Tourist-based bikeshare
In late May 2013 Bike and Roll will expand from New York City and roll into the New Jersey market. As the nation’s largest tourist-oriented bikeshare company, Bike and Roll says the New Jersey side of the Hudson – and particularly Hoboken – has significant untapped tourist potential. For starters, Hoboken offers something not available in Manhattan at any price – an extraordinary view of Manhattan.
Historically there is a problem. We call it the Hudson River Barrier – an artificial barrier separating Hoboken and the rest of the New Jersey waterfront from the lucrative New York City tourist market, which according to NYC&Co in 2011 NYC had nearly 51 million visitors, 40.3 domestic, 10.6 million international. Tourists spend $34.5 billion in 2011. Extending the existing Bike and Roll network to New Jersey will help shatter that barrier.
Commuter-based bikeshare
Bike the Skyline also addresses commuter market. Over 50,000 people live in Hoboken, a dramatic 30% increase over the 38,000 people that lived there in the year 2000 (US Census). Hoboken is second in size to Jersey City with 250,000 people. Creating transportation options for commuters is critical for handling future growth. At present many commuters in both Hoboken and Jersey City live more than an easy walk away from either a ferry and/or PATH station. Partnering with Bike and Roll and E3Think is Social Bicycles, one of the hottest commuter-oriented bikeshare companies in the marketplace. In contrast to the smart-dock approach employed by CitiBike, Social Bicycles uses much lower cost, less intrusive and more flexible smart-lock technology.
Bike-boat-bike
Bike-the-Skyline could create a virtuous cycle where more people use the ferries off -peak. This in turn would enable ferry operators to lower their fares which would make riding the ferry more economically attractive both peak (for commuters) and off peak (for tourists). Lower ferry fares would obviously be good for Hoboken. We are in discussions with East River Ferry, NYWaterway and Hornblower. In New York City, Bike the Skyline, is designed to complement the commuter-oriented CitiBike. Click here for the press release from Mayor Dawn Zimmer of Hoboken.
