On 01 March 2017 the BikeShare 050 project will enter its pilot phase in the city of Groningen with 20 smart shared bikes. A total of six participants are taking part in this six-month long trial: Groningen Bereikbaar, the municipality of Groningen, the province of Groningen, Noorderport College, Alfa College and the Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen. Last Monday, 9 January 2017, the first prototype of the smart bike was unveiled by Fleur Gräper-Koolwijk, deputy of the province of Groningen and Paul de Rook alderman of the municipality Groningen.
The project trial is initiated by Groningen Bereikbaar and based on the idea of professor Steven de Boer. It has been developed in close cooperation with students who follow different studies at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences. The idea of the project fits into the actions and projects of Groningen Bereikbaar to keep the city of Groningen easily accessible and further to encourage individuals to choose for smart travel alternatives. The six participating parties assign a limited number of testers to test this new bike option. The bikes are not yet available to everyone.
A smart shared bike
The unique feature of the shared bikes is a smart lock, which is equipped with a sensor. The sensor makes it possible to trace the bikes. Via an app users can search for an available bike, reserve it and unlock it. During the trial period, the bikes will be used at a number of different locations namely P+R sites, the Zernike Campus, Groningen centrum and several school locations of the Alfa College and Noorderpoort. The pilot will be accompanied by extensive research on the usage requirements. After six months, the trial will be evaluated and a possible sequel will be decided on.
BikeShare 050
BikeShare050 is the result of the project group ‘Sustainable Mobility’ of EnTranCe, the field lab for energy transition of the Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen and Energy Academy Europe. The project group is managed by Steven de Boer, lecture and trainer at the educational program IPO (human-technology) at the Hanze UAS. Since its beginning, the project is characterized by an intensive collaboration between governments, educational institutions, students and local businesses (Egberts Premium & WerkPro).
