Brussels to launch Cyclocity

A miniature version of Lyon’s vélo’v project is to be launched in Brussels on Sunday (17 September) which is designated ‘In Town without my Car Day’.

‘Cyclocity’ will have 23 bicycle-rack stations, with ten bikes for each station. The stations are all located in Brussels city centre, inside the inner ring-road, or the Pentagon.

The whole project is very similar to the one in Lyon, with a microchip card system, a built-in safety lock, and a sum of money (€150) debited from the user’s account if the bike is stolen or lost. As in Lyon, there are two different subscription possibilities: the one-week subscription costs €1.50 and €1 per hour, whereas the long-term subscription costs €10 and 50 cents per hour. The first 30 minutes cost 50 cents for everyone.

Brussels chose JCDecaux to install and manage its self-service bicycle hire system in April 2006 but unlike in Lyon the decision was not taken at the same time as contracting out the advertising space.

Roland Van Kerckhove of JCDecaux, who is responsible for developing the project in Brussels, said that Cyclocity was not part of the initial advertising contract with the town, which was why the subscription fees and the cost of using a bike are more expensive in Brussels than in Lyon (bike-users do not pay anything for up to 30 minutes in Lyon). JCDecaux already had an ongoing contract that gave them the right to rent advertising space in Brussels (which ends in 2014). When the city authorities asked JCDecaux to install and manage the Cyclocity system, the terms of this contract were modified. Brussels decided to devote to funding the project 10% of the money that JCDecaux pays for the advertising space. JCDecaux has also been allowed to use 30 additional advertising spaces in order to fund Cyclocity.

Pascal Smet, the minister for mobility in the Brussels regional government, would like to encourage other communes outside the city centre to set up similar projects by granting them €100,000 subsidies, on condition certain requirements are met.

A miniature version of Lyon’s vélo’v project is to be launched in Brussels on Sunday (17 September) which is designated ‘In Town without my Car Day’.