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Ambicia’t

(STAFFED SERVICE SCHEMES)
Ambicia’t is a free cycle hire scheme offered to residents and visitors in the town of Terrassa outside Barcelona. It is a staffed scheme which was set up after an automated scheme was investigated and rejected on the grounds of ongoing costs.

Abicia’t was set up by the local council as an initiative to encourage the use of bicycles as alternative transport while contributing to a cleaner urban environment and greater mobility within the city. The focus of the scheme is around the commuting population and those making short trips around the city centre.

The council have installed 100 bicycles that have been distributed across 5 locations, at the intercity train station (RENFE); the local regional station (Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat); the student campus at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya; the town’s civic centre and the council buildings themselves.

Users must first sign up to the service by completing an on-line registration form or by visiting the local council offices. Once registered users can use the service from Monday to Friday between 0730 and 1930, for a maximum of 2 hours. They need to present their identity card at one of the locations and staff will take down their personal details. The bicycles can be returned to any of the locations within the city. This is a completely free service and no charges are made for registration or use.

Provider
Ajuntament de Terrassa
Raval de Montserrat 14
08221 Terrassa (Barcelona)
Tel. 93 739 70 00 | Tel. información: 010 / 93 739 70 60

Designer / Architect
Information not available

Cost of Provision
€220,000 for implementation part financed by l'Institut Català d'Energia (Catalan Institute of Energy)

Strengths
• Staffed rental points offer good protection of bikes outside the user-rental period
• The service is very simple to use
• A free service to any user as long as they can provide identification
• There is no annual subscription
• A good city infrastructure to support the scheme with 11km of bicycle lanes

Weaknesses
• It is unclear whether the number of bicycles is sufficient for the number of users
• The scheme has been designed around working hours and therefore restricts users to certain times of the day
• Security available, to park bikes during the rental period, is unclear

Useful References
www2.terrassa.cat
es.geocities.com
www.icaen.net