Bike sharing is a new way of getting around your neighborhood, city and county. It’s affordable, clean, and simple. It’s good for your health, your pocket, and the environment.

Imagine a network of bike stations located within a few blocks of one another throughout your community. As a columbike member, you can unlock any of the 275 specially designed bikes at any station and ride it to any other bike station. Fast, simple, inexpensive. It’s no wonder bike sharing has exploded in popularity all over the world!

columbike is a next-next-generation bike-sharing program. It is a zero-hassle, zero-emissions way to get around town. It’s a bike-sharing program that meets the transportation, health, and environmental needs of our communities. One that adapts to any size city, corporation, or campus. It’s free and spontaneous, but also practical.

columbike is the future of bike sharing, and it’s available now.

Imagine a bike that is always ready to ride, where and when you want to ride it. The tires are always inflated and the chain is never rusty. A bike with a basket to carry your knapsack. A bike with front and rear lights and a bell that fits people tall and short. A bike that’s there whenever you need it, and gone when you don’t. And it’s powered by the ultimate alternative fuel: you.

columbike relies on the integration of hardware and software to keep track of members and bikes, and all the interactions between users and bikes. Proprietary GPS (global positioning system) and RFID (radio frequency identification) technologies make it possible for bike sharing to be so smart that it is simple for users.

All rides are tracked by the system and associated with members. Data such as distance, duration, calories burned, and carbon offset are captured and uploaded to personal web pages at Bcycle.com.

Different bike share systems (cities, campuses, etc.) charge different amounts, and each system’s website provides all the details. 

The cost to use a columbike is divided into two components: a membership fee and a usage fee. 

MEMBERSHIP FEE  

The membership fee provides unlimited access to a columbike system for a specific period of time, ranging from one week to one year. Usage fees are additional.

USAGE FEE

Usage fees are charged based on the length of each ride taken by a member, and are typically broken down into half-hour increments. For members, the first half-hour is free and usage fees are only assessed for rides that exceed 30 minutes. 

Bike rental is generally intended for longer term use - several hours or days at a time - like traditional car rental. Bike sharing, on the other hand, is more similar to a taxi cab ride – short, point-to-point trips across town. Bikes in a bike-share system are available when you need them and safe and secure when you don’t! You can return them 24 hours a day and are encouraged to join as a member to receive the best rates.

Designed for durability and long life, the bikes weigh approximately 45 lbs.

The columbike BCycle program requires that all accounts be associated with a credit card.

A columbike membership card is a plastic card distributed to columbike annual members. The cards contain an RFID chip uniquely associated with each member’s account. When the card is presented at a bike dock, the system is queried to confirm that the member is in good standing and to associate the member with the bicycle they are checking out. 

When a bicycle is returned, the system updates the member’s account.

Membership cards also contain a magnetic strip so the cards can be read by the credit card reader found on the kiosk, thereby allowing the card holder to obtain time credits when a station is full.

Membership cards are issued to all annual members. (Some systems may provide cards to members who join for shorter periods of time.) Cards are generally sent in the mail following online registration, but delivery methods vary from one system to another. Refer to the website of specific systems.

For memberships of thirty days or less, a user’s credit card is charged once or twice. The membership fee will be charged at the time of registration. If any usage fees have accrued during the membership period, a second charge will be processed following the end of the membership period. 

For memberships of more than thirty days, there will be an initial charge for the membership fee at the time of registration, and thereafter there will be a monthly charge for usage fees, if any, accrued during each month of the membership. A final charge will be processed following the end of the membership period.

Membership periods begin the first time a bike is checked out following initial registration. Daily memberships end 24 hours later. Weekly memberships end 168 hours later (7 days times 24 hours). Monthly memberships end 720 hours later (30 days times 24 hours). Annual memberships end 8,760 hours later (365 days times 24 hours).

BCycle operators can sell prepaid gift cards in varying amounts. The gift card contains a promotional code the gift receiver enters on a registration page to partially or fully offset the cost of a membership. The person receiving the gift card must also register a credit card to cover usage fees and other possible fees.

If you have a membership that is shorter than annual, you can upgrade it to an annual membership by paying the additional amount necessary. To be eligible for this upgrade option, you must upgrade before your other membership expires. For example, if you bought a monthly membership for $20 on July 1 that expires on July 30, you can log in to your personal web page anytime in July and upgrade to an annual membership that will expire on June 30 of the following year. If the cost of an annual membership is $50, you will have to pay only $30 ($50 minus $20) for the upgrade.

Annual members also have the option of automatically renewing their annual memberships by selecting Auto-Renewal in the Account Preferences section of their personal web page.

Personal web pages remain “live” for three years after the lapse of membership.

Go online to your personal columbike web page and suspend your card, or call Customer Service immediately so that we can suspend the card and prevent anyone else from using your card to gain access to a bicycle for which you are financially responsible.

A replacement card will be provided for a nominal fee.

While waiting for your replacement card to arrive, you can check out bikes by using the kiosk at each station. You must present the credit card associated with your membership account.

Call Customer Service.

Membership fees are non-refundable, but if you wish to suspend your account to prevent any new usage fees, call Customer Service or manage your account on your personal columbike web page.

Upon presenting your membership card at a station kiosk or dock for authentication, the system checks whether your account is in good standing. If there is a problem, your card will be denied. Please call Customer Service to determine the cause of the problem.

When registering, members can choose whether they want to receive text notifications. Members can change that preference anytime thereafter by logging into their personal columbike web page and managing their account settings.

Members can change their credit card information by logging into their personal columbike web page and managing their account settings.

Return a damaged bike to a B-station, if possible, or if that is not possible, securely lock it and contact Customer Service. Do not ride a bike with damage that affects its safety features.

Members are financially liable for damages to bikes under their care. Refer to Terms and Conditions for your system.

The cost of replacing a lost key is $10.

Contact Customer Service. Under the Terms and Conditions agreed to upon registering for membership, members may be liable up to a specified limit if a bicycle is stolen or lost while under their care. Refer to the Terms and Conditions posted on your system’s website.

Your membership period begins the first time you check out a bike.

Information about each member’s use of columbike is posted to that member’s personal columbikeweb page. Members must log in to view the information, which includes such information as the date and duration of each trip, the station from which the bike was checked out and the station to which the bike was returned, the distance pedaled, the usage fee (if any), the associated calories burned, and carbon offset.

Bikes are equipped with an internal GPS device that tracks the bike’s trips. Other technology associates each trip with the member who checked out the bike. After this information is transferred to the server, algorithms translate the trip information into estimates of the number of calories burned and carbon emissions avoided (as compared to the use of an average automobile for the same trip). If there are technical errors with the data collection or transfer, an estimate will be applied and clearly noted as such.

When signing up online, only one membership can be associated with a credit card. When buying a one-day membership at a kiosk, more than one membership can be associated with a credit card, but the same card must be presented each time a bike is checked out during the membership period