Melbourne’s got a bike share programme

June 29th, 2010 by Tim Uden

This past month saw the launch of the Melbourne Bike Share programme. It is Australia’s first municipal cycle hire service and is similar to programmes such as Barcelona’s Bicing, Montreal’s Bixi, Paris’ Vélib’ and City Bike programmes in Scandinavia.

Community bicycle programmes like Melbourne Bike Share are among the cheapest forms of public transport to implement and can be a great way for a visitor to explore a city, while offering a cheap alternative to often overpriced bicycle hire companies.

The pricing structure is comprised of a subscription fee ($2.50 per day, $8 per week or $50 per year) plus a fee for the time you use the bike (first 30 minutes free; 31–60 minutes $2; 61–90 minutes $5; every additional half hour $10). The idea is that you just use the service for short trips (free for trips shorter than half an hour), that way you should never need to pay more than the subscription fee. For longer trips you may need to stop at a pod midway through your journey to change bikes to avoid being charged for going over the half-hour limit.

There are currently 33 pods in the city centre with plans to extend the network to around 50 pods. However, it only operates within the City of Melbourne; which means that you can’t pick up or drop off a bike outside the city limits (which rules out trips to neighbourhoods like Richmond, South Yarra or St Kilda).

While it is a great concept, it is unlikely to ever really take off because it is illegal to ride a bicycle without a helmet in Australia and helmets are not supplied with the bikes. Australia’s tough bicycle helmet laws take the spontaneous nature away and mean that you need to carry a bicycle helmet around the city with you on the off chance that you may need to use a bike. During the first week of operation the service was only used 253 times, an abysmally poor turnout for a cheap and convenient transport option in a big city. Although it probably will become more popular as it is available in more locations, it is unlikely to take off in Melbourne like it has in some European cities.

The spur-of-the-moment appeal of hopping on a conveniently-located bike at a moment’s notice is the real draw of bike share programmes elsewhere in the world, but that just won’t work in Australia unless you just happen to be carrying a bulky bicycle helmet with you. Although it is a hassle to carry a helmet just to use occasionally, you can buy cheap helmets from Big W for $12, which could make it worth your while if you’re in town a week or longer.

Although the service is best suited to people who live or work in Melbourne’s city centre, it is worth considering if you’re planning on spending a few weeks in Melbourne (but it’s not worth buying a helmet to only use for a day or two).

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