The Portland City Council today approved a community bicycling sharing program.
Bike sharing allows users to check their rentals back in at any station in the city. RF-ID is used to identify bikes and riders. It will cost about $4 million, with $2 million from federal funds and $2 million from private investments.
Capital Bikeshare uses a system designed by Montreal-based Bixi. Rental stations are fully automated and are powered by solar panels, allowing them to be located anywhere space is available. A RF-ID data link connects the docks and station kiosk while a cellular link connects to the bike-tracking and billing database. The bike docks communicate with the touch screen pay station, which is solar powered.
Denver’s B-cycle project, SmartBike and Ubicycle have similar RFID bike sharing technology. A user’s RFID card contain a passive low frequency RFID inlay, operating at 125 kHz. To unlock a bike, a user presses their card against an RFID reader, which relays their ID to a central B-cycle database to confirm the user’s account is in good standing. Then the bike is unlocked.
Capital Bikeshare website also has smartphone applications to see where rental stations are located and how many bikes are available.
Mayor Sam Adams has endorsed the bike sharing program. Metro, the regional government agency which distributes the federal funding, will have to sign off on the city’s plan.
Garmin Cycling Sensors include:
- The $150 Edge 200 GPS-enabled cycling computer. which tracks time, distance, speed, location and calories burned—without needing to install a separate sensor. It also stores 130 hours of previous stats and can upload them to Garmin Connect—the company’s free data analysis and mapping website.
- The $250 Edge 500 GPS-enabled cycling computer. It tracks your distance, speed, location and elevation with high sensitivity GPS. Add an ANT+™ compatible heart rate monitor, speed/cadence sensor or compatible power meter for a finely-tuned analysis of your ride.
- The $450 Edge 800 touchscreen GPS bike computer. Provides navigation and performance monitoring. It has a built-in basemap and tracks your distance, speed, location and ascent/descent.
- The $1,500 Garmin Vector replaces the stock pedal body and spindle and measures the force profile of a pedal stroke as well as total power and cadence. Connect it to either the Garmin Edge 500 or 800 to calculate Normalized Power, Intensity Factor and Training Stress Score.
Here are the Top 10 Android Bike Apps and the Top 10 iPhone Bike Apps (which are waaay cheaper).
Oh, sure, it may be pie-in-the-sky, but why couldn’t solar-powered, Wi-Fi enabled, bus stops sprout $300 touch-screen tablets for an integrated transportation system.
White Spaces, say proponents, may soon provide a low-cost connectivity option. It might provide an intranet, closed-loop system or offer full internet connectivity. Bus stop wireless access might make money with location-based advertising. Perhaps a small implementation in a city like Portland or Seattle could test the viability.
Thin Film Solar is efficient while mobile hotspots are cheap. Just add batteries.
Related Dailywireless solar articles include; Bike Sharing Gets an App, Apps for The City, Augmented History, SOLARBrella Powers Laptops & Hotspots, Solar-powered WiFi Flowers, Solar WiFi Park Bench, Meraki: Wall Warts and Solar Power, Cell Towers Go Green with Renewables, Social Bikes, SF Gets Solar Wi-Fi Bus Shelters , Open Transit Apps Compared, How to Create Transit Applications, Social Bicycles: Cheaper Bike Sharing, Apps for The City, Phone Tracking: Hot Button Issue, WhereCampPDX Unconference, Augmented History, Public Safety 2.0, Everyone Can Create Mobile Apps!, Mobile Portland Demos, Developer Contests, Geo Tours,
