An effective bike sharing system as a mobility service in urban transport: the case of Easybike

Bike-sharing systems shouldn’t be considered as a stand-alone transport mode. They comprise a precondition for the development of ‘Mobility as a Service (MaaS)’ at urban level, enabling ‘last mile’ trips and multimodal travel. Their digital aspects (apps, track & tracing, real-time info) allow public authorities to gather continuously useful insights on the mobility patterns and needs (e.g. paths followed), and the prospective innovators to create new apps and services building on the data collected. In this sense, bike systems act as a source platform providing access to a pool of people (users) and as an essential physical and digital infrastructure for creating and multiplying innovation.
BrainBox, a company specialized in IT services mainly related to sustainable mobility, developed EasyBike the first Greek bike-sharing system, which allows access to shared and station-based bicycles, calculating the real-time of use and the corresponding charge. The system can serve frequent users with a special electronic card along with member benefits and occasional users who can have immediate access to bicycles by using their mobile phone and a credit card.
The system consists of products and features that combine different technologies such as: bicycles, rental stations/infokiosks, parking stands, software and app.
EasyBike aims to serve both residents and visitors of an area, especially those traveling in an active and healthy way.