Bike rental
Encyclopedia
A bike rental or bike hire business is a bike shop or other business that rents bikes
for short periods of time (usually for a few hours) for a fee. Most rentals are provided by bicycle shops as a sideline to their main businesses of sales and service, but some shops specialize in rentals.
As with car rental
, bike rental shops primarily serve people who don't have access to a vehicle, typically travellers and particularly tourists. Specialized bike rental shops thus typically operate at beaches, parks, or other locations that tourists frequent. The fees are set to encourage renting the bikes for a few hours at a time, rarely more than a day.
. A user can purchase a yearly or monthly pass that provides access to a bike with a smart card
. Most such systems allow a member to sign out a bike from any station for up to half an hour of free use, enough for most commuters to travel to their destination where they can drop off the bike at any station. Many bike sharing schemes start charging fees after the first free half hour in order to encourage the user to return the bicycle at the end of each trip, and take another bicycle for the next trip, rather than keeping a bicycle out continuously. However, many bicycle sharing systems offer daily or weekly memberships which permits their use by tourists, visitors, and other occasional users.
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
for short periods of time (usually for a few hours) for a fee. Most rentals are provided by bicycle shops as a sideline to their main businesses of sales and service, but some shops specialize in rentals.
As with car rental
Car rental
A car rental or car hire agency is a company that rents automobiles for short periods of time for a fee...
, bike rental shops primarily serve people who don't have access to a vehicle, typically travellers and particularly tourists. Specialized bike rental shops thus typically operate at beaches, parks, or other locations that tourists frequent. The fees are set to encourage renting the bikes for a few hours at a time, rarely more than a day.
Share schemes
Bicycle sharing systems provide access to vehicles for a short period of time; that is they rent bikes. They have distinctive access schemes; some provide free access to members and others charge a monthly or yearly fee. Some schemes operate stations across an entire city, serve members only, and are targeted to commutersBicycle commuting
Bicycle commuting is the use of a bicycle to travel from home to a place of work or study — in contrast to the use of a bicycle for sport, recreation or touring....
. A user can purchase a yearly or monthly pass that provides access to a bike with a smart card
Smart card
A smart card, chip card, or integrated circuit card , is any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits. A smart card or microprocessor cards contain volatile memory and microprocessor components. The card is made of plastic, generally polyvinyl chloride, but sometimes acrylonitrile...
. Most such systems allow a member to sign out a bike from any station for up to half an hour of free use, enough for most commuters to travel to their destination where they can drop off the bike at any station. Many bike sharing schemes start charging fees after the first free half hour in order to encourage the user to return the bicycle at the end of each trip, and take another bicycle for the next trip, rather than keeping a bicycle out continuously. However, many bicycle sharing systems offer daily or weekly memberships which permits their use by tourists, visitors, and other occasional users.