Call a Bike
Encyclopedia
Call a Bike is a bike hire system run by Deutsche Bahn
in several German cities, which uses a system of authentication codes to automatically lock and unlock bikes.
The cost is 8 Euro cent
per minute; holders of a BahnCard
get a reduced rate of 6 cent per minute; there are also reduced rates for 24 hours or a week of use. In Stuttgart
the first half hour of use is free.
with touchscreen
LCD display. A set of 1024 pregenerated lock/unlock codes are unique to each bike and stored in memory.
, Frankfurt
, Cologne
, Stuttgart
, Munich
, Karlsruhe
, Saarbrucken
Deutsche Bahn
Deutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
in several German cities, which uses a system of authentication codes to automatically lock and unlock bikes.
Usage
To find the bikes one has to search at the cross roads in the central areas of the towns or use location-based services on modern cell phones to find them.| To hire | Customer calls the telephone number given on the bike which includes the bike's ID and gets by voice the 4 digit opening code, which he then types onto the bike's touch screen to unlock it. |
| To return | Lock the bike to a fixed object, and select "return bike" from the bike's touchscreen. A code will be generated which then has to be telephoned to the control centre, as proof that the bike was locked. As well one has to give the exact street names of the cross roads, which has to be within the permitted town area. |
| Lock temporarily | Similar to returning the bike, except that it doesn't generate a "return code" |
The cost is 8 Euro cent
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
per minute; holders of a BahnCard
BahnCard
BahnCard is a loyalty card offered by Deutsche Bahn , the German national railway company. Unlike airline loyalty programs, but similarly to the UK Young Persons Railcard, the BahnCard entitles the passenger to a discount price and must be purchased prior to travel.Like most contracts in Germany,...
get a reduced rate of 6 cent per minute; there are also reduced rates for 24 hours or a week of use. In Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
the first half hour of use is free.
Technology
The system uses an electronic wheel lock and a cable lock, all controlled by embedded microcontrollerMicrocontroller
A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit containing a processor core, memory, and programmable input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of NOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as a typically small amount of RAM...
with touchscreen
Touchscreen
A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus...
LCD display. A set of 1024 pregenerated lock/unlock codes are unique to each bike and stored in memory.
Coverage
Used in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
, Saarbrucken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....