Next: An AirBnB just for bicycles

The World
Dutch style bikes rented from Cycleswap parked in the grass of Vondelpark, Amsterdam.

The city of Amsterdam is clogged with bikes and lots of them get abandoned. The city deals with its bike litter problem rather well. But it’s an issue. Last year, the city cleared 68,000 bicycles off the streets and another 15,000 out of the canals.

Of course, having too many bikes is a problem that most cities wouldn't mind. But it's a problem for Amsterdam right?

Right. When you walk through the city you have to maneuver through a sea of parked bikes. So I when I was there I was wondering what could solve it. The head of the city’s bike removal program, Pieter Berkhout, says the answer is a bike-sharing system.

"I think in perhaps 15-20 years from now, people don't need to own a bike themselves," he says. "But they think it's OK if they can just use it when they need one. Instead of every person having 1.5 bicycles at home."

Amsterdam had a bike-share program in the 1970s. It’s known in planning circles as the “white bike” program. But it was small. And it failed. The city currently does not have a bike-share system like the Velib in Paris, Citibike in New York or even the Hubway in Boston. Amerstam says it prefers to invest in infrastructure and parking.

And bike shares are really a way to get more people riding.

Amsterdam doesn't need that.

But after spending time with Berkhout, and looking at the tens of thousands of abandoned bicycles he has to deal with each year, Amsterdam does need to find a way to deal with all the bikes.

The sharing solution to this might be a tiny startup called Cycleswap. It hopes to use bikes that are just sitting around collecting dust and grime outside people’s homes.

Think of it like an AirBnB for bikes. Owners list their spare bikes on the Cycle Swap page and rent them out for super cheap.

David Knap sits at a cafe in Amsterdam. He's the co-founder of Cycleswap, a new startup that hopes to utilize the surplus of bikes in the city.

David Knap sits at a cafe in Amsterdam. He's the co-founder of Cycleswap, a new startup that hopes to utilize the surplus of bikes in the city by renting them out to tourtists and locals. 

Credit:

Pien Huang/PRI's The World

"We're the best way to connect a surplus of bicycles to people who want to rent them," says co-founder David Knap.

He’s confident about his product for sure. But after trying it, he has that right. Knap walked me through the steps, and we found a bike a couple blocks from the place I was staying. We shot the owner a quick email and within a minute had a response. Sure, come by anytime to grab the bikes.

It’s really that simple. Soon I was ringing the apartment of a woman named Ine in the Jordaan neighborhood. Ine walked down the stairs with a key, unlocked the bike and told me to have fun. “Just lock it back up here when you are done, and place the key in the mail-slot,” Ine tells me.

That’s it?

“Yes.”

That was it. I pedaled the bike around like a true Amsterdam native. I flew through the streets on a weathered black bike. No one treated me like a tourist. And a bike that normally would sit around and block a sidewalk was now being put to use.

Yes. I’m a convert. I also use Uber and AirBnB. The sharing economy, while a bit of a misnomer, works. 

But the only downside was the cost. It’s cheap for me, but, at less than $5 a day, it doesn’t really make much for bike-owners like Ine.

"You have to rent a lot to get your profit," she says.

Amsterdam resident, Ine, rents out her unused bikes on Cycleswap.

Amsterdam resident, Ine, rents out her unused bikes on Cycleswap.

Credit:

Pien Huang/PRI's The World

But how does this compares to rental bikes?

Well, there’s no shortage of them in Amsterdam. I tried one to compare. And the biggest difference is hours of operation. At the rental bike store I went to I had to return the bike before the store closed. The other difference is the type of bike. Rental bikes are gaudy. Most outfits cover the bikes with advertisements. You scream tourist. When I pedaled around the city I felt like I as well be carrying around six-shooters and blasting Lynyrd Skynyrd.

But while Cycleswap works great. I’m not sure it will solve the problem of bike litter in the city. There are just too many bikes. But then again, who am I to talk? Amsterdam is like 40 years ahead of all major cities when it comes to infrastructure, city planning and city design.

When you combine that with Knap’s generation and their thoughts on the sharing economy, well, it just might work.

But I think what Cycleswap really shows is why Amsterdam so far ahead of other cities.

Both the government and guys like Knap aren't afraid to try new things.

Or invest in solutions.

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