Two years after the launch of the first public bicycle rental project in Israel, Tel-o-fun service (O-fun a word play on Ofanaim, bicycles in Hebrew), Tel Aviv Municipality is planning to expand it for a wider range of users by offering motor powered transportation for rent, with both electric bikes and electric quadricycle two-seater cars for rent.
Tel Aviv intends to place electric bike rental stations with the dual purpose of offering existing rent-subscribers a new complimentary service for longer distances and aiming to increase the overall demand for the project with new users. The rental fee would need to be as close as possible to that of renting a regular bicycle - but the project still is in its infancy and not ready for implementation as it awaits solutions for docking locations and cost of maintenance and durability over time.
The second complimentary project introduced two weeks ago with Mayor Huldai test driving the Renault Twizy, intends to offer electric quadricycles two-seater cars on a rent per hour basis. The service is already on offer in Paris, but the current high rental costs mean its used for short tour-rides and still not a viable alternative for wide use city transport. The service will be partnered with private operators such as Car2Go that already offers per-hour car rentals.
"For city residents to forgo owning a car, we need to give them a wider range of transport alternatives" said Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Asaf Zamir. "The intention is to create a system that also appeals to people who own private cars, with the encouragement of walking routes, public cycling rent stations and public car rent in two years' time. However unlike bicycles, the main obstacle is that the motor-transport for rent initiative has to include the entire metro to function, and we need co-operation with other cities".
Electric cars will be offered in cooperation with a private rentals company for per-hour use, and unlike existing per-hour services such as Car2Go, the users wont be required to return them to the same parking docks. According to Zamir, "the price of the service will be more expensive than a bus ticket, but cheaper than taking a taxi, so the city should subsidize the service. There is no doubt that shared vehicles need public subsidy and co-operation with other metro cities. For a project with larger volume, my hope is that the Transport Ministry will take part in the funding".
The municipality plans to publish an RFI this month for the rental cars initiative. Meanwhile, it plans to offer designated parking for Tel-o-fun subscribers in municipal parking lots around the city, so that users can park their car and switch to rented bicycles. The pilot project for car parks was the Sportek grounds on Rokach Road and will subsequently be implemented in additional public car parking lots. The city is also in talks with neighboring Ramat Gan and Herzliya municipalities for implementation of bike rent stations coordinating with the Tel-o-fun system.
The increase in both daily bike commuters and memberships for Tel-o-fun go hand in hand with Tel Aviv municipality's ongoing commitment to improve the city's bicycle infrastructure by adding more designated bike paths, with 12 km of new bicycle paths added each year, joining into the citywide paths network. The municipality has also built facilities for tire repair and tire pressure, and mulls developing 'refreshment stations' for bikers.
"We can't imagine Tel Aviv without it"
The bicycle rent project was launched in May 2011, and became an integral part of the city's urban landscape, with 3.5 million rentals, over 16 thousand subscribers and 1630 Tel-o-fun bikes in 163 docking stations. The number of cyclists in the city has jumped 54% over the past two years, thanks to the service and new paths. Cycling is now the primary transport for getting to work or school for 13.9% of Tel Aviv residents, an increase of 5%, although the rent service still needs to be subsidized and faces implementation issues. The service needs to constantly strive to offer better and reliable service in all stations".
Yotam Avizohar, chairman of Israel For Bicycles Association, praised the project: "Tel-o-fun is a good urban-friendly bike, it allows for a relaxed ride with upright seating, a place for your bag or groceries, includes lights for riding at night and suited for the non-athletic rider. The fact that at a two minute walking distance theres a station with usable bikes with someone responsible for their maintenance, encourages thousands more to move to two-wheel transport".
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Tel Aviv intends to place electric bike rental stations with the dual purpose of offering existing rent-subscribers a new complimentary service for longer distances and aiming to increase the overall demand for the project with new users. The rental fee would need to be as close as possible to that of renting a regular bicycle - but the project still is in its infancy and not ready for implementation as it awaits solutions for docking locations and cost of maintenance and durability over time.
The second complimentary project introduced two weeks ago with Mayor Huldai test driving the Renault Twizy, intends to offer electric quadricycles two-seater cars on a rent per hour basis. The service is already on offer in Paris, but the current high rental costs mean its used for short tour-rides and still not a viable alternative for wide use city transport. The service will be partnered with private operators such as Car2Go that already offers per-hour car rentals.
"For city residents to forgo owning a car, we need to give them a wider range of transport alternatives" said Tel Aviv Deputy Mayor Asaf Zamir. "The intention is to create a system that also appeals to people who own private cars, with the encouragement of walking routes, public cycling rent stations and public car rent in two years' time. However unlike bicycles, the main obstacle is that the motor-transport for rent initiative has to include the entire metro to function, and we need co-operation with other cities".
Electric cars will be offered in cooperation with a private rentals company for per-hour use, and unlike existing per-hour services such as Car2Go, the users wont be required to return them to the same parking docks. According to Zamir, "the price of the service will be more expensive than a bus ticket, but cheaper than taking a taxi, so the city should subsidize the service. There is no doubt that shared vehicles need public subsidy and co-operation with other metro cities. For a project with larger volume, my hope is that the Transport Ministry will take part in the funding".
The municipality plans to publish an RFI this month for the rental cars initiative. Meanwhile, it plans to offer designated parking for Tel-o-fun subscribers in municipal parking lots around the city, so that users can park their car and switch to rented bicycles. The pilot project for car parks was the Sportek grounds on Rokach Road and will subsequently be implemented in additional public car parking lots. The city is also in talks with neighboring Ramat Gan and Herzliya municipalities for implementation of bike rent stations coordinating with the Tel-o-fun system.
The increase in both daily bike commuters and memberships for Tel-o-fun go hand in hand with Tel Aviv municipality's ongoing commitment to improve the city's bicycle infrastructure by adding more designated bike paths, with 12 km of new bicycle paths added each year, joining into the citywide paths network. The municipality has also built facilities for tire repair and tire pressure, and mulls developing 'refreshment stations' for bikers.
"We can't imagine Tel Aviv without it"
The bicycle rent project was launched in May 2011, and became an integral part of the city's urban landscape, with 3.5 million rentals, over 16 thousand subscribers and 1630 Tel-o-fun bikes in 163 docking stations. The number of cyclists in the city has jumped 54% over the past two years, thanks to the service and new paths. Cycling is now the primary transport for getting to work or school for 13.9% of Tel Aviv residents, an increase of 5%, although the rent service still needs to be subsidized and faces implementation issues. The service needs to constantly strive to offer better and reliable service in all stations".
Yotam Avizohar, chairman of Israel For Bicycles Association, praised the project: "Tel-o-fun is a good urban-friendly bike, it allows for a relaxed ride with upright seating, a place for your bag or groceries, includes lights for riding at night and suited for the non-athletic rider. The fact that at a two minute walking distance theres a station with usable bikes with someone responsible for their maintenance, encourages thousands more to move to two-wheel transport".
