Project type                                                             Sustainable mobility

Promoter                                                                  Izmir Metropolitan Municipality

Start date                                                                 2014

Status                                                                        On-going

Website                                                                    www.bisim.com.tr

The city of Izmir aims to become a Bicycle City, with the promotion of the Metropolitan Municipality. In January 2014 started the project of Bisim, a sustainable bicycle rental system. The main aim of the project is to set the bicycle as an alternative way of transport, since most of the inhabitants of Izmir used to move around the city by car.

The campaign started and in only 5 months there were already 500 users subscribed. The model is easy, the user asks for a member card that is used to rent and return the bicycles. The cost of the service is 2.60 TL per hour, and a deposit fee of 25 TL.

Now, there are already 34 bike stations (with around 700 parking spaces), 500 bicycles and over 1.3 million uses. Thanks to the improvement of the bicycle lane next to the coastal line, the mobility by bicycle is safer. Also the sales of bicycles has increased, since users have get used to the way of transport and do not only consider the bicycle as a sports and leisure vehicle.

In May 2017, Izmir participated in the European Cycling Challenge and received the first position over other 52 participant cities. A total amount of 855 thousand kilometres were ridden by users in only one month.

• 34 stations (700 parking spaces)
• 500 bicycles
• 1.3 million uses since 2014
• 1st position of European Cycling Challenge 2017
• 855.002 km cycled in 1 month
• Position the bicycle as a reliable mode of transport
• Promote the bicycle over the car
• Improve bicycle paths to make them safer