Owner City of Buenos Aires Began operation 2010 | Transit type Bicycle-sharing system System length 155 km (96 mi) (2015) | |
 | ||
Locale Buenos Aires, Argentina Website ecobici.buenosaires.gob.ar | ||
EcoBici is a Bicycle-sharing system in Buenos Aires, Argentina which began operating in 2010. The service is free of charge to both residents of the city and tourists, and is available 24 hours a day. The system is still being expanded and, as of 2015, has 155 km (96 mi) of its 200 km (120 mi) of lanes completed, and will have a total of 3,000 bicycles and 200 stations when complete in May 2016. Most stations are automatic and require the use of a smart card acquired upon registering for the service, though there are also staffed manual stations.
Overview
Construction began on EcoBici's lanes and stations in 2009, and the service was opened to the public in 2010, with just 3 stations and 72 bicycles. However, by 2013 these numbers quickly grew to 29 stations and 800 bicycles. The system's expansion has been fairly rapid and will eventually have 200 km (120 mi) of lanes, 200 stations and 3,000 bicycles when completed.
By the end of 2014, the stations became automated (with the exception of a few) and registered users could now access bicycles 24 hours per day with use of a smart card, while the number of stations had grown to 49. With the expansion of the system, 5,000 additional parking areas for bicycles were added throughout the city.
Bikes can be retired with the use of a smart card or by use of a mobile phone application, which require proof of identification in order to attain. Tourists can register online using a scanned ID or by visiting a local municipality office. In both cases, the usage of the bicycles is free.
In the case that a bicycle is not returned on time, the user is banned from one week from the service, increasing exponentially with repeat offenders until the fourth offence when the user is banned definitively from using the service.