RFID Bike Sharing Program launched by Denver

Filed in archive Implementation on June 2, 2010

Denver is promoting the concept of zero emission transportation along with RFID technology. It has launched the B-cycle project which offers commuters with an option of environment friendly commuting. It has started off with five hundred bikes with more than fifty RFID B-stations across the city.

At the stations you have locking bike racks and kiosks which are similar to an ATM where you can buy short term membership which is for a single day. You can even extend it for a week or for a month and there is also an option of annual membership. For this purpose you get an RFID card which can be used to get a bike from any station.

These cards include a passive low frequency RFID inlay which operates at 125 kHz. For bike unlocking, one needs to go to the station and press a button next to the bicycle which they want to use and then RFID reader gets activated which is embedded in a rack. Now the information gets relayed to a central B-cycle database for confirming the account of the user. After this an audible feedback is sent for unlocking and a green light is flashed next to the bike.

In the future, commuters will also be given an option of phone based application so that cell phones equipped with near field communication modules can be used for accessing B-cycles at the stations.