CityNews.ca: Amazing Bike Dispensing Machine Aids Commuter Travel

It’s an amazing idea and technology has made it possible. Dutch commuters are now able to rent a bicycle to get to work using a device that actually dispenses the two-wheelers like a gumball machine.

The bike dispenser isn’t designed for someone looking to take a leisurely ride around the city of Arnheim in the Netherlands. Instead, it’s made for people heading to work who need a quick ride but don’t want to go through the hassles of buying or maintaining a bicycle themselves. The kiosk allows riders to register for a card, swipe it past a sensor and watch as a fully equipped two-wheeler comes out of the slot.

There’s room for at least 100 of them inside the storage device and it’s easy to use. Commuters simply ride them back and return them at the end of the day.

Renting a bike is nothing new of course, but this technology is. “The main advantage of this machine is, of course, its compactness, it stores bicycles at seventeen centimetres (space),” explains Hans Schreuder, the director of bikedispenser.com. “Bicycles are stored inside, there is no theft, no molesting and bicycles will be maintained regularly, so if you are using this system, you will have a freshly and well maintained bicycle every morning.”

The first dispenser opened at a train station on Wednesday and more are expected to follow. So far, there’s no indication that Toronto will be getting a bike dispenser of its own. But with the number of cyclists on our streets expanding at an ever increasing rate, it could be a service someone on this side of the ocean might like to ‘pedal.’