I think we'll be seeing more of these . . .While we were in Vienna, we came across their rent-a-bike scheme for the city. I didn't get all the details, but it was pretty slick from what I saw.
Basically they have bike stations throughout the city with spots for about 10-40 bikes depending on the station. As you can see the bikes are pretty basic, and they even have advertising, which helps cover the costs and makes this economical.
If there's a bike there, you can go to the electonic kiosk and rent a bike using your credit card or membership card for a nominal fee. Rates are by the hour. Once the short transaction is over, you ride off on your bike and drop the bike off at another station down the road.
Patrick saw a similar idea in Paris, and they are starting to crop up all over European cities. Although we didn't take advantage, one of the nice things is that it's so easy to rent a bike, anyone visiting the city can do it.
