Following unprecedented demand, Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO)
has been contracted by the City of Barcelona to increase the number of
bikes available under its Smartbike program from 1,500 today to 6,000
by March 2008.
The first bikes were operational in Barcelona in March 2007, just
two months after the contract was signed, and demand has already far
exceeded initial forecasts. More than 90,000 subscribers - nine
percent of the adult population - have signed up, and more than 2
million trips have been made across the City.
"We are delighted to be able to offer municipalities in Europe,
and increasingly around the world, a reliable, proven and popular bike
program," said Paul Meyer, Global President and Chief Operating
Officer of Clear Channel Outdoor. "Our bike program dovetails with
existing public transport infrastructure, improves city centre journey
times and complements other policies to reduce city centre congestion
and carbon emissions such as toll charging for cars and bike paths,
that cities are increasingly implementing."
Ten years ago Clear Channel Outdoor deployed the first ever public
bike program in Rennes, France. In 2001, Oslo chose Clear Channel
Outdoor to install and operate a 1,200 bike program for the Norwegian
capital, and in 2006 Clear Channel Outdoor was also selected by
Stockholm to provide 1,000 bikes for the Swedish capital. Drammen and
Trondheim in Norway, Gothenburg in Sweden and Washington and San
Fransisco also have selected Clear Channel Outdoor to provide bike
programs for their cities.
"The Stockholm City Bikes program is a strong complement to our
public transit system and for many people the quickest mode of
transport in the city centre," according to Mikael Soderlund, Vice
Mayor, City of Stockholm. "Additionally, it is beneficial for health
and the environment. We are very pleased that the city of Stockholm
and Clear Channel Outdoor can offer the citizens of Stockholm a
well-functioning bike system."
All of the bike programs operated by Clear Channel have proven to
be a success. Nearly 4.5 million trips have been taken on the bikes by
a combination of some 160,000 subscribers and thousands of tourists.
It is estimated that in total over 14 million kilometers have
been traveled on public bikes operated by Clear Channel Outdoor.
Jan Tore Endresen, Director for Smartbikes International at Clear
Channel Outdoor, explains that advanced systems can be offered on a
city-by-city and country-by-country basis: "While we already have an
excellent bike solution to offer cities, we have many enhancements
that are now available. We offer a range of designs and the ability to
pay using a variety of methods, such as mobile phones, credit and
debit cards, existing public transport payment schemes as well as
subscriber cards."
About Clear Channel Outdoor
Clear Channel Outdoor (NYSE:CCO) is the world's largest outdoor
advertising company with over 973,000 displays in more than 60
countries across 6 continents. In the United States, the company
operates over 167,000 advertising displays and has a presence in 49 of
the top 50 Designated Market Areas. It also operates airport, rail,
taxi and mall advertising businesses worldwide. Its Spectacolor (U.S.)
and DEFI (international) divisions are the global market leaders in
spectacular sign displays, including in New York's Times Square. Clear
Channel Adshel is the company's international street furniture
division, which operates over 3,500 municipal advertising contracts
worldwide. More information may be found by visiting
www.clearchanneloutdoor.com.
