A new study has ranked bike share schemes across the world. Lyon's Veluv' system (France) receives top marks while all three Dutch cities are given the lowest score. 

The study undertaken by the German Auto-mobile Club has compared some 40  bike share systems from across Europe.  Lyon (France) has taken gold as the only city to receive a "Very Good" on its report card.  Capitals such as Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Oslo  and Vienna were all ranked as "Good". Dutch cities analysed fared poorly, with Amsterdam, Utrecht and the Hague were all given the lowest possible score. 

What? Isn't the Netherlands meant to be a bicycle paradise? Are the Dutch hopeless at bike sharing? 

"The real answer may be that the Dutch taken an entirely different approach. Their bike share scheme is  more of a national system run by the national railway company  appeals to an entirely different market," explains  Martti Tulenheimo, ECF's urban mobility policy officer.

And when it comes to getting bikes to train stations, the Dutch are king.  In the Netherlands, out of the 365 million annual train trips, 146 million of train travelers had cycled to and from train stations. 

If you can speak a bit of German, take a look at the study here. 

 About the Author

Julian Ferguson is the Communications Officer for the European Cyclists’ Federation. Originally hailing from Australia and a keen bicycle advocate, he plans one day to ride his bicycle from Brussels to Melbourne