IT helps self-service bikes roll through Paris

A European company has chosen IBM to help track a fleet of self-service bicycles in Paris. JCDecaux, an outdoor advertising company, needs to monitor more than 300,000 movements a day.

“IBM has provided us with a solution that meets our needs perfectly: one that is industrial, capable of adaptation, multilingual and multi-city. It will ensure quality of service in Paris, and we could also make use of it for projects elsewhere in France and abroad,” says Bertrand Kientz, Manager of IT Systems at JCDecaux.

The bicycles will eventually be distributed among a total of 1,451 intelligent terminals, each linked to JCDecaux’s information technology system. The system will also manage the rounds of 300 maintenance technicians, each equipped with a mobile personal digital assistant linked to the back office. The technicians receive information on the state of bicycle terminals, the availability of the bicycles, their locations and any need for technical support when a failure has been signaled.

The technicians will also transfer the bicycles as necessary to ensure the machines are constantly available and will take responsibility for the condition of the bikes, dealing with repairs, preventive maintenance and solutions for any other problems.