Developing a bicycle sharing plan for the city of Shiraz

People in developing countries, including Iran, mostly use personal cars for their daily trips, which due to the ensuing traffic congestion results in high levels of environmental emission (including greenhouse gases) and pollutions. Engineers and planners have continuously tried to find solutions for traffic congestion in big cities. An example of a successful solution has been the policies toward encouraging people to choose active transportation over the use of private vehicles for their daily trips. To achieve this goal, however, government should provide the infrastructure and facilities needed for active modes of transportation, such as biking and walking. Biking is a very good mode choice for short city trips, because it not only requires physical activity, which is good for personal health, but is also good for protecting the environment and reducing traffic congestion. Moreover, users can enjoy nice views of their neighborhoods, while having the opportunity to socialize with other people, something that is crucial for the social cohesion in an urbanized environment. In this article, the architecture for a bicycle sharing program is developed and proposed for the city of Shiraz. Adopting such a framework would be giant step towards establishing a sustainable and integrated transportation system in Shiraz, or similarly in other Iranian cities.