reservation for them at a free parking slot near their indicated destination point. The cyclist then has half an hour to get from point A to point B and deposit the bike as programmed. This is the basic structure of the Lyons bicycle project and others that have come on line in the last few years. Schimmelpennink has freely contributed his knowledge to such initiatives. Witkar In the mid-1960s, Schimmelpennink started work on another concept, the Witkar. Designed as environmentally friendly, non-polluting, safe, low speed city transport, the Witkar is a small three-wheeled electric shared car. The car is white, the name meaning White Car in Dutch. The initiative was one of the first working carshare projects in the world using specially developed technology and a formal carshare operational program. The Witkar was available on a subscription basis to certified members of an otherwise open public subscriber group. The Witkar cooperative opened to its users on 24 May 1968, and while it failed to get the political support needed to become a full scale, permanent part of the city’s transport landscape, it continued to offer service for its members until on October 27, 1986 when it was decided by the Witkar-association to dissolve itself. Industrial design As an industrial designer, Schimmelpennink's contributions include new bicycle designs, hardware and software systems to support vehicle sharing and fleet management, and the latest version of the White Bicycle concept - the Smart-card supported Depo/White Bicycle system with a new Witkar city carshare system presently under development. Political positions In 2002 and again in 2006, he was elected to the Municipal District Council of Amsterdam Centrum, this time as a member of the Dutch Labor (Social Democrat) party PvdA. Schimmelpennink is currently working on a new Witkar-type project for Amsterdam as well as continuing to promote community cycles in Amsterdam and elsewhere. See also Amsterdam Bicycle Bicycle culture Car-free Carsharing Community bicycle program Cycling in the Netherlands Cycling Dutch politics Fietsvierdaagse Green transport Paratransit Provo (movement) Shared transport Sustainable city Sustainable transportation Vélo'v Witkar External links Short biography of Schimmelpennink from New Mobility Agenda Time Magazine article of June 17, 1974 Information in Dutch on Fietsen project, 2000 White Bicycles Witkar Municipal councillors of Amsterdam Dutch environmentalists Dutch industrial designers Designers from Amsterdam Living people 1935 births Sustainable transport pioneers Bicycle sharing people