CityBikes Bike Share Scraper

CityBikes Bike Share Scraper

Scrape global bike-share network and station data from the CityBikes API, up to a million networks per run. Every network comes with its company, location, and station counts. Optionally include live station details. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

The CityBikes API aggregates real-time feeds from over 700 bike-share systems worldwide, but querying it programmatically means handling pagination and rate limits yourself. This Actor reads the public CityBikes endpoints directly, lets you target a single network by ID or filter by country and city, and returns each matching network as a clean, flat row.

Who uses it	What they scrape CityBikes for
Urban mobility researchers	Comparing bike-share network density across cities.
Data journalists	Tracking the expansion or contraction of bike-share services in a region.
App developers	Building a dataset of station locations and network IDs for a mapping project.
Transportation analysts	Monitoring which operators are active in a given country.

What it does

This Actor collects bike-share networks and their stations from the CityBikes API and returns each network as a flat row, with optional station details.

• 🌐 Global network list: Fetch all available bike-share networks with their company name, city, country, and station count.
• 🎯 Single network focus: Provide a network ID like 'citi-bike-nyc' or 'velib' to get that network's full station list.
• 🗺️ Country and city filters: Narrow results to a specific country code or city name when listing networks.
• 📊 Station details toggle: Optionally include live station data such as free bikes, empty docks, and coordinates for each network.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with CityBikes data

🗺️ Map all bike-share networks in a country.

A transportation analyst runs the Actor with a country code to get every network and its station count for a national mobility report.

🚲 Monitor a specific network's station status.

An app developer fetches live station data for 'citi-bike-nyc' to populate a real-time availability map.

📈 Compare bike-share coverage across cities.

A researcher collects networks for multiple cities and compares station density and operator diversity.

🔍 Discover new networks by city name.

A journalist enters a partial city name to find all bike-share systems operating in that metropolitan area.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key required	Reads the public CityBikes API with no registration or authentication.
Fixed flat schema	Every network and station row follows the same predictable structure for easy analysis.
Flexible targeting	Query one known network or discover all networks in a country or city.
Built-in pagination	Handles API pagination automatically so you get complete datasets.

How it compares

This Actor focuses on the CityBikes API for network and station data, while the competitor below also scrapes the same source.

Feature	ParseForge	CityBikes Bike-Share Network & Station Scraper
Scrapes CityBikes API	Yes	Yes
Filter by country code	Yes	Not listed
Filter by city name	Yes	Not listed
Target a single network by ID	Yes	Not listed
Optional station details toggle	Yes	Not listed
Configurable max items per run	Yes	Not listed

Configure the run

Drive the Actor with a specific network ID, or list all networks and filter by country code and city name. The station details toggle lets you control the depth of data collected. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.0065 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.65
1,000 results	$6.50
10,000 results	$65.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the CityBikes Bike Share Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to CityBikes through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/citybikes-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check that your Network ID, Country Code, or City filter is spelled correctly. If you are using a Network ID, it overrides country and city filters. Try running without any filters to see all available networks.

The run is very slow with Include Stations enabled.

Fetching station details for every network requires an additional API call per network. To speed up the run, disable Include Stations or reduce the Maximum networks count.

I got fewer networks than my Maximum networks setting.

The Actor stops when it has collected the requested number of networks or when there are no more networks matching your filters. The CityBikes API has a finite list of networks.

Some station fields are empty or null.

The CityBikes API returns data as reported by each bike-share operator. Some operators may not provide all fields, such as empty docks or free bikes, for every station.

The Network ID I used is not working.

Network IDs can change. Visit the CityBikes website to confirm the current slug for your target network. The ID is case-sensitive and usually lowercase with hyphens.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What is the CityBikes API?	CityBikes is a free, open API that aggregates real-time data from over 700 bike-share systems worldwide. It provides network metadata and live station availability in a standardized format.
Do I need an API key to use this Actor?	No. The Actor reads the public CityBikes API endpoints directly. No registration, API key, or authentication is required.
How do I get stations for a specific network?	Set the Network ID field to the network's slug, such as 'citi-bike-nyc' or 'velib'. The Actor will fetch all stations for that network.
Can I filter networks by country?	Yes. Use the Country Code field with a 2-letter ISO code like 'US', 'FR', or 'DE' to return only networks in that country.
What does the 'Include Stations' toggle do?	When enabled, the Actor fetches station-level details for each network, including free bikes, empty docks, latitude, and longitude. This makes the run slower but richer.
How many networks can I scrape in one run?	You can set the Maximum networks field up to 1,000,000. The Actor will stop after collecting that many networks.
What format is the output data?	The Actor returns data in a flat, tabular format. You can export your dataset to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify platform.
Does this Actor get historical bike-share data?	No. The CityBikes API provides only current, real-time snapshots. This Actor captures the state of networks and stations at the moment of the run.
Can I search for networks by city name?	Yes. The City field accepts a partial city name and returns all networks whose city matches that string.
What is a network ID?	A network ID is a unique slug that identifies a bike-share system on CityBikes, like 'citi-bike-nyc' for New York's Citi Bike or 'bicing' for Barcelona's system.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by CityBikes. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.