Hire costs revealed for Edinburgh cycle hire scheme's Voi e-bikes as September date confirmed
Swedish operator Voi has confirmed from when the bikes will be available to hire in Edinburgh.
The cost to hire e-bikes under a new dockless cycle scheme for Edinburgh has been revealed, as the Swedish operator confirmed the transport would be available to rent from next month.
The bikes will be available to hire from Wednesday, September 3 as part of a two-year trial, Swedish company Voi has confirmed.
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And the cost to hire one of the pay-as-you-go e-bikes will come in at £2.20 for 20 minutes. Voi has claimed this will mean travelling from Haymarket to Easter Road Stadium on one of the e-bikes will be the same cost as using a bus. Day and monthly passes will be offered for more frequent riders, while users will need to pay an initial ‘unlock’ fee.
Around 50 e-bikes will be available to hire in the city centre under the scheme’s first phase. Edinburgh City Council said the target was for about 800 e-bikes to ultimately be available.
Customers will be able to hire bikes by using the Voi app and adding payment details before riding.
The council will decide the pick-up and drop-off parking locations for the bikes, with the hire locations to be marked on the app.
Customers will be required to upload a photo of their parked bike at the end of the hire to prove it has been done according to the scheme’s rules.
Stephen Jenkinson, Edinburgh’s transport and environment convener, said: “Voi is a highly experienced operator, with many successful schemes across the UK and abroad, and I’m looking forward to working with them in this exciting new chapter for our city.”
He added: “The new scheme will allow everyone to be able to move around our city in a healthier and more sustainable way. We’re also ensuring that the scheme is accessible for all our residents and visitors, with a wide range of concessionary and discount fares available.
“We know that the demand and appetite for cycling is already strong. Just last week we saw the record for daily cycle journeys on Leith Walk being broken with 2,147 at the Picardy Place counter.”
Two models of e-bikes will be available for use under the scheme.
Customers will be able to hire a larger Explorer 4 e-bike or the Explorer Light 1, which Voi has billed as being 25 per cent lighter than standard e-bike models.
The decision to appoint Voi as the scheme’s operator comes after council officers evaluated bids by several companies, including prominent bike hire firms Lime and Dott.
The council has said the two-year contract will run at no cost to the local authority.
James Bolton, Voi’s UK general manager, said: “We are working closely with the council to make an affordable scheme that is sensitive to, and learns lessons from, the previous scheme and our experience in similar cities like Oxford, Cambridge and Liverpool.
“At Voi we see massive amounts of untapped potential in Scotland, where people are really looking for affordable, quick and convenient ways to get around.”
The city’s previous bike hire service, run under the Just Eat Cycles brand by Serco, used a docked model, where electric bikes were parked in charging bays at stations in the city.
After three years, the scheme folded, with the operator declining to continue running the service due to financial losses linked with high levels of damage.
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