Copenhagen’s bicycle-sharing system is proving to be a great success at last.
Following the very disappointing results of 2015, when the electric-driven city bikes were hired for only 169,834 rides, their popularity has skyrocketed this year and they have been used for over 700,000 trips.
On September 10, a new record was broken when the white city bikes were hired for 7,300 rides just on that day.
“We have focused on telling all the positive stories this year and promoted them at the charging stations and at many events,” Tina Füssel, the CEO of City and Commuter Bike Foundation, told Metroxpress.
“It has helped boost awareness about the bikes.”
READ MORE: The future of city bikes or a waste of money?
Preferred by commuters
About 80 percent of the trips are taken by people who have purchased a monthly subscription, and over 60 percent of users are Danes.
The service is popular especially among young people aged 25-35.
Many of the users are commuters as they tend to rent and leave the bikes at train and metro stations.
In September, the three most popular charging stations were at Kongens Nytorv, Christianshavn and Copenhagen Central Station.
There are a total of 103 charging stations across the capital and 1,860 bicycles for hire.
READ MORE: Copenhagen’s city bikes an expensive failure
Modern equipment
The city bikes are funded in a partnership between Copenhagen Municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality and the train operating company DSB.
An hour-long hire costs 25 kroner, while a monthly subscription is priced at 70 kroner.
With the subscription, the first half hour of biking is free and then the user pays 6 kroner per hour.
The bicycles are equipped with a touch screen tablet with built-in GPS, puncture-resistant tires, LED-lights and a luggage rack, which can carry up to 15 kilos.
