nextbike

nextbike is a German company that develops and operates public bike-sharing systems. The company was founded in Leipzig, Germany, in 2004. It operates about 30,000 bikes in Germany and several other countries around the world such as USA, UK, New Zealand, Poland, Croatia, Czechia, Austria and Switzerland, Ukraine.[1] The headquarters as well as the production facilities with about 100 employees are based in Leipzig. The bicycles and stations are maintained by local service partners.

nextbike
IndustryUrban transport
Founded2004 (2004)
FounderRalf Kalupner
Headquarters
Leipzig
,
Germany
Key people
Ralf Kalupner (CEO)
ProductsBicycle sharing systems
Websitewww.nextbike.net

The bike sharing schemes can be initiated by cities and franchise partners. The operating costs are financed by rental fees and the sale of advertising space on the bikes themselves. nextbike also provides mobility programmes for colleges or universities and companies.

Usage

Bicycle users are normally obtained through a subscription system, where each bike is locked to either itself or to a rental station. If using a stand-alone lock, the bike is rented via a mobile phone call or the mobile app, which provides the locking code. The bikes can be returned via app, hotline, terminal or board computer. There are cities with a flex zone allowing users to return the bike anywhere within a defined area for a small additional fee.

Projects

National projects

nextbike operates in German cities such as Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg and Dresden.[2] The biggest implementations of the system in Germany are in Ruhr, with 3,000 bikes,[3] and Nuremberg, with 750 bikes and 66 stations.[4] Besides large cities, nextbike also serves about 20 smaller German cities, like Tübingen, where it has 50 bikes.[5]

Berlin

In 2016 nextbike won the tender to operate the new bike sharing system in the city of Berlin which will be launched with 2000 bikes in spring of 2017.[6] After the extension is finished 5000 bikes at 700 stations will be available.[7] Berlin will then have the biggest bike sharing system in Germany.

KVB-Rad

Since 2015 nextbike together with the public transport company of Cologne offer around 1000 bikes for rent. They are available everywhere within the flex zone and complement the public transport system.[8]

Metropolradruhr

metropolradruhr was launched in 2010 as the biggest regional bike sharing system in Germany. It links ten cities such as Dortmund, Bochum, Essen and Oberhausen. Bikes can be returned in any of these ten cities.[9]

ebikestationen

In 2013 the region of Stuttgart started the e-bike project 'Netz-E-2-R' which includes five administrative districts. E-bikes can be rent at 15 covered stations.[10]

VRNnextbike

In 2015 nextbike together with the transport association of the Rhine-Neckar region launched another cross-city bike sharing system with more than 400 bikes connecting Mannheim, Heidelberg, Ludwigshafen and since 2016 also Bensheim and Speyer.[11] nextbike cooperates with local universities and colleges offering special conditions for students.[12]

International projects

At an international level, nextbike operates in Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Latvia, Poland, New Zealand, Turkey, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Dubai, Hungary, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and United States. Two of the biggest public bike rental schemes operated by nextbike are Veturilo[13] in Warsaw with 5 292 bikes[14] and MOL BuBi[15] in Budapest.

In 2014, several bike sharing schemes were launched in the UK, including the cities of Bath,[16] Glasgow,[17] Milton Keynes[18] and Stirling.[19] In April 2015 a new public hire scheme was launched in Belfast, branded Belfast Bikes.[20] A scheme was launched in Cardiff in May 2018.[21] The contract for the Bath bike sharing scheme ended in February 2019, and the bikes were no longer available to hire from the 8 February 2019.[22] Described as Nextbike's "flagship scheme" in the UK, the Cardiff bikes suffered excessive vandalism in 2019, with attacks also being made on maintenance teams.[23]

Schemes in the United States include Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, West Palm Beach, Florida and Hudson County, New Jersey.

  • nextbike on-board computer
  • nextbike station terminal
  • MOL Bubi station in Budapest
  • Bykystations station in Dubai
  • Turku, Finland
  • Lviv, Ukraine
  • Hudson county, New Jersey, USA

See also
  • List of bicycle sharing systems

References
  1. "nextbike company profile". Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  2. nextbike locations
  3. metropolradruhr project
  4. "NorisBike project in Nuremberg (in German)". Archived from the original on 2 February 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  5. The alternative to taking public transport in Tübingen is the bike-hiring system “nextbike”
  6. "Zukünftig bietet neues Leihfahrradsystem mehr als 700 Stationen und 5000 Räder". Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  7. "Zukünftig bietet neues Leihfahrradsystem mehr als 700 Stationen und 5000 Räder". Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  8. www.adovo.de, Vipex Media Services GmbH | www.vipex.de | CMS: AdOvo. "Kölner Verkehrs-Betriebe AG". www.kvb-koeln.de. Archived from the original on 4 May 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  9. Fahrradverleih, metropolradruhr |. "Fahrradverleih im Ruhrgebiet – metropolradruhr". www.metropolradruhr.de. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  10. "Pressemitteilung Rems-Murr-Kreis" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 August 2016.
  11. "nextbike – regionales Fahrradvermietsystem". www.vrn.de. Archived from the original on 17 May 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  12. "Studierende – VRN nextbike". www.vrnnextbike.de. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  13. Veturilo scheme in Warsaw
  14. "O nas". Nextbike – system rowerów miejskich (in Polish). Retrieved 6 June 2018.
  15. "Bubi scheme in Budapest". Archived from the original on 3 February 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  16. "Bath to get cycling with city's own 'Boris Bikes' scheme". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  17. Glasgow unveils bike hire scheme at 31 city locations
  18. Duncan, Jessica (17 June 2016). "'Santander Cycles Milton Keynes have arrived". OneMK. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
  19. nextbike UK
  21. "First wave of nextbikes arrive in Cardiff in bid to reduce congestion". ITV News. 26 March 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  22. "nextbike bids a fond farewell to Bath".
  23. Matt Discombe (10 June 2019). "Why there are so many empty nextbike stations in Cardiff and what's being done about it". Wales Online. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
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