Photo: transport for Edinburgh
Future of Edinburgh bike-share scheme hangs in the balance
26 August 2021
by Christopher Carey
Edinburgh’s Just Eat bike-share scheme is set to end next month, unless a new operator can be found.
Serco, the firm behind the service, recently announced it would not extend its three-year contract in Edinburgh beyond September 17, due to financial losses linked to high levels of vandalism.
In 2020, approximately one in four of the scheme’s 550 bikes had to be repaired every week due to a combination of vandalism, wear and tear, and weather-related issues.
The service was operated on a self-financing model, with revenue generated from bike rentals and sponsorship from food delivery service Just Eat.
Lessons learned
Nextbike, which has run Glasgow’s cycle-hire scheme since 2014, has indicated its interest in Edinburgh, but officials have said it’s too early to say what will happen next.
“Edinburgh remains committed to a city-wide cycle-hire scheme,” George Lowder, Chief Executive, Transport for Edinburgh, told Cities Today.
“But our priority is to safely lift and efficiently close the current scheme, learn the lessons from the last three years and our very positive partnership with Serco before deciding on the detail of the next steps.”
In May, Edinburgh City Council’s finance committee was warned Serco was not willing to extend the contract due to the financial impact, and since then it has not been able to agree terms with the contractor.
“A frustrating shock”
Edinburgh City Council, which oversees Transport for Edinburgh, was critical of the firm’s decision however.
“We are very disappointed that Serco have opted to walk away from the popular shared bike-hire scheme in Edinburgh,” said Council Leader Adam McVey.
“When the bike-hire scheme was first introduced the commitment was to operate it with no public funding and it is highly regrettable that Serco will not continue the scheme on that basis.
“The council recognises that the bike-hire scheme has helped more people get access to bikes, enjoying the benefits of fast, reliable, healthier journeys around town.
“The withdrawal of Serco will come as a frustrating shock to many regular users of the bike-hire scheme.
“It sends absolutely the wrong message at a time when so many of us are deeply concerned about the climate emergency and what we can each do to combat the effects of human activity.”
Every route possible
But Serco hit back, saying it was the council that is to blame for the scrapping of the scheme.
“We’re disappointed that we have been unable to find a way to continue the Edinburgh bike scheme,” said Sam Jones, Micromobility Director, Serco.
“We have explored every route possible to find extension options beyond our original three-year contract which expires on 17 September 2021. Those efforts continued through to last week when the council advised us that they were not able to extend the current contract.
“Serco has been running the scheme since September 2018 under a three-year concession. Despite the scheme making a loss over that time we have not walked away and we have stood by our commitments and continued to make a success of the scheme for the city’s people and visitors.”
The firm added it will ensure that its customers are offered full refunds for existing tickets and passes and that there is a ‘smooth demobilisation’ of the service.
Image: Transport for Edinburgh
