Council Leaders have expressed disappointment at the end of a contract between Transport for Edinburgh and Serco to run the city’s cycle hire scheme.
Unfortunately, Serco would not, as anticipated, extend the current scheme, which it has operated on Transport for Edinburgh’s behalf since September 2018.
As a result, the Edinburgh Cycle Hire Scheme will need to cease operation on 17 September 2021 when the current contract comes to an end. The Council is actively investigating alternative options to replace the popular scheme.
Council Leader Adam McVey said:
We are very disappointed that Serco have opted to walk away from the popular shared bike hire scheme in Edinburgh. 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.
We recognise 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. Choosing to travel by bike is one of the easiest changes many of us can make.
We're now working on a replacement bike hire scheme for the Capital. We are actively pursuing options to ensure that a replacement scheme is in place as quickly as possible.
Depute Council Leader Cammy Day said:
Over the past few years it’s been a welcome sight to see residents, students and visitors making journeys from A to B across Edinburgh by hire bike and they’ve become a key part of our sustainable transport infrastructure in the city. It’s a huge disappointment the scheme’s coming to an end.
The city will share our huge disappointment that the scheme is coming to an end and that Serco have walked away form a key part of the city’s active travel plans. We will now engage with the cycling community to look at alternative innovative scheme to get people back on the bikes.
More than half a million journeys were made by over 70,000 users during the life of the bike hire project. During 2020, when the Edinburgh Cycle Hire Scheme was the fastest growing scheme in Britain, there were with 234,500 trips made. In 2020 the scheme also won the award for Cycling, Walking and Public Realm at the Scottish Transport Awards.