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CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Infrastructure
Edinburgh Cycle Hire Scheme
(1795 posts)-
Posted 1 month ago #
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When it says "We can control ... the speed with which the bikes can be used in different parts of the town." Does it mean the actual speed, or the speed at which the electric assist will cut off? I reckon it would be pretty trivial to get up to 30mph downhill on the Royal Mile with no assistance, for example - if a tad uncomfortable over the cobbles. To control the actual speed, the bike would potentially have to be able to apply the brakes which I think could easily result in loss of control, particularly for not very experienced riders.
Posted 1 month ago # -
@ejstubbs - you must be right, can't see how they could control the actual speed of a bike. The hire e-bikes I have used are seriously heavy and gravity alone could get them up to some speed down the High Street. Suspect its just PR bilge to get councillors onside, along with assurances about managing parking.
Posted 1 month ago # -
I would have assumed assistance level but the wording from Lime suggests otherwise. See geofencing screenshots I took from Lime demo in 2023.
Posted 1 month ago # -
@bakky - interesting. Looking at Lime Q&A it does seem that it is the actual speed that is under control. Is there some way the motor could be used to regulate speed? Surely that would be at the risk of the motor burning out, if it had to work against strenuous pedalling action or a steep downhill?
Posted 1 month ago # -
I'd like to see them restricting a bicycle to 8mph down Dundas Street or Market Street...
Posted 1 month ago # -
Anyone know which company has been given a licence to operate?
Posted 1 month ago # -
Nobody has seen the tender hit any of rhe public procurement websites thus far… so rumours of significant delay
Posted 1 month ago # -
I’ll be glad to be wrong if it works out!
Posted 1 month ago # -
Spending four years thinking about a new cycle hire scheme, then ditching all the socio-economic requirements to favour venture capital backed e-bike operators, and then allocating a week to assess the contracts, pick a provider, and roll out the scheme! That's pretty much the most City of Edinburgh Council thing ever.
Posted 1 month ago # -
The Lime bikes I've used in other Euro cities were often Geofenced, to provide either zero assistance (eg pedestrian only zones) or 10kmh (or less) in restricted mixed zones. Also they were strict on geolocation of dropoff zones eg in Brussels. You had to take a photo of the bike in a legal parking zone before it would let you end the hire. Doesn't stop them being left anywhere if the user doesn't care.
Posted 1 month ago # -
Elsewhere
“
Say hello to our all-new e-bikes
Starling Bank Bikes just got an upgrade! The e-bikes are now lighter and have a bigger basket, giving you more room to store your things whilst you ride.
“
Posted 1 month ago # -
The hire bikes in Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham are operated using Beryl Bikes system, with IIRC bikes built by Pashley, looking very similar to the Pronto/Mailstar
The Mailstar is built like the proverbial brick built welfare/PNB facility, and as an engineer I've done my own empirical assessments concerning the load carrying capacity...
In Glasgow, Leeds and possibly in Manchester & Birmingham, the local maintenance & management is contracted to Velogik, a company which incorporated the commercial operation Motion Forward which was the non-charity part of Bike For Good, a similar detail to many Housing Associations and Edinburgh Fringe Society. This has a great advantage in keeping the operation of the bike hire schemes closely connected with the local community, and perhaps explains why Glasgow's bike hire scheme never suffered the attrition seen in Edinburgh
Glasgow's scheme was also well engaged with universities, households with transport poverty, and asylum seekers, through free, or heavily (95%) discounted memberships
For special events, especially during the UCI races, where road closures blocked motor traffic on several streets, the Nextbikes were offered 'free' to help people get around, with many users being retained after the introductory offer
Until the Nextbike concession reached the expiry point pending retendering (this summer) the Glasgow bikes were branded by Scottish Power, and then OVO
The Ride-On (Spanish) bikes in Dundee disappeared when the company pulled out from UK, The Bewegen (Canadian) bikes also went in Forth Valley and Sestrans areas, but Hitrans took over the fleet with Portuguese systems support fro Inverness and Fort William
Hitrans were also an early customer for Brompton Hire, with 4 units just outside the Network Rail boundary in Elgin, Inverness and Oban, plus one on Stornoway Pier. Brompton hire is also available in Edinburgh (Sheriffhall P&R/Musselburgh (QMU)) plus Glasgow (Caledonian University)
Slightly concerned about the 'hopeful' belief that without proper bike racks bike can be 'parked' on the drop-stands and not end up falling over or getting into messy mass of bikes. The German Orion Beta units, or Falco (NL) Tulip are popular, and the preferred design for Utrecht- 1996 (and was also the one liked for Cambridge-2002)
In Glasgow the Council applied Section 97 (Roads Scotland Act 1984) determining the bike hire was commercial use of public roads, and regulated the scheme by licensing Nextbike, with appropriate T&C plus KPI on managing the fleet
I hope that Edinburgh applies this model
For pensioners it should be a detail that their bus pass can hire bikes as well, as this can provide a great population health study
Posted 1 month ago # -
I've just clocked in on the London Centric report, and need to get a proper look at the mechanics of Lime bikes regarding some of the issues
Jim Waterson commented on the tyres being changed, and having owned a CZ motorbike, plus experienced Brompton Green tyres I'd be fairly sure that a cheaper 'harder rubber' (Shore hardness value) certainly won't grip well and some tyre designs also have a serious ability to slide rather then grip on corners
@arelcat & I also tested the electric Brompton with the electric motor in the front wheel, and found that powering the pedals, the weight transfer OFF the front wheel caused a loss of traction & grip. Twice on wet pavement, making small turns, the front of the bike broke away sideways, and only being alert with instinctive reaction stopped me coming down. This is a critical detail in EAPC, where the power kicks in, with the quality of the controlling electronics & driven wheel position
Posted 1 month ago # -
“
A small number of dockless electric hire bikes are expected to be on city streets by the week of August 18, with the scheme expanding from there.The city’s transport boss has said the scheme will be implemented ‘diligently’, and in a way that fits the Capital’s ‘specific needs’.
While a company to run the hire service will not be selected until the week of August 4, officials believe the launch will run to schedule.
“
Posted 1 month ago # -
Interesting point raised by a pal - would a TRO / ETRO be required to reassign a car parking space as a geofenced cycle parking space?
Posted 1 month ago # -
Now there’s a Q
Unless it’s very clear it’s a 100% legal certainty, CEC wouldn’t do it.
Posted 1 month ago # -
@bakky - I know various London Boroughs (e.g. Hounslow, Kensington and Chelsea) have used ETROs to redesignate existing car parking spaces for ebike hire. Can't see them doing this if it was unnecessary.
Posted 1 month ago # -
“
The operator of Edinburgh’s cycle hire scheme is set to be announced on Monday afternoon - just days before a trial scheme is expected to be up and running.
Several companies, including Dott and Lime, have bid for the contract, which will see the operator run the service at zero cost to the council.
“
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/edinburgh-cycle-hire-scheme-operator-170030620.html
Posted 1 month ago # -
Any word on this yet? Just looking back at the last few posts and I see @chdot quotes a media article stating:
While a company to run the hire service will not be selected until the week of August 4, officials believe the launch will run to schedule.
This seems to be a repeat of the missed deadlines and lack of information which accompanied the launch of the Just Eat scheme. Not a great omen.Posted 1 month ago # -
I’m somewhat glad more time has been taken to analyse the bids as the initial timeframe was very optimistic. Hopefully the political pressure to have a Fringe launch doesn’t harm the process.
All the operators have plenty of bikes ready to go, so we could see them in days or less if we do hear news today.
Posted 1 month ago # -
Voi has been chosen as the operator: https://theedinburghreporter.co.uk/2025/08/council-chooses-new-cycle-hire-provider/
Never used them - anyone had a go while on their travels?
Posted 1 month ago # -
I'm quite happy with Voi being picked, the tech is good and they appear more willing to work with communities/groups than Lime.
It'll be curious to see the Voipass rates for Edinburgh (the monthly bundle of minutes you can buy). I'm expecting the one-off trip price to be expensive.
Posted 1 month ago # -
“
Swedish company Voi has been chosen to run Edinburgh’s new cycle hire scheme, with bikes expected to be available on the streets within the next 10 days.
“
Edinburgh Inquirer says it will be starting on Friday.
Festival on until Sunday…
Posted 1 month ago # -
Contract starts Friday, STV reckoned bikes on the ground 'within ten days' when they published on Monday...
Posted 1 month ago # -
Media launch to come on Friday as well, so hopefully we’ll find out more details then.
https://x.com/donaldturvill/status/1957695526603747524There will be up to 800 bikes coming so it should be an exciting few months!
Posted 1 month ago # -
Scott Arthur says "People will be able to hire a bike for £2 for 20 minutes - and there will be 50% discounts for those on low incomes, those with disabilities, students, apprentices and over-60s."
£2.20 for 20 minutes compares favourably to the bus for many trips, but a lot depends on where they can be left. If it's not near people's homes and is near e.g. bus stops that takes away some of the advantage.
Posted 1 month ago #
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