W Mids bike share fleet allocated

BIKE HIRE

More details have been revealed of the West Midland conurbation’s public bike hire scheme, which will see 5,000 bikes introduced by next spring. 

The West Midlands Combined Authority has awarded Nextbike a five-year contract (with a possible three-year extension) to provide a dock-based bike hire scheme across the conurbation (LTT 30 Mar).

Bikes will be delivered in three phases, commencing this summer with a ‘soft launch’ of 100 bicycles at the University of Birmingham. 

A further 1,900 bikes will then be delivered in Birmingham in phases two and three of the roll-out. 

Nine hundred will be delivered to both Coventry and Wolverhampton during phases two and three. 

Phase three will also see 300 bicycles supplied to each of the other four council areas: Sandwell, Dudley, Walsall and Solihull. 

An annual pass will cost £30 or £20 for concessions, such as students and the unemployed. The first 30 minutes of hire will be free for members, after which a charge of 25p per 30 minutes will apply.

A pay-as-you-go option will cost 50p per 30 minutes. The first ten minutes of a trip will be free in year one. The pay-as-you-go fee will have a daily cap of £5.

Nextbike is seeking sponsorship for the scheme, which will operate at zero cost to the local authorities, although they will have some management and supervision costs.