Edinburgh cycle hire scheme: Opposition says city should be ready to invest in scheme rather than rely on commercial operator
Edinburgh should be ready to invest in an improved cycle hire scheme rather than rely on a commercial company to provide it at no cost to the council, opposition councillors have said.
The city's minority Labour administration has backed plans for a dockless e-bike hire scheme run by a private operator without any subsidy from the council and focusing initially on the city centre.
But the SNP, Greens and Conservatives have all raised questions about the proposal.
The SNP and the Greens highlighted a previous commitment to ensure bike hire was available in the poorer areas of the city as well as the centre. And they said if necessary the council should consider putting money into the scheme.
And all three parties queried the idea of a dockless scheme, citing other cities in the UK and abroad where bikes were left causing an obstruction for disabled people.
Edinburgh's previous cycle hire scheme, sponsored by JustEat and run by Serco, came to an end in September 2021 amid mounting problems with vandalism and thefts.
SNP transport spokesman Danny Aston said: "All five parties on the council want a bike hire scheme. People want it and people will use it."
He said the last scheme had also been billed originally as zero-cost to the council, but it had not turned out that way and it had focused more on better-off areas than poorer communities.
"If officers can find a way of it being zero-cost to the council that's great, but I think we have to recognise that if we're going to get some of the outcomes we're aiming for then it might involve having to spend some money, whereas effectively handing it over to a private company on a concession basis to operate is almost certainly not going to achieve those objectives."
And he suggested a scheme which involved docking for the bikes was preferable. "I went to Prague a few years ago and they have a dockless bike and scooter hire scheme. You walk along some streets and there are piles of scooters and bikes lying there because when people have finished their hire they just chuck them next to the hotspot on the app.
"There needs to be much more clarity about how it would work if we end up pursuing a dockless model. What I've seen in other places has not filled me with confidence."
Green councillor Chas Booth said: "I hope we have a serious look at what the council can afford and what best fits with the objectives previously agreed - how can we ensure the scheme is not just in the city centre and the wealthier areas, but has some outreach to all parts of Edinburgh.
"The scheme was seen very much as something for richer folk, it wasn't seen as a scheme for people on lower incomes and living in less affluent areas.
"In setting up the new scheme we have to ensure we have learned the lessons of the old one. It's possible that a dockless e-bike scheme in the city centre might be the way to start if we've got a plan for how we can expand that."
And he warned the plan to go for e-bikes only could also be a problem. "E-bikes are significantly more expensive than ordinary bikes - they're great for going up the hills, but they are more expensive so that will exclude a quite a lot of people who can't afford the hire charge. Is the council prepared to put some money in to make the scheme more affordable?"
Transport convener Stephen Jenkinson said technology had moved on since the last scheme and most cycle hire schemes were now dockless and used geo-fencing - the creation of a virtual perimeter around a location - so that if users did not leave the bike within that area they would be fined.
He said a dock-based system would be expensive because of installation and maintenance costs.
He defended the plan to go for a zero-cost scheme rather than providing a subsidy."For a scheme to be sustainable the providers have to own the risk to make it work. If you start off with a significant subsidy, the finances are only going one way - you're only ever going to give them more money.
"But if they can run service without costing any money I don't see why we should be starting off on that route."
And he said the idea was to launch the new scheme in the city centre but extend it to poorer areas after that. "The trial will be in the city centre and we would then look to increase the scope of the scheme."
The next step is a workshop early in the new year involving the transport and environment committee with potential operators of a cycle hire scheme to learn more about the options.
Cllr Jenkinson said: "The consensus is that people are quite keen on a service, it's just on what the shape of that service that there's a little bit of disagreement."