Edinburgh electric cycle hire scheme gets go-ahead

Councillors unanimously supported the scheme which is set to have hire bikes on city streets by August.

The city’s last cycle hire scheme collapsed almost four years ago due to vandalism, with private operator Serco being unwilling to continue running it.

The Just East-sponored hire scheme in Edinburgh closed in 2021. Picture: Greg Macvean.

And the new plans will allow the city to hold misplaced hire bikes for ‘ransom’ until the private operator pays up.

Labour councillor Stephen Jenkinson, convener of the city’s Transport and Environment Committee, said he would ‘not apologise’ for putting officers under pressure to set up the scheme quickly.

After an addendum by the Conservative group, the scheme will gain an element where the city can collect misplaced hire bikes, and hold on to them until the private scheme operator pays a fine.

The policy is modelled off one used in the City of London, where misplaced hire bikes are kept by the council for 24 hours and then released to operators after payment of a £235 fine.

The change is aimed at addressing concerns raised by councillors about the risk of bikes being dumped on city pavements causing inconvenience or injury.

Unlike the previous Just Eat bikeshare system, Edinburgh’s new scheme will use a ‘dockless’ model, where bikes are not left at dedicated base stations.

Instead, riders will be instructed to drop them off and return them at various designated places on either city pavements or carriageways, depending on the area.

Conservative councillor Iain Whyte said: “I’m glad that we had [a hire scheme]. It was just a great pity that those in charge at the time couldn’t find a way to keep it going.

“My only concern is that we’re now moving to a dockless scheme. I’ve seen the problems myself, and they’re quite widely reported, where geofencing doesn’t work and bikes can become obstacles in many places.

“The City of London seems to have been the most proactive in this. They go around and collect misplaced bikes, and they charge the scheme operator to get them back.

“What I’m asking is that officers, if we do go ahead with a scheme that doesn’t have docks, we make sure we are ready to do that if we find they’re not parked in the right places and end up blocking pavements.”

In another departure from the Just Eat bikes, the new scheme will not be funded by the council, with services instead being supported through the fees riders pay to use the bikes.

The next step for the scheme is the selection of an operator, which will be carried out by council officers.

Two firms, Lime and Dott, are in the running. Both operate cycle hire schemes both in the UK and in the rest of Europe.

The scheme will initially run as a two year trial, but councillors hope it will become permanent by the trial’s end.

Cllr Jenkinson said: “I’m not going to apologise for putting officers under a bit of pressure with regards to this scheme, and the timeframes attached to it.

“We have moved at a significant pace throughout the development of this project. It’s pleasing to get to this stage armed with information about what the future of this scheme looks like.

“Like others on the committee, I want to ensure that the trial moves into something that is accepted as something that is a normal mode of transport for people to choose to move about the city.

“I understand the concerns about the scheme being focused on the city centre.

“It needs to be delivered within the timeframe that we’ve previously discussed. But I do think the points brought forward in the Conservative addendum are particularly helpful.

Efforts to reintroduce a cycle hire scheme have been underway since the previous scheme failed, but for several years there were concerns that it would not be feasible to reintroduce one in the city.

Among the concerns was the cost that running a scheme could have involved, with the Just Eat bikes scheme costing the city £1.8 million.

Liberal Democrat councillor Kevin Lang said: “Firstly, I think it’s great the work that officers have done with this, I’m really pleased on how this has moved on.

“I remember the debates about if this was feasible, if this was going to require a significant injection of council money on an ongoing basis.

“I think officers are to be commended for the work that has been done.”