City bike rental opens in Moscow

Writes Ilya Varlamov aka zyalt: “Finally, a city bike rental has opened in Moscow. For those who have been to Europe or the USA, this system is well known, it is available in all major cities: London, Washington, Paris, Vienna, Barcelona, etc. In fact, urban bike rental is rather a new type of urban transport. There are rental parking lots with bicycles in the city, you can take it in one place and return it in another. Everything is automatic and done in minutes. The less you use a bike, the cheaper it is. For example, the first 30 minutes are free, an hour costs 30 rubles, two hours is already 90, and if you ride for more than 6 hours, you will have to pay 1,500 rubles! The point is that bicycles should be used for travel from one point to another, and not for walking around the city. In Moscow, parking lots appeared on the Boulevard Ring. If the experiment is successful, then next year the geography will be expanded.

Today I already managed to ride a city bike and this is what I think ... "

(Total 25 photos)

Source: Journal/zyalt

1. First impressions are mixed... I've ridden many rental bikes in different cities, so there is something to compare. I don't really like the Moscow bike. Despite the fact that he is, in theory, new, the impression was that he was 5 years old ... Everything is somehow loose, the seat does not fix normally, the handles fall off ... It is not very convenient to ride.

2. The bike is heavy. If you drive normally on the road, then it will be difficult to drag him along our underground passages.

3. To rent a bike, you must first register on the site. Next, you need to link your credit card, it will be a return guarantee, money will be debited from it. If you do not return the bike, the bank will write off 15,000 rubles from you.

4. After registration, you will receive a unique code with which you can borrow bikes.

5. Bicycles are of two types - regular and three-speed. It is better, of course, to take three-speed ones to ride in the Moscow mountains.

6. And then you take a bike and the time has gone. You can return to any station where there are places. Here, by the way, most likely there will be a problem. For example, everyone will take bicycles at Pushkinskaya and ride down the hill to Manezhnaya Square. It is not clear how bicycles will be evenly distributed among parking lots.

7. So far, parking is only on the Boulevard Ring and a little inside. By July, they promise to open many new rental parking lots inside the ring and on Novy Arbat.

8. Muscovites study unusual service.

9. Now about the bikes themselves. Muscovites and guests of the capital have already vandalized bicycles. Lots of people have saddle problems. They seem to break easily.

10. The rental owner promises to fix everything in the near future. Apparently, it is necessary to somehow improve the design.

11. Rubber pads on the steering wheel can also be removed without problems. Many bikes have already been stolen. Why they need someone - it is not clear. Although, why break out the seat on a bicycle is also not clear. We have alternatively gifted people, unfortunately.

12. As for protection against theft, everything is strange here. The metal pin on which bicycles are attached in the parking lot is unscrewed in 5 minutes with a common hexagon that every cyclist has.

13. One two ...

14. That's it, the design with baskets is removed and the bike can be picked up for free. It is strange why they did not make protection.

15. Now about the bikes themselves. They are made in the Czech Republic.

16. Rear flashlight.

17. Each bike has a lock, the code from it is said when you take the bike.

Prices are very democratic. To take a bike you need to pay a fixed amount, and then pay for the time. Up to 30 minutes free. The opportunity to use the rental for a day costs 100 rubles, for a week 250 rubles, a month 450 rubles, and for the whole season 950 rubles. That is, if you plan to ride, it is better to pay for the season.

In winter, bicycles will most likely be removed, or maybe left until there is a solution. Everything will depend on the results of the experiment.

18. This is what a bike rental looks like in Washington.

18. There are many stations, the bikes are more massive than ours.

20. American prices are twice ours.

21. And here are the Parisian ones.

22. The French have very cool and comfortable bikes themselves.

23. Vienna.

24. In Vienna, unlike other cities, bike sharing is sponsored by different companies, so every bike is different.

25. They are attached to the frame, which is more reliable than our steering mount.

What can be said. It is very good that the city bike rental has reached Moscow. I hope the service will run in without problems and there will be more parking next year. Parking is needed everywhere inside the Garden Ring. This will help relieve public transport in the center during the warm season. Of course, now the main problem is the lack of cycling infrastructure. But here it’s a matter of demand for it, when 2 cyclists per hour ride down the street, no one thinks about bike paths. If hundreds of cyclists ride along the street, then paths and parking lots will appear very quickly. So bike rental will only make Moscow a full-fledged cycling city faster.

The bikes themselves look raw. They need to be brought up and monitored. I hope we don't break them too much. The story of the fine for theft of 15,000 is not very clear yet. For example, will they look for a bicycle in case of theft? After all, I can’t go to the police, I’m not the owner. And if they remove a fine of 15,000 rubles from me, and then they find the bike? Will the money be returned?

And so all is well. You can use!