In the 2024 season (April 1 – October 31, 2024), residents of Helsinki had access to nearly 4,600 bikes and 460 stations in Helsinki and Espoo, as well as unlimited 60-minute rides for a seasonal price of €35. The city bike system is an amazing mobility service that deserves to be maintained and further developed!
Personally, I used city bikes a lot for commuting between home and work. I cycled from Malminkartano to Pirkkola, then did some Nordic walking through Central Park to Postipuisto, picked up another city bike there and continued to Kumpula, close to my workplace. A 9-kilometer distance would be too far to walk or run back and forth, but using the city bikes provided a varied and enjoyable way to get physical activity.
On October 1, 2024, the Urban Environment Committee approved the new principles for renewing the city bike service (the link is in Finnish). The current contract period ends at the end of 2025. According to the new guidelines, the number of bikes and stations will be increased, and a framework agreement will be created to allow the city of Helsinki to implement the following improvements either immediately or later on:
- Extension of the season at both the beginning and end
- Year-round usage
- Integration of e-bikes into the system, for example, making 30% or 50% of the fleet electric
I personally believe it’s essential to keep the usage fees affordable, so that everyone can access the service. It might be difficult to reconcile this goal with a significant share of e-bikes, but if the e-bikes included cargo bikes, they would be an interesting addition to the current offering.
Extending the season is not possible with the current bike models, as their screens and activation electronics become non-functional near freezing temperatures, at least in my experience. Also, the docking process and bike return functionality need to be made more reliable. Too often, you receive an error message and can’t activate or return the bike properly (though you can leave the bike at the station even without docking). Another thing to improve is the front light alignment: currently, the lights tend to blind oncoming riders or pedestrians, rather than illuminating the path ahead properly and acting as safe visibility lights.
And let’s not forget the helpful website: https://www.hsl.fi/en/citybikes/helsinki, where you can easily check station and bike availability, report issues, and submit feedback about bikes or stations.
Looking forward to next season!
This article was also published in Tanotorvi magazine, issue 9/24, November 27, 2024:
https://www.lehtiluukku.fi/lue/tanotorvi/09-2024/398176.html (in Finnish)