A ceremony launching the first automated bike-sharing system in St. Petersburg was held at Gostiny Dvor yesterday, Fontanka.ru reports. The system now operates 28 rental points which may be expanded throughout the summer according to a representative of the Bank of Moscow, which initiated the project.
Currently, 170 bicycles are available for rent following registration on the project website. The cost of the first 30 minutes of any rental is included in the membership fee, after which time a sliding scale of charges applies. Weekly memberships cost 250 rubles ($7.30), while a season pass costs 950 rubles ($27.74).
“This system will create an alternative to public transport,” said Acting Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko at the opening ceremony. “I hope that motorists and cyclists will behave and obey the traffic rules.”
Chairman of the Board of the Bank of Moscow Mikhail Kouzovlev did not disclose the amount the bank had invested in the project, saying that the bank’s participation was socially motivated rather than being a commercial endeavor. He also mentioned that the Czech-made bikes that are now being used will be replaced with Russian models next year.
Many of those who attended the opening ceremony went online, signed up for the new service and rode away on the new bikes.
Rental points are located throughout the city center, including near Gostiny Dvor, Ploshchad Vosstaniya, Sennaya Polshchad and outside the Gorkovskaya metro station, among others.
Bike sharing has seen explosive, global growth over recent years. As of April 2013 there were around 535 bike-sharing programs from New York City to Melbourne, Australia with an estimated fleet of 517,000 bicycles, according to a report by the Earth Policy Institute.
Automated public bicycle sharing services currently operate in both Moscow and Kazan. Bank of Moscow launched a VeloBike system in the capital in 2013, which was replaced on June 9 by a system financed by Sberbank.
Source: The St.Ptersburg Times
http://www.sptimes.ru/story/40255