Tartu keeps bike-sharing scheme but seeks to cut costs

Tartu will continue its bike-sharing service despite plans announced in spring to consider ending it, ERR reported. The city is seeking ways to reduce the cost of providing the service, while Bolt is preparing to launch its own rental bicycles in Tartu.

In April, Tartu cancelled a tender for new rental bicycles and began considering whether to close the bike-sharing system in its current form. Deputy Mayor Priit Humal has now confirmed that the service will continue, although the details have not yet been decided.

The system currently has nearly 600 bicycles, about two-thirds of them electric. More than 100 bike stations are located across Tartu and in nearby settlements. However, the bicycles are ageing and need to be replaced. The city has contributed more than one million euros to maintaining the system each year.

Humal said the city was seeking answers to two main questions: how many and what kind of bicycles it could add, and how it could reduce the burden on the city budget. The city is also considering whether changes to pricing could increase revenue while allowing it to obtain new bicycles at a lower cost.

Researchers recently wrote in Tartu Postimees that Tartu’s bike-sharing system had attracted international attention. They said a major advantage of a service provided by the public sector was its accessibility to as many people as possible.

Jürgen Maidla, one of the leaders of the Tartu Cyclists’ Association, said he hoped the existing system would not be dismantled. He expressed concern that private-sector services might initially offer favourable prices but could become less stable over time. He said public services offered long-term reliability and stability and remained affordable for a broad section of the population.

Bolt is also preparing to bring conventional rental bicycles to Tartu, where it is testing the service alongside Tallinn and Riga. Around 100 bicycles are already in use in Tallinn and Riga, and most of them are expected to arrive in Tartu in the coming days.

Karl Apsolon, head of Bolt’s electric scooter division, said the company’s scooters, electric bicycles and conventional bicycles would have the same operating area and parking options. Bolt’s service will focus mainly on central Tartu because of the limited number of vehicles and will not generally reach the nearby settlements covered by the city’s bike-sharing system. Some exceptions will allow travel to Kõrveküla and Ihaste.

Maidla said two questions remained about Bolt’s bicycles: whether they would be available during winter and whether Bolt would redistribute them around the city, as Tartu’s bike-sharing system does. He said this would help ensure availability across Tartu and prevent the bicycles from becoming concentrated in the city centre.