Tartu smart bike share as an organic part of mobility
About this good practice
Tartu Smart Bike Share was launched in June 2019. Station to station principle started with 69 docking stations and 750 bikes.
Today tations are 100. Tartu Smart Bike Share has been expanded within the city and to nearby municipalities. Stations are modular, expandable by the number of docks.
At launch free ride with bus tickets was provided. The city bus card is used to rent and release bike. In July 2022 a joint ticket which provided access to bus service and bike sharing network was launched.
Building bike share stations near major transport hubs encourages transfers between different types of transportation, i.e. transportation hubs (bus station, railway station) and commercial hubs (major shopping centres). In case big events are taking place in the city, there is ability to open temporary virtual docking stations.
Tartu Smart Bike Share is an alternative way of transport for suburban areas and neighbouring municipalities:
Kambja municipality – 3 stations
Luunja municipality – 2 stations
Tartu municipality – 5 stations
Circumstances that hinder being part of mobility:
• The availability of bikes is not guaranteed
• Balancing with 100 stations (2-3 balancing teams)
• Seasonal availability (No electric-assist bikes in minus temperatures)
Tartu Smart Bike Share has acquired next generation electric assist bikes, which can communicate with the bike share system in real-time. Software installed in the bikes collects data for statistics about the rides, speed, distances etc
Resources needed
Investment: ca. 2,500,000€ financed from the urban development measure of EU Regional Development Fund (€1.7 million, incl. €250,000 Tartu City co-financing), Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme SmartEnCity (approx. €800,000, incl. €133,000 Tartu City co-financing)
Evidence of success
100 stations, incl .10 in neighbouring municipalities.
750 bikes, a total of 500 bikes are electric and the remaining 250 are regular bikes.
25 111 users
Number of rides in 2024: 344 646
Total km-s in 2024: 960 750 km
All time distance travelled: 11 421 268 km
Average distance travelled per bike: 8 703 km
Potential for learning or transfer
Tartu Smart Bike Share is a public, self-service bike share system for short trips, considered part of the public transport system of Tartu. Residents of Tartu have been involved in the implementation of the system from the beginning in planning the solution, deciding on the locations of the docking stations and drafting the service pricing policy.
The main factors that determine the success of the bike sharing solution are: number of parking lots, availability of bikes and docking stations, safety, simplicity of the solution, weather conditions, affordability, population and density.
Benefits:
• Traffic reduction and decrease in the need of parking space
• Behavioral change
• Fast implementation compared to other means of transportation
• Reduction of carbon emissions and noise
• Greener and cleaner urban environment
• Autonomy from fossil fuels
• Improving the mobility and health of the citizens
• Increase in data availability
• New business opportunities (e.g. safety gear)
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.