The relationship between RideMovi and Florence began in July 2017 when the micromobility operator launched its debut hire scheme in the Italian city.
Seven years on and RideMovi is Italy’s leading micromobility operator, with Florence a shining example of its success – according to the firm’s proprietary data it is estimated that the city’s scheme has one of the highest utilisation rates in Europe.
“We have provided more than eight million rides in Florence over the past five years,” Michele Pampanini, Co-Founder and COO at RideMovi, tells Zag Daily.
“This is the result of rider utilisation rates that far exceed the industry average.”
Flourishing in Florence
RideMovi started life with the launch of the service in Florence, and quickly expanded into other Italian cities such as Milan, Turin and Bologna. Currently, the firm operates in 40 cities across seven countries in Europe.
“We just started contacting local authorities and requesting to launch a free-floating bikeshare scheme in their city,” Pampanini recalls.
“And Florence was the first affirmative response that we received. Milan followed not long after and these test cases proved really valuable in showing other cities how it could work.”
Having built a relationship with the city of Florence over time, RideMovi has been able to grow its fleet to between 3,500 and 5,000 devices. This includes free-floating mechanical bikes and e-bikes, as well as station-based e-scooters.
The city has invested a lot in improving its public transport system in recent years, which has prompted RideMovi to focus on matching the price of each journey to the bus.
“At the price we offer, micromobility is the best way to get around the city,” argues Pampanini.
“Riders appreciate that it allows them to move from place to place totally independently in a smart and sustainable way.”
While Bird and Bit Mobility run e-scooter schemes in Florence, RideMovi is the only operator to offer mechanical bikes and e-bikes. Meanwhile, the firm is the only micromobility provider in Bologna.
“I think that exclusive tenders, in medium cities, are the most beneficial for the consumer and city,” says Pampanini.
“Exclusivity allows the operator to offer lower prices, which makes micromobility more appealing to the rider and increases uptake which reduces congestion and pollution.
“As an exclusive operator, you take 100% of the income and can then reinvest the money earned in order to keep prices down.”
Getting people riding
The results of RideMovi’s ambitious strategy have been very positive, evidenced by the eight million rides it has recorded in Florence during the last five years.
“Our current rider utilisation rate in Florence is almost three times more than the rate recorded in Milan,” Pampanini says.
“And the rate in Bologna is even higher because we are an exclusive operator.”
While Florence has a population of around 360,000 people, RideMovi has 500,000 registered users in the city.
“In Florence, we have more registered users than there are residents,” Pampanini continues.
“140% of the population are registered users of our RideMovi app. Of course there are a lot of tourists and not every registered user rides every day.”
As a rule, RideMovi has always prioritised serving the local residents, an approach that informs its focus on keeping prices low and offering monthly passes. However, due to the number of tourists that visit Florence, it also has shorter term passes available.
“We offer passes for 40, 60 or 100 minutes which more often appeal to tourists or infrequent riders,” explains the COO.
Such measures have enabled RideMovi to keep growing: “In the past three years, journey numbers have doubled. This is also driven by the introduction of the e-bike and e-scooter in addition to the mechanical bike, which gives users more options to choose from.”
10 years of service
Another strength of RideMovi’s approach in Florence is the trust that the operator built with the city’s former Mayor Dario Nardella, who served between 2014 and June of this year.
His successor, Sara Funaro, worked as a councillor during Nardella’s tenure and as a result has maintained this productive relationship with RideMovi since taking office.
“It has been a positive relationship because we are both working towards a similar goal, which is to promote sustainable mobility and reduce congestion and pollution in the city,” explains Pampanini.
“Because RideMovi has proven to operate an efficient and affordable service, the local government has been really supportive. When the two parties work together on a project, you get the results we have delivered in Florence.”
To this point, RideMovi’s contract with the Florence authority has been renewed on several occasions and its current deal is set to run for another two and a half years.
“We will have operated in Florence for 10 years when this contract expires,” adds Pampanini.
In terms of keeping the Mayor and local government happy, Pampanini explains that maintaining a functional and ordered fleet is a key priority.
“Our aim is to always have 98% of our vehicles operational,” he continues.
“It is also important that all our devices are accessible, robust and safe. This is a sharing business, so each bike or scooter needs to be capable of being ridden every day over a multi-year span.”
Such is the relationship between the two parties, they have agreed to a new promotion that will see local residents who already pay a monthly public transport subscription gain access to RideMovi devices for a certain amount of time each month.
“This promotion started in the last few weeks and has been running in Bologna now for around four months,” Pampanini says.
“Based on our learnings from Bologna, we think it has huge potential and are confident it will be renewed following the initial pilot period.”
All this adds up to a firm that has been profitable since 2019 with the expectation to deliver up to 45% year-on-year EBITDA growth during 2024. Clearly, there are plenty of lessons that fellow operators and local authorities can take from the success of RideMovi’s relationship with the city of Florence.
