German company nextbike, which is owned by micromobility vendor TIER, has won the tender to continue supplying the bike-sharing system to the city of Warsaw from 2023-2028.
The Veturilo bike system is not only the largest in Poland but also one of the largest in Europe.
Leonhard von Harrach, VP and Regional General Manager, DACH and CEE, at TIER told Zag Daily: “We are honoured and humbled to have been selected to serve Warsaw for another six years. This is a great milestone for nextbike and TIER Mobility and we look forward to making this a great success for the city of Warsaw and its citizens.”
There are currently 3,000 bikes deployed on the streets, with scope to increase this to a maximum of 5,500 bikes.
The city of Warsaw has the option to purchase an additional 2,500 bikes if there is enough demand. It has been agreed that 10% of the fleet will now be made up of electric bikes. Over 300 new bike stations will also be fitted.
Harrach said: “Since Veturilo’s beginnings, the popularity of the system has grown steadily and we are very excited to continue our successful partnership with the Warsaw Road Authority. After 10 years of operations, we are now going to upgrade the system’s bikes, technology and service, and expand our offering to include e-bikes.”
TIER said Veturilo will get smart bikes 2.0 with frame-locks and GPS, and the 300 stations will also be GPS-enabled, allowing the operator to designate “station areas” in which the bikes can be returned. The e-bikes will also have swappable batteries.
nextbike now operates in more than 300 cities across 26 countries.
