Written evidence submitted by nextbike (ATR0085)

 

nextbike UK are delighted to submit a response to the Transport Select Committee’s inquiry into active travel.

 

We are part of the world’s most extensive bike share provider, with more than 150 schemes in 25 countries across 4 continents. In the UK we currently have schemes in Milton Keynes, Bath, Stirling, Glasgow, Cardiff, Swansea, Exeter and Warwick. We will soon be launching schemes in Portsmouth and a 5,000 bike scheme across the West Midlands Combined Authority. We also operate schemes in partnership with several universities across the country making us the most extensive provider in the UK.

 

We create sustainable and integrated transport solutions, with the aim of decreasing the requirement of people to travel by car. In short, our whole ambition is to promote and deliver active travel solutions.

 

Through this, we know that bikeshare schemes encourage more people to take up cycling, especially more women. Research from CoMoUK (formerly BikePlus) has found that “50% of all those surveyed started to cycle or increased the amount they cycle as a result of the bike share scheme.” nextbike UK is also proud to have an approach to bikeshare that ensures our schemes accessible to all areas of a community, not just those most likely to cycle.

 

Our central message to the Committee is that the Government must bring forward measures to set a “consistent national standard for bikeshare schemes”, as suggested by the Cycling Minister in 2017 in response to Question 112924.

 

Why we need a “consistent national standard for bikeshare schemes”

 

Bikeshare must be an integral part of active travel policy, so it is vital that it’s introduced across the country in the right manner. A “consistent national standard for bikeshare schemes” can play an important role in:

 

 

Underpinning this “consistent national standard” must be the empowerment of local authorities to manage and regulate any bikeshare scheme that operates in their area.

 

Recent trends illustrate risks in the current UK bikeshare market

 

nextbike UK believe there are three current failures in the UK bikeshare industry, which all risk preventing the highest uptake of active travel possible. We urge the Committee to consider:

  1. The ability of a bikeshare provider to suddenly withdraw a scheme, impacting thousands of users who have made the effort to accommodate bikeshare into their life
  2. The ability of a provider to set up a scheme without any official permission or collaboration with the local authority
  3. The lack of official monitoring or safety checks of the quality and maintenance of bikeshare bikes.

 

  1. Sudden withdrawals: nextbike UK believes that we are currently witnessing certain parts of the bikeshare market in the UK being tested to their limit, and Government intervention is required to ensure a “consistent national standard” in the market.

One provider has recently announced a quick withdrawal from its schemes in Sheffield and Norwich (and a planned one in Leeds), whilst another has announced an immediate withdrawal from Manchester. If we are wanting people to switch to active travel options, it’s vital that they have the confidence these services will be available over the long term.

In all of these cases, the provider has suggested that high levels of vandalism are a major reason in their decision to close the scheme. nextbike UK does not agree with these providers’ analysis of their own performance. We have experienced higher than average levels of vandalism in certain areas where we operate, however our response is not to close the whole scheme, but to work with the local authority, law enforcement and community groups to resolve these issues. As a result, this has helped us to significantly grow usage of our schemes; by May 2018 we have already broken every record in the UK in terms of usage, in every scheme that we operate.

We believe that the response of other providers illustrates a failure of their operational approach, business model and values. This, in turn, makes the case for a “consistent national standard for bikeshare schemes” as this device can be used to ensure the bikeshare providers make long term commitments to their schemes, take positive steps to counter issues such as vandalism and don’t suddenly leave thousands of users without the ability to cycle to work.

The closure of schemes in Manchester, Sheffield, Norwich and Leeds must not be viewed as a sign of a lack of demand for active travel options from local residents or visitors, or a demonstration that the UK public has an exceptional urge to vandalise bikes. It is a sign of the market failure within certain parts of the bikeshare industry.

  1. Lack of local government control: The number of bikeshare schemes will continue to grow across the UK (nextbike UK has a full order book for 2019 for example), which means Government intervention is required to ensure the cases of Manchester, Sheffield, Norwich and Leeds are not experienced again.

A “consistent national standard for bikeshare schemes” would mean that no provider can roll-out a scheme overnight in a town or city without the consent of a local authority. Bikeshare schemes lead to a sudden increase in the number of cyclists on the road. It’s therefore important that any scheme is introduced following a proper period of consultation and collaboration with a local authority to design the composition of the scheme to suit local infrastruture, and a suitable period of communication and advertising with the public about its introduction. This will help to minimise any aggression or negative sentiment from other road users towards new bikeshare users.

We have experience of issues caused by rogue practice by other providers. In Bath, where we have a great relationship with the local authority, another provider started introducing bikes into the area. Bath and North East Somerset Council are now having to use littering laws to remove these other provider’s bikes, at a cost to the local taxpayer. Introducing a “consistent national standard” would prevent similar situations happening in other parts of the country.

 

Whilst self-regulation is currently working to a satisfactory level in the UK, in Europe this is failing and has been ignored by businesses who place commercial gain above sustainable solutions. This has resulted in bikeshare schemes being set up in cities such as Amsterdam, Berlin and Paris against the wishes of the local authorities. The recent history in the UK around pedicabs demonstrates how quickly self-regulation can fail due to the actions of one rogue operator.

 

  1. Ensuring safety: A “consistent national standard for bikeshare schemes” would also increase public confidence in the quality and safety of bikeshare schemes. It is essential that bikeshare bikes are built and maintained to the highest possible standards. There is a large variation in the cost, and therefore quality, of bikes that bikeshare operators active in the UK use. There are also significant differences in the approach taken by providers to ensuring their bikes are regularly checked and serviced.

 

Many bikeshare operators in the UK are CoMoUK accredited, which exists to provide “assurance to local authorities on an agreed set of standards expected by operators when providing services”. Providers self-declare their bikes meet the necessary requirements; there are no external or independent inspections. In this country, we do not have such a relaxed approach with any other form of public transport such as  taxis, buses or trains. Additionally, there is currently no law preventing non- CoMoUK accredited providers setting up schemes anywhere they want, with as many bikes as they want and of any type of quality they want.

 

Ensuring high safety standards will become ever more important over the coming years as the number of e-bikes in bikeshare scheme fleets increases, as these will enable users to travel at much higher speeds.

 

In summary, nextbike UK believes that if the Transport Select Committee wants local authorities to genuinely have the ability to collaborate with bikeshare providers to ensure that schemes meet local strategic objectives and that public confidence is maintained in this emerging active travel market, then a centrally-set “consistent national standard” is required.

 

A “consistent national standard” of bikeshare is widely supported by bikeshare providers, local authorities and by an increasing number of Parliamentarians. For example, several providers recently signed a joint letter setting out the requirements of regulation. Additionally, nextbike UK has met with many MPs and Peers to discuss regulation and found all to agree with our views, which has been demonstrated by a recent increase in the number of parliamentary questions asked about the issue.

 

Bikeshare schemes can support better transport planning

 

Better cycling infrastructure is another essential factor to giving more people the confidence engage in active travel schemes. As the number of bikeshare schemes continue to grow, and the number of people travelling by bicycle increases, new and improved cycling infrastructure becomes even more important. It is vital that local cycling infrastructure decisions are made with the strongest use of data possible and a “consistent national standard” for bikeshare must therefore cover the use of user data. Bikeshare schemes generate large amounts of usage data which must be available (anonymised) to relevant public authorities for the purposes of informing transport planning decisions.

 

nextbike UK shares user data with local authorities so that better transport planning decisions can be made. Closed, separate ticketing systems, which some other bikeshare providers use, creates barriers to entry for users, and can prevent local authorities accessing data for use to make better infrastructure and transport planning decisions.

 

Additionally, key to future active travel solutions will be the integration of bikeshare with MaaS. nextbike UK is the only bikeshare provider to have successfully integrated their offering into the two foremost MaaS applications; MaaS-Global’s Whim and Navigogo, and we are working with Whim in the development of our West Midlands scheme, which will the creation of UK’s first MaaS system.

 

Bikeshare is recognised to be a vital part of any MaaS solution, as it provides the first mile/final mile component to every integrated journey. Our studies in Cologne and Berlin demonstrate that bike share increases the catchment area of transport hubs by an average radius of 1.3km, as demonstrated by the image below:

 

 

Data-sharing also allows for better decisions on bikeshare fleet options. As electric and hybrid bicycles become more cost-effective, data sharing allows for providers and local authorities to make better decisions about the makeup of the fleet of bikeshare bikes.

 

Public funding for cycling infrastructure

 

We urge the Committee to recommend that the Government increases investment in improving road conditions and building better cycling infrastructure.

 

Funding pools, such as the Transforming Cities Fund, can be used for making improvements to cycling infrastructure but we believe the Government must go further and place the highest priority on improving road conditions (e.g. to lower the risks to cyclists of potholes) and to provide more dedicated, safe spaces to cycle (such as cycle superhighways) in more towns and cities across the country. These steps are required in order to reach the under-represented groups and give them the confidence and encouragement to get on a bike.

 

Making active travel accessible to all

 

nextbike UK fully supports the Government’s ambitions to increase cycling. To achieve this, we must increase participation in cycling across all parts of society, and not just those demographics or areas that are easiest to reach or who would provide the biggest profit.

 

A “consistent national standard” could ensure that bikeshare providers take steps to reach under-represented groups. For example, in Cardiff we are partnering with a disability charity to provide bikes that will open cycling to all members of the community regardless of their physical abilities. In Glasgow, to overcome concerns about digital exclusion, we have launched BikeShare4All. This provides access to the scheme for free including the 20% of the population without smartphones and those without bank accounts. In both these examples, nextbike has worked in collaboration with the local authority to improve accessibility to our schemes. These examples demonstrate the value of local authorities having a strong voice in regulating and managing bikeshare schemes to ensure that it meets the needs of the local community.

 

Currently, several bikeshare operators operating in the UK do not have similar initiatives that promote accessibility. This is another reason why we believe a “consistent national standard” is required, as this would enable local authorities to make initiatives like this a mandatory requirement of any provider wanting to operate a scheme in their area.

 

Conclusion

 

nextbike UK believes a “national standard” for bikeshare will give more people the confidence to start using a scheme as part of their daily commute, or as a sustainable way of getting around a town or city. Similarly, it will only take one of two stories in the newspaper about unsafe bikes to make a significant, negative impact on public confidence in a scheme.

 

We recommend the Transport Committee urges the government to reconsider its approach to a “national standard” for bikeshare as a matter of urgency. This will give local authorities the correct powers to ensure that schemes in their area work for local residents, commuters and visitors. If the government is serious its ambitions to increase cycling and active travel, it must capitalise on the potential offered by bikeshare schemes by introducing appropriate regulation.

 

nextbike UK would be delighted to give oral evidence to the Committee.

 

October 2018