Nearly 1 million trips – Bike-Sharing Success in Bergen, Norway!

A pilot bike-sharing scheme as launched in Bergen in 2018 for a trial over several months. The success of the pilot scheme quickly led to a public tender and the implementation of a permanent one-way, station-based bike-sharing scheme in the City of Bergen in 2018. However, 2019 was the first year-round operation of bike-sharing in the city. The 800 shared bikes are available at 80 different locations in the city. The system was developed over several stages, beginning with fewer bikes at the beginning of 2019 during the winter months and then increasing steadily as road conditions improved.

The shared bikes are a quick way to get from A to B in the City of Bergen. Surveys showed that most of the people who use the bike-share system use it as a supplement to their own bike, an alternative to public transportation (particularly for closing gaps in the network and service times), or just a fun way to experience the city. Bike-sharing is also known as a way to introduce users to cycling who may not previously have owned a bike. The stations in Bergen are open for rental from 6:00 AM to midnight and bikes can be returned at any time of day. The annual pass for the system costs citizens ca. 39 € which gives them access to shared bikes all over Bergen 365 days a year. The day pass costs less than 5€ and users have an unlimited amount of 45 minute trips for 24 hours.

The Municipality set the goal of 400.000 bike-sharing trips for the first year and expected the most frequent use to be in the summer months. Not so! The people of Bergen showed that they are willing to cycle all year round in all sorts of weather and 2019 ended with nearly 1.000.000 trips by shared bike! Among the frequent users of the scheme is Bergen’s governing Mayor Roger Valhammer (see image above).