Tartu bikeshare ridership down quarter from debut year numbers
Rising prices and competition have seen the use of Tartu's self-service public Tartu Smart Bike Share system fall by a little over a quarter compared to its first year in service. Even so, the city has no plans to scale its bikeshare back.
Residents of Estonia's second city have several options for getting around faster, including both bikes and electric scooters. Bike usage has gone down in recent years, however, while e-scooters have gotten more popular.
"I'm typically the bikeshare's number one supporter; I've been using it since day one," said Tuule, who was riding a Bolt scooter at the time. "Today there just weren't any bikes at the nearest dock, so I took a scooter. A scooter is a good alternative whenever you can't use the bikeshare."
Another Bolt scooter user, Joonatan, highlighted the convenience of renting the e-scooters.
"The main reason is that it's more convenient – you can just pull out the app," he explained. "But honestly, it's also because I got hit with a fine using the bikeshare – it's possible to be fined there – and now my account is blocked."
In a written comment, Bolt communications chief Liisi Maria Aleksius noted that since 2020, when e-scooters first expanded to Tartu, the number of rides taken has gone up tenfold. Bolt does not share absolute numbers.
Compared with the paid period in its first year of operation, use of Tartu's bikeshare service has fallen by a little over a quarter, admitted Tartu Deputy Mayor Raimond Tamm (Reform).
"In summer 2019, if we take July and August, when usage had normalized – compared with that, usage this summer was down 28 percent," he said.
Although Bolt offers competition to Tartu's bikeshare system, the deputy mayor said that the decline in users has largely been influenced by the rise in fare prices, which has led to fewer period passes being purchased.
"Our most recent price increase was in summer 2022, and immediately after that you could see a drop in user numbers," Tamm acknowledged. "Before the price hike, there were around 140,000 rides a month; today, it's around 115,000."
Annual operating costs for the Tartu bikeshare system total nearly €1 million. As it still has a significant number of users, the city currently has no plans of scaling the service back.
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Editor: Valner Väino, Aili Vahtla
