E-bike hire services launched

Wellingtonians and visitors to the city looking for low-carbon ways to get around can now hire and ride e-bikes using app-based services.

The new service was launched yesterday, 22 February.

Operators Flamingo and Beam each have 50 e-bikes available, giving people easy access to another sustainable transport option.

Based on demand, they will look to increase the number of e-bikes over coming weeks to the agreed trial cap of 150 each.

Flamingo Co-founder and Chief Executive Jacksen Love says they are confident bike sharing will play a positive role in the future of micromobility in the city, and hope to see as many people as possible having a go.

Wellington City Council agreed in December to allow the city’s existing e-scooter operators to trial e-bike hire.

The trial will be evaluated in mid-2023 and considered by councillors in about October.

Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau is keen to try one of the new ebikesand is also looking forward to seeing how they go here.

“There is plenty of evidence from other cities that show share e-bikes are a good thing,” the Mayor says.

“Testing them will highlight the local potential. It will also allow more permanent arrangements to be tailored to Te Whanganuia-Tara.

“A great thing about share schemes is they give more people an opportunity to try and use e-bikes and e-scooters. That’s important as we create a city where climate-positive lifestyles are affordable and accessible.

“For those who can afford it, share hire can also provide the experience and impetus to take that next step and buy an e-bike of their own,” Mayor Whanau says.

“We know that providing alternative ways to get around brings change for everyone so we will be working with people who hire our e-bikes and others in the community to make sure they can be safely integrated into Wellington’s transport network,” Beam’s General Manager (ANZ) Tom Cooper says.

The bikes come with helmets, and can be picked up from a variety of places, used to get from one place to another, and locked and unlocked using an app.

They will be available from suburban locations in the morning so people can pick one up and come into the city. They will also be available outside the railway station so people who have commuted in by train or bus have more options for how they make the next leg of their journey.

Fifteen new drop-zones, including one outside the railway station and several on the waterfront, have been installed.

People will be encouraged, and receive incentives, when they return bikes to one of these new zones or any of the other preferred parking areas marked in the apps. Experience in New Zealand and elsewhere shows that e-bikes are often used by people who don’t use e-scooters.

They can be a more appealing option for longer trips, and relatively low complaint levels indicate most people use them in a responsible way.

People hiring bikes are required by law to wear helmets. Bikes should be ridden on the road, in bike lanes, or other places where shared use is permitted in line with the national Waka Kotahi code for cyclists.