Private company takes over bike-sharing operations in Přerov as city exhausts subsidy limit

Nextbike had a contract with the city until the end of this year, but both parties agreed to terminate it. The city is now looking for a new bike-sharing operator for 2025 through a public tender.

City representatives noted that residents‘ interest in renting bicycles was so high that they exhausted the allocated 3.812 million CZK during the year. The funds covered the first 15 minutes of service, which were free for users and reimbursed by the city. „We increased the budget by 1.4 million CZK, but even that was insufficient. The law on public procurement does not allow us to allocate more, so we had to end the contract with Nextbike,“ said Deputy Mayor Tomáš Navrátil (ANO).

First 15 minutes still free

According to the deputy mayor, residents will not lose the service in the last two months of this year, as the city managed to secure an agreement with Olympus Medical, which will take over the commitment. The company aims to support this trend, as its employees also use the shared bikes. Users will not notice any difference, as the conditions will remain the same. „The same number of bikes will stay on the streets of Přerov. Cyclists will still be able to rent them for the first 15 minutes free of charge,“ added Dan Rambousek from Nextbike. Each additional 30 minutes will cost 24 CZK as before.

“Most of our employees live in Přerov. The high interest in using bikes for commuting was confirmed during the May cycling challenge, where we collectively covered over 25,000 kilometers. We would like to support this trend among other city residents and those from nearby villages. It would be a shame for such a widely used service, which also improves traffic conditions and air quality, to end prematurely,” added Radek Dyčka, Director of Olympus Medical Products Czech.

Nextbike had been operating the shared bike service in a pilot project since July last year. The city will search for a new service operator through a public tender, with monthly operating costs estimated at 250,000 CZK without VAT. The first 15 minutes are expected to remain city-funded. The operator will provide the service from March 2025 to December 2027, with a planned two-month winter break. „Our requirements include at least 160 bikes across 60 stations, and the contract will also cover the operation of an app supporting the system,“ Deputy Mayor Tomáš Navrátil (ANO) stated previously.

Since the beginning of operations, there were 330,622 rentals as of early October, with 212,554 in the current year alone. The system has 11,522 registered users, as reported by city cycling coordinator Jana Gazdíková. Shared bikes are available not only in Přerov but also in its local districts, with new stations and stands added by the city this year.