New public transport initiative gains ground

A new transport initiative is gaining ground in Auckland.

Nextbike is a new form of public transport system where people can hire bikes to get them around the central city.

Commuters pay an hourly or daily amount to use the bikes and can leave them anywhere in the central city provided they let Nextbike know where they have left them.

Marketing and sales manager Glenn Shaw says they have expanded their fleet of bikes from 70 in 2008 to 170 this year. He says they are planning to expand further but the market this year has but the brakes on this effort for the moment.

The idea centres on the idea to get kiwis active and using public transport.

“It’s really about getting Aucklanders and New Zealanders out of their chairs.”

Bikes available for hire as public transport is a global phenomenon that is growing rapidly in Europe. There are around 20,000 bikes for hire in Paris and other cities such as London, Dublin and Copenhagen are all expanding their fleets into the thousands.

Shaw says this initiative is strictly focused on public transport, and wants to distance the initiative from other stereotypes of cycling.

“It’s not about lycra and pack riders,” he says.