London and Paris are the leading cities in Europe for the shared use of bicycles
Comments Off on London and Paris are the leading cities in Europe for the shared use of bicyclesSource: Zag Daily
According to Fluctuo’s 2024 European Shared Mobility Annual Review, London and Paris are at the forefront of Europe’s shared bike boom, with one-third of Europe’s total shared bike trips occurring in these capital cities.
The latest report from micromobility specialists Fluctuo reveals interesting insights into the effects of the relationships between operators and local authorities, and the role that local conditions have to play in the success of shared mobility take-up.
Paris’s Vélib’ bike share system is Europe’s most used shared mobility service, with 49 million rides recorded in 2024. London plays host to almost one-third of all dockless bike journeys in Europe at 29 million trips.
Paris
Fluctuo CEO Julien Chamussy spoke to Zag Daily about the results from the French capital: “Paris has had its public bike system Vélib’ since 2007 but, despite some initial problems when the contract was renewed and taken over by Smovengo in 2018, it has become the most used bike system in the world, outside of China.
“The success is down to the population density of Paris, but also the station density and fleet size – it’s a convenient service to use, there are always bikes available, and nearly always docking stations available to park in. It is also very cheap to subscribe, and users can get unlimited rides for less than €10 per month.
“Another factor is the political will of Paris and Mayor Anne Hidalgo to promote cycling and reduce car usage. Paris has become a dream for cyclists, and ridership is growing fast.”
In a separate, earlier report, Paris was ranked as the top performing city for bike sharing in Europe. Cycling Industries Europe’s Shared Ambition report benchmarked the performance of bike sharing across 148 EU cities in 2023.
London
London presents a different picture, with a smaller public bike share scheme that is spread over a larger surface area. Station density is lower, which Chamussy noted could lead to the service being perceived as less convenient than Paris’.
However, in the specific case of dockless bikes, Chamussy believes the relationships which has been developed between operators and London boroughs have an important role in the success of bike share schemes.
“Dockless bike operators have been incredibly successful because they have been allowed by the boroughs of London to deploy bikes at scale. There are now more than 30,000 dockless bikes in London whereas in Paris dockless operators have been limited to 18,000 (soon to be 15,000). This has made using shared bikes incredibly convenient in London, and operators and residents are really seeing the benefit.
“London will renew its bike sharing system this year, so it will be interesting to see whether the approach to the station-based or dockless system will evolve over the next 12 to 18 months.”
He went on to outline how both dockless bikes and station-based systems can work in other cities. “Both cities are proof that dockless and station-based models can work, but they both require the right conditions to be successful.”
Highlights of the wider shared mobility sector
- The Fluctuo study found that there were 940,000 shared vehicles in 2024, generating 640 million trips and €2.1 billion in revenue.
- Berlin has the most shared vehicles in Europe, with 59,000 across the city.
- Shared mobility ridership in Europe grew 5% in 2024, despite the overall fleet size decreasing 4% since 2023.
- Dockless bike ridership grew by 58%, while fleets increased by 18%.
- Shared scooter fleets fell 16% in 2024, and ridership reduced by 9%. Despite this, scooters still make up 47% of all shared vehicles.
Check the Fluctuo report here.