| Velobike | |
| Locale: | Moscow, Russia |
| Transit Type: | Bicycle sharing system |
| Began Operation: | 2013 |
| Vehicles: | 4300 |
| Annual Ridership: | 4250000 (2018) |
| Website: | https://velobike.ru/ |
| Operator: | CityBike JSC (ru|АО «СитиБайк») |
| Native Name: | ru|Велобайк |
| Image3: | Moscow, Valovaya 8-18 bicycles June 2022 01.jpg |
| Caption3: | Station-based bikes. All of them, except one, are e-bikes |
Velobike (ru|Велобайк) is a bicycle-sharing system run by the city of Moscow, Russia.
The system was opened in 2013. In 2015 the 1st generation of the system was fully replaced by the Smoove-based solution using B’TWIN bicycles.[1] [2]
In 2016, e-bikes were added to the service.[3] In 2018 e-bikes were replaced by a fleet of pedelecs.[4]
In 2018 there were 430 parking stations in the system with 4,300 bicycles. The system had 424,736 users registered and 4,25 million trips annually.[3]
In 2023, the new "2.0" e-bikes were introduced. Before 2023, Velobike operated as a docking station based system only, but with "2.0" e-bikes, it added dockless option too.[5] The "2.0" became four times more popular than standard, station-based bikes, both e-bikes and standard bikes.[6] As of 2023, more than 780 stations were available for users, around 10 thousand bikes were available, with 4 thousand of them being electric.
thumb|Smoove Box at the Velobike's handlebar[7]
A user has to pay by a payment card (Visa, Mastercard, Mir) for a subscription to the system either at the web site, mobile app or the Velobike's station terminal (where available). Access to a bicycle is arranged by account number (user ID) / PIN pair. A Troika transport card can also be used instead of the account number.[8] [9]
The system has been sponsored by a number of Russian banks. First, by the Bank of Moscow, then by the Sberbank and later on by the VTB Bank. The capital costs are covered by a sponsor while operating costs are covered by the city.[10]
User can buy subscription on day/week/month or seasonal plans to unlock savings on rides lasting one hour or less. There is an additional charge for time over the limit.[11]