Nextbike Lviv - bike sharing not for tourists

Overview of the automatic bicycle rental system Nextbike in Lviv as of April 2018.

Lviv is one of the cities in Ukraine where cycling infrastructure is actively developing. The appearance of the only automatic bicycle rental in Ukraine under the brand of the well-known operator Nextbike was a bold step.

During a visit to Lviv, I noticed a rental station near the Ivan Franko University, and naturally, desired to test this system.

For a start, I downloaded the official application. It has a convenient test mode (Try out), in which you can immediately try the basic functions of the program without registering in the system. Test mode allows you to try to virtually rent a bike in many European countries.

To register, you must fill in the phone number, name, address and e-mail. You also need to choose the type of subscription, I was not interested in monthly or seasonal pass, so I chose the option “No subscription (Pay as You Go)“.

After registration unexpectedly (this is not mentioned on the station desk or on the website) to activate the account, the system requires you to pay a deposit of 50 hryvnias, which then added to your account. Payment is made only through the LiqPay payment system. Well, ok, proceeding to activating an account.

The registration field to the specified phone number comes SMS with a PIN code consisting of 6 digits, which is the password for authorization in the system. Now you can use it to log in to the application. [If you do not receive an SMS, you need to contact Nextbike support (their phone number is in the application), they will always help in case of any problems with the service.]

With registration, everything is clear. I approach the rental station and see that there is only 1 bike left. A bike can be rented by scanning the QR code located on the trunk with the application, but the program refuses to rent this particular bike due to an unknown error (probably that’s why it was still standing there).

At the same time, application map states that there are currently 5 bikes at the station. Obviously, the system displays the number of available bicycles with some delays or simply miscalculates them.

The nearest station is a 10-minute walk away. There are a lot more bicycles, and the bike is rented from the first try:

1. I approach the chosen bicycle
2. open the Nextbike application, click on the QR-code icon
3. I scan the QR-code on the trunk with the application, in the dialog that appears, click Rent bike
4. the application gives a code of the form 1234, which I enter using the keyboard on the docking station of the selected bike – then there is a joyful sound “peek”
5. I take my bike from the dock

Can go! The Nextbike bike has a trunk, so you can pick up another person if you wish. There is also a kickstand, a small luggage space in the front, a loud bell and lights: a headlight at the front and a stop light at the rear, which are charged with energy from pedaling.

My next stop is only 1.5 km away, and there is a station right next to it where you can leave your bike. It takes a couple of minutes for me to test the brakes and shift gears, adjust the height of the saddle and build a route using Google Maps – and I’m off. By the way, the program does not display the time during the trip – so you have to keep track of time yourself.

When I get to the next Nextbike station, I insert the bike into a free dock, the green light flashes and you hear a “peek” sound – bike rental is successfully completed) You can go for your business and not worry about your vehicle – because it is already in “common” system and can be rented by the next rider.

Now in the application you can view information about the completed trip – I noted that in 15 minutes of driving Nextbike withdrew 20 hryvnias – as for a full hour.

So, having chosen the Pay as You Go fare (the only fare available to me as a tourist), I will have to pay 20 hryvnias every time I get on my bike, even if it is only a 5-minute trip to the nearest attraction. In monthly and seasonal subscriptions there is a discount for 0 hryvnias (with an unlimited number of trips less than an hour), but these season tickets probably may be used by locals than by tourists who came just for the weekend. For comparison, you can use Vienna bike share for 1 euro with an unlimited number of trips.

It turns out that Nextbike for a tourist in Lviv can be profitable only if you rent for a long bike ride around the city (about an hour or more), but then in case of stops you need to take care of the bike and go nowhere far from it (because the penalty for loss is 15,000 hryvnias) which hardly makes Nextbike a comfortable way to get around the city.

Conclusions

What can be said after testing Nextbike from the point of view of a tourist who visited Lviv.

Pros:

• a large number of stations in close access to major attractions
• application with a map of all available stations and travel history
• comfortable, operational bicycles, equipped with lightings for travel in the dark time of a day

Cons:

• incorrect information about the number of bicycles available at the stations
• lack of adequate tourist tariff or a subscription just for a few days
• program instability: for several hours I could not log in to the application and accordingly rent a bike due to a strange error “User name or pin is incorrect”, when I tried again in the evening of the same day, I was able to log in to the application

With all the downsides, Nextbike is a great means of transportation for locals who can purchase a monthly or seasonal pass and then enjoy free rides for up to 1 hour.