The organisation behind the Aberdeen ebike hire scheme had to stop its other rental project in Bristol due to “relentless” vandalism to the bikes — but will the Aberdeen initiative face the same problems?
This week, around 200 rentable ebikes are being introduced all across Aberdeen.
The project is being brought to Aberdeen by Big Issue eBikes, which seeks to provide public electric bicycle rentals and create employment opportunities for those in need at the same time.
Earlier this year, Big Issue eBikes launched its bicycles in Bristol, with 400 being made available initially.
The @BigIssue bikes have landed in Bristol! https://t.co/V2rJr6nT4O pic.twitter.com/jS29J5rqxC
— Harriet Robinson (@HarrietRobbo) February 2, 2022
But within just six months, due to constant vandalism only around 200 bikes were left.
And as a result, Bristol’s scheme as it was first envisioned was “paused”.
It has gone from being a widely publicly-available one to a private, long-term rental model instead.
— BigIssue eBikes (@BigissueE) August 23, 2022
What happened with the ebike hire project in Bristol?
Jan Tore Endresen, CEO of Big Issue eBikes, has travelled to Aberdeen from Norway this week to oversee the launch of the Aberdeen ebike hire initiative.
Big Issue eBikes itself is a collaborative project, created through a partnership between the Norwegian bike hire company ShareBike, and Big Issue, an organisation that helps “vulnerable and marginalised” people across the UK.
ShareBike as a company has more than 20 years of experience in bike rental projects internationally.
Mr Endresen said that the prospect of the bikes in Aberdeen being vandalised is one of his biggest concerns, but hopes there won’t be a repeat of what happened in Bristol.
When the Bristol project came to a halt in August, a statement from Big Issue eBikes explained that in the six months following the launch in the English city, the organisation “experienced extensive and relentless levels of vandalism to our ebikes”.
The organisation said at the time: “Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, the vandalism has not reduced.
“Having begun with a fleet of over 400, we currently have around 200 ebikes on the street, and approximately 10% of these are damaged every day.
“In practice, this means that our entire fleet is vandalised every two weeks.
“We have more ebikes destroyed in Bristol in one week than in all our facilities combined anywhere else in the world.
“It is disappointing that the actions of a minority of people means we are left with no choice but to pause the current scheme”.
Vandalism is ‘biggest fear’ for Aberdeen ebike chief
Mr Endresen said that although he’s worried about the prospect of vandalism impacting the Aberdeen ebike scheme, he doesn’t think it will be as bad as it was in Bristol.
He said: “When it comes to Big Issue eBikes, we had it in Bristol but we have temporarily closed it down, and we are doing long-term rents there with the bikes instead.
“This was due to vandalism, the vandalism was simply a bit too much.
“We expected Bristol to be quite nice, but it was environment that was worse than… oh, well, I don’t want to name the city, but it was pretty bad.
“So we decided to change into a private rental scheme in Bristol instead.
“We’ve done research in Aberdeen, and I’m sure we’ll see vandalism, but Aberdeen certainly doesn’t look like Bristol from the research we did.
“If you have a lot of vandalism, you will end up having so much cost it eventually doesn’t balance out.
“So, vandalism is our biggest fear.”
The Aberdeen ebike hire scheme has been designed to provide new employment opportunities for people in need.
So far, it has created new roles for around six people, and it is hoped this number will rise as the project expands.
Mr Endresen added: “What I’m struggling to understand is why when we see vandalism, we usually see it in areas where Big Issue helps most.
“It seems like we struggle to explain to people why we’re here, and that is to try and build additional possibilities for what Big Issue usually calls marginalised and vulnerable people.”
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