A £25 deposit for a Highland electric bike hire scheme has shot up to a “ridiculous” £100, sparking concerns that poorer families are being priced out of active travel.
A total of 90 publicly-funded e-bikes are available for hire in locations around Inverness and Fort William as part of the Hi-Bike initiative, which is designed to improve public health and cut emissions by getting residents and visitors out of cars and using pedal power instead.
£424 for a three-hour ride?
The cycling project recently increased its per-bike rental deposit to £100, following “vandalism issues”.
This means that for a family of four wanting to take out four bikes for a cost of £6 each under the Hi-Bikes three-hour pass, they will need to have £424 available.
The £100-per-bike “pre-authorisation hold”, or deposit, is ‘reserved’ by Hi-Bike for the duration of each rider’s use of the pass, and released afterwards.
According to the Hi-Bike website, the time it takes for the deposit to be released to users “differs depending on your bank – usually it takes a few business days”.
‘It sounds very heavy-handed’
Culloden and Ardersier councillor Trish Robertson, who attended the launch of the Hi-Bike scheme in Inverness last year, said she believes the increased deposit price will put people off.
She said: “I think it’s ridiculous.
“We want to encourage people to use these bikes and this is certainly not going to do that.
“It sounds very-heavy handed — we’ve had our public toilets in Ardersier vandalised four times now but we have kept them open.
“The bikes haven’t even been in Inverness for very long.”
‘Many people on a lower income will be excluded’
Ms Robertson’s thoughts were echoed by Friends of the Earth Scotland, whose transport campaigner Gavin Thomson said the deposit hike was “concerning”.
He added: “Access to cycling is as much about cost as it is about safety and protection from vehicles — and the new deposit pricing will mean that many people on a lower income, who could benefit the most from a bike share scheme, will be excluded from using it.
“Encouraging people to get around without using their cars is an essential part of tackling climate change, as well as improving air quality and making our streets and neighbourhoods better places to be.”
Greens call for ‘careful’ balance to safeguard access to the bikes
The scheme is operated by a Canadian company called Bewegen and was installed in Fort William in April and in Inverness last October.
Users have a range of options, from pay-per-ride to monthly memberships costing £10 or yearly memberships costing £65.
The £100 deposit is only required for the three-hour pass, monthly memberships, and the pay-per-ride pass options.
Student memberships and annual memberships do not need to stump up the £100 deposit.
Green MSP for the Highlands & Islands Ariane Burgess said: “Hi-Bikes is a fantastic initiative and I am obviously concerned by the vandalism issue.
“We do need to tread a careful path which keeps facilities like these open and accessible to all.”
£100 deposit is ‘deterring vandalism’
The bike operator declined to go into detail on the vandalism, nor would it confirm whether it was reported to the police.
It said the deposit was “a temporary measure, until the vandalism subsides and so far the hold payment has helped with this problem”.
The spokeswoman said: “We have chosen to introduce a hold payment as opposed to removing Hi-Bikes, which is something other scheme providers have done in other cities and companies.
“We have attempted to support the Inverness and Fort William communities as much as we can, and we recognise that the majority of our users do treat the bikes with care.
“In regards to the release of the hold payment, in most cases, this can be implemented immediately upon contacting our customer service team.”
A spokesman for the regional transport body HiTrans said the organisation is “delighted with the benefits” Hi-Bike has brought to Inverness and Fort William, and added “The number of hires from local users and visitors is growing all the time”.
He continued: “We are currently in the process of expanding both the number of docks and bikes within Inverness in partnership with the Highland Council, but recognise the need to address any vandalism of the bikes.
“We are encouraged that the temporary measures have already had an impact, and hope that they can soon be withdrawn.”
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