Velobike
Velobike is a bicycle-sharing system run by the city of Moscow, Russia.
History
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.In 2016, e-bikes were added to the service. In 2018 e-bikes were replaced by a fleet of pedelecs.
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.
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. The "2.0" became four times more popular than standard, station-based bikes, both e-bikes and standard bikes. As of 2023, more than 780 stations were available for users, around 10 thousand bikes were available, with 4 thousand of them being electric.
In 2025, all Smoove station-based bikes were decommissioned; Velobike has completely switched to dockless model. Instead, Velobike;
- Expanded its fleet up to nine thousand "2.0" dockless bikes;
- Added scooter sharing — launched 300 electric scooters;
- Launched dockless non-electric bicycles — for adults and for children.
Overview
[file:Wheel of bicycle of Velobike in Moscow 02.jpg|thumb|Smoove Box at the Velobike's handlebar]A user has to pay by a payment card for a subscription to the system either at the web site, mobile app or the Velobike's station terminal. Access to a bicycle is arranged by account number / PIN pair. A Troika transport card can also be used instead of the account number.
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.