Competition in the bike sharing community in Brno rises. A new provider of bikes for rent – Velonet – has installed 16 new stations with 50 bright-red bikes this week.
After the project of pink bikes of Rekola, Velonet introduces the second service of this kinds in Brno.
The demand for bike rent in Brno is high and continues rising. The company Rekola reported over 15.000 rentals last year.
“The new bikes have adjustable seat, hidden eight-speed derailleur, automatic LED front and rear lights, and all the equipment,” says Jakub Mrózek who introduced the project in Brno. “The system of loans is very simple,” he adds.
Unlike Rekola’s bikes, Velonet’s vehicles can not be simply leaned against railing, trees, or parked at common city stands. Velonets have to be always left at special company’s racks. If not, the users have to pay 50 CZK fee.
If the bikes are left outside of the borders of Velonet’s specified area, the fine goes up to 300 CZK. The same logic applies for the bikes of Rekola – Rekola’s users pay 240 CZK for parking outside of the demarcated pink zone.
Both companies offer their websites and apps in English language. On the Rekola app’s Play Store review page (3.6 review points out of 5) you can however read a comment: “Service is super, but how about to translate all messages in the app to English for whom, who does not speak Czech.” Velonet app’s users (3.5 review points out of 5) on the other hand complain about overall functionality of the app.
People can rent the red bikes when they register via a cell phone or e-mail and receive a six-digit client number and four-digit PIN. Payment system works as at any e-shop. One hour of riding the red bike costs 29 CZK, about 5 CZK more than the pink one. First 15 minutes on Velonet bikes are free of charge.
“We started on Monday and we already have the first hundred users including foreigners,” informed Mrózek. Let’s see what service will win the hearts of Brno’s cyclists.
Title picture: ŠJů, Wikimedia Commons [CC BY 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons.
