Swiss Post: 100th PubliBike station in operation

Following a Postbus or train ride, simply continue your journey spontaneously by bicycle or e-bike. This is now possible thanks to PubliBike, the first system to allow self-service bicycle rental by the hour on a national scale. The bike-sharing scheme launched in summer 2011 is constantly being expanded. Yesterday its founding partners PostBus, SBB and Rent a Bike opened the 100th station at 37 Belpstrasse in Berne. The station is today being inaugurated by Daniel Landolf, Head of PostBus Switzerland Ltd and Jeannine Pilloud, Head of the Passenger Division at SBB.

Swiss market leader
PubliBike enables customers to rent a bicycle or e-bike for short distances at any time of day every day of the week. The first station was put into operation in Lucerne in August 2011 as part of a testing phase. Additional stations have been added on a continual basis ever since. The denser the network, the more attractive the service. This is why PostBus Switzerland Ltd significantly increased the PubliBike network by integrating the company velopass in April 2012. The acquisition has turned PostBus into the national leader in the self-service bicycle rental market. Customers can access approximately 1,000 bicycles and e-bikes at the 100 stations.

Growth
PubliBike is presently concentrated mainly in French-speaking Switzerland and Lugano with velopass. The more extensive networks of bicycles and e-bikes available there mean that they are used more frequently. PubliBike is therefore eager to expand to other cities and build up the densest possible network of stations in agglomerations as well. The number of electric bicycles is set to increase as a result. PubliBike will even be participating in invitations to tender in future. Cities such as Basel, Zurich and Berne are currently planning to launch invitations to tender for a local bike-sharing network.

Straightforward operation
Use of the PubliBike service is simple. At www.publibike.chThe link will open in a new window, customers need only to register once and can then simply turn up at the station terminal of their choice with their PubliBike card. Bicycles can be parked and secured anywhere along the route by means of an integrated lock on the frame. To return their bicycle, the user simply pushes it back into the bracket. For subscription holders the first half hour's rental of a regular bicycle is free. Each subsequent hour costs two francs. The rate for e-bike rental is four francs per hour. It will soon be possible to pay for bicycle and e- bike rental by credit card on the spot for a slightly higher tariff. The aim is to offer subscribers uniform access to PubliBike by 2013: one card, one tariff system, one subscription, one invoice, one account, one emergency number.

Ideal complement to the mobility offer
PostBus Switzerland Ltd, SBB and the bike rental company Rent a Bike are completing the "last mile" in public transport with their PubliBike scheme. Shared public use of bicycles and e-bikes for short distances is the ideal complement to private and public transport in urban areas where bike-sharing makes a significant contribution to easing traffic congestion. The scheme is ecologically sustainable: e-bikes are recharged with electricity from renewable sources directly at the station terminals.

Media Contact:
Swiss Post Corporate Communication Viktoriastrasse 21 3030 Berne 0848 888 888 custcare@post.ch

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