The León City Council will soon put out to tender the project to expand the bicycle loan with an increase of 80 mechanical bikes, the incorporation of 80 electric bikes and the implementation of 25 new locations, with 180 anchorages, all with a budget of 667,000 euros financed with European and municipal funds.
In addition to the supply of material to offer the service to the people of Leon, the bidding documents contemplate the maintenance of the service for a period of four years, the León City Council has reported in a statement sent to Europa Press.
The addition of electric bikes to the current loan system as a novelty will mean an investment of 475,253 euros, which is the total budget of the tender. This amount includes 355,256 euros for the supply of ten new stations, one hundred anchors and the acquisition of 80 electric bicycles.
Another 120,000 euros are the maintenance tender budget. All this will be financed with funds from the Edusi Plan and the Transformation and Resilience Recovery Plan (PRTR), as well as with municipal resources.
On the other hand, the City Council of León contemplates the expansion of the current mechanical bicycle loan service. For this, the total budget for the tender is 192,406.50 euros.
These are divided into 136,246.50 euros for the purchase of 80 bikes, 80 anchorages and the start-up of 15 new stations; and 56,160 euros for maintenance for four years. In this case, the financing is the responsibility of the PRTR and the City Council.
The bicycle loan has experienced a progressive increase since it began operating at the end of April 2022. Since then, and until the month of July, it has registered 103,000 rentals. So far, the month of May 2023 has been the month in which the most bikes were loaned with more than 9,500 registered loans.
In June the figures were similar. "This confirms that we are in stable figures that show that a substantial and very positive change is taking place in the use of sustainable means of transport", explained José Antonio Diez.
The mayor has also stressed that the most used stations are those of Ordoño II, the one of the León Oeste Civic Center (Quevedo), the one of the Plaza de San Marcelo and those located in the surroundings of the university area. Diez also highlighted the works that are being carried out to improve mobility in the city, especially those that are currently being carried out on Avenida Asturias, which will soon have its own bike lane.
To enjoy the bicycle loan service, different types of subscriptions are available according to the needs of the users. In addition to the annual subscription of twelve euros for those registered, there is another of 40 euros for those who are not. It also has other types of subscription such as monthly (19 euros), weekly (seven euros) or punctual (3.90 euros).
Currently there are approximately 1,200 registered residents registered in the system to enjoy the advantageous price of twelve euros per year.
In the case of new electric bicycles, their bidding documents provide that no more than 60 euros per year can be paid for their use and, in no case, may they have a rental price of more than 0.15 euros per minute.
Likewise, it is pending to define the location of the new bike stations that will foreseeably reach new areas of the city. Thus, this service will continue to grow as it has done since its inception since it started with 20 points, it was expanded to 25 and now there are 27 available to rent or return a bike with which to pedal around the city of León.
