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Vantaa next to hop on city bikes in Finland

The city of Vantaa is rolling out 1,000 of its own shared city bikes in four neighbourhoods, starting in April of next year.

Kaupunkipyörä Kouvolan kirjaston parkissa
File photo of city bikes in Finnish city of Kouvola. Image: Pyry Sarkiola / Yle
  • Yle News

Like a growing number of cities in Finland, soon residents in Vantaa will be able to use shared city bicycles, according to local paper Vantaan Sanomat.

The city's technology committee decided on Tuesday to trial a shared bike service in the neighbourhoods of Tikkurila, Aviapolis, Myyrmäki and Martinlaakso from 2019-2022.

The bikes will be made available from April through October, according to the publication.

The committee selected transport services firm Marfina SL to provide 1,000 bikes and sponsored advertising gear to the city for a three-year period starting next year. The bike scheme will cost the city a reported 585,000 euros for the first year.

City bikes increasing across country

With its new programme, Vantaa will be joining a growing list of other Finnish cities that offer bikes to borrow, including Turku, Espoo, Helsinki, Kotka and Kouvola.

Helsinki's borrowed bike programme has been growing since the summer of 2016, and next year the capital city also plans to pilot a scooter-for-hire programme.

Vantaa's city bikes effort is part of the city's goal to be carbon neutral by the year 2030, according to the paper (in Finnish).