Potential suppliers for bike hire scheme sought

30 October 2019

Suppliers from either the private sector or the third sector are to be sought for Aberdeen’s new bike hire scheme.

Aberdeen City Council is holding a Suppliers’ Event on Monday November 11 to ascertain what organisations can offer in terms of cycles, docking stations, and management of the project.

The bike hire scheme was approved at last month’s city growth committee, and the report to committee said the Scottish Household Survey in 2017 revealed that 27% of homes in Aberdeen do not have access to a car and 69% do not have access to a bike. A city-wide bike hire scheme would help increase the transport options available for residents.

A total of 32 locations for a bike hire scheme have been proposed and the docking stations at these locations would be phased in. The council would work with any company or group to identify alternative or additional sites.

For the Suppliers’ Event, the City Council is interested that third sector groups attend as well as commercial suppliers, and to discuss how they propose a bike hire scheme would operate, contribute to the wider community, and how their scheme would grow and be promoted.

The bike hire scheme including its implementation and running is to be 100% privately financed.

The Suppliers’ Event is to take place in the afternoon of Monday 11 November in Marischal College and any company or third sector group wishing to attend should email TransportStrategy@aberdeencity.gov.uk.

The details of this contract are to be posted on the Public Contracts Scotland website and interested parties can register beforehand.

The bike hire scheme is part of the European-wide Civitas Portis transportation project, which is worth £3.2million to the north-east led by Aberdeen City Council, and involves a consortium of council, university and private partners aimed at improving travel in the area.

The partners for the project also include Aberdeenshire Council, Nestrans, The Robert Gordon University, the University of Aberdeen, and Aberdeen Harbour Board.

Civitas Portis aims to make a positive impact on five European port cities - Aberdeen, Trieste in Italy, Antwerp in Belgium, Constance in Romania, and Klaipeda in Lithuania.

Civitas Portis has received 100% funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, and it started on 11 September 2016 and finishes on 31 August 2020.