Free Bikesharing Has Proven Its Success in Prague

Last year, over half a million free bike trips were made by the Lítačka subscribers of Prague, confirming that its citizens are getting used to pedaling around the city.

Inspired by other world capitals, Prague wanted to expand its public transportation offers with another alternative – bikesharing.

The 2021 pilot project proved to be successful, which is why last summer the decision was made to permanently integrate bikesharing in Prague’s public transport.

“The pilot project of cooperation between shared bikes and Prague Integrated Transport has been running since October 2021, and during that time it has been used by over 23,000 people, who have made a total of 343,000 rentals. The record day was June 23, when we registered 3,239 loans,” said Adam Scheinherr, deputy mayor of Prague and councilor for transport, in July.

Lítačka card holders are entitled to 15-minute free bike rides twice a day with shared bike operators Nextbike and Rekola.

“The advantageous combination of Prague’s Lítačka and the shared bike service significantly improves the possibilities of moving around Prague. From the obtained data, it became clear that most often people rent bicycles precisely at metro stations or tram stops. Cycling is such a great way to get home or to work from the public transport station or train as quickly as possible,” informed ROPID director Petr Tomčík.

Prague has now published the figures for the whole of last year. In 2022, a total of 34,000 Lítáčka owners used the bike rental service. Most of them (81%) use this service regularly. 

The total number of loans exceeded 567 thousand. Prague Integrated Transport data shows that most trips take place in the early morning, with another peak occurring at around three in the afternoon. 

The busiest days are Monday to Thursday, during the weekend the number of loans drops by half.

If you want to try this sustainable addition to public transport yourself, the process is very easy.

You can link your Lítačka account to operators’ Nextbike or Rekola’s applications. After successfully linking your account, you will automatically get free 15-minute bike rides twice a day to pedal your way around the city.