Dundee commuters are to miss out as the city’s e-bikes scheme goes into hibernation for the winter.
Members of the city’s main cycling group, Dundee Cycling Forum, have attacked the decision to “freeze” the city’s e-bikes for hire scheme from November 21.
The group has campaigned hard to ensure key cycle routes remain open throughout the winter for commuters.
Spanish company Ride-On operate the bikes with sponsorship from financial services company Embark, which maintains a strong presence in the city.
Dundee City Council also supports the project.
@MarkFlynnSNP @DundeeLeader active travel should not be shutting down- they say it is 360 day subscription! pic.twitter.com/8eBUAh8AtC
— Dundee Cycling Forum (@dundeecycling) November 14, 2022
E-bike bosses now say they require the downtime this winter to “prepare for an amazing springtime.”
“In order to be ready, we will be taking advantage of the cold weather, when fewer journeys are made, to have a winter shutdown, and ramp up for spring.
“Our service will be ‘frozen’ until the springtime,” the company said in a message to customers.”
Sara Ylipoti is chief operations officer at Ride-On.
She said the company will use the winter months to analyse planning sites for new station locations across the city.
She said the company could not give an exact date for the e-bike “relaunch.”
“There are various factors which can affect the relaunch. The includes the planning permissions for new sites.
“We will re-open in the springtime and once we have certainty on the exact date we will communicate it with our users.”
Dundee winter e-bike commuters lose out
The “freeze” means customer’s pre-paid plans and virtual wallets will also remain on hold until the e-bike system reopens.
Almost 25,000 people in Dundee have used one of the electric bikes, according to the company.
In 2021, bosses promised to double the number of city e-bikes and charging racks to better link up more communities.
The most popular route links Broughty Ferry to the V&A design museum on the waterfront.
Members of the company spoke about their success in 2021 in encouraging more people in the city to use the bikes for their daily commutes.
Those customers will now have to find an alternative form of transport for the winter months.
Active travel should not be shutting down
Dundee Cycling Forum members have previously campaigned for winter gritting on popular cycling routes.
A spokesperson for the group posted on social media: “Active travel should not be shutting down. They say it is 360 day subscription.”
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: ‘We have been made aware of the decision by Ride-On to close the Embark Dundee operations over the winter months.
“The council will work with Ride-On so that the Embark Dundee scheme can come back stronger in the spring.”
Conversation