West Midlands bike share scheme delayed until 2019

The West Midlands bike share scheme that could see between 3,000 and 5,000 bikes made available across multiple cities and towns will not be launched until 2019. Transport for West Midlands said that negotiations were ongoing with bicycle supplier, Nextbike.

As with London’s Santander Cycles, bikes will require docking stations, while initial reports suggested the scheme could include e-bikes.

The plan had been to launch in September, but the Coventry Telegraph reports that this will be delayed by at least three months.

A Transport for West Midlands spokesperson said: "We are working with the preferred bikeshare supplier, Nextbike, to deliver the highly anticipated West Midlands bikeshare scheme.

“This will be the first scheme in the UK to integrate with the region’s Swift smart travel card and as such we are working through every step of the process to ensure that it works perfectly for customers.

“However, progress continues at pace to create a world class bikeshare scheme that meets the needs of those who live and work in the West Midlands.

“The West Midlands bikeshare scheme will offer access to hire cycles across the geography of Birmingham, Solihull, the Black Country and Coventry, creating one of the most extensive schemes. A further update will be provided in December 2018.”

Nextbike is also said to be in the running to launch a bike share scheme in Manchester following the withdrawal of Mobike earlier in the year.