March is the time when city bikes return to the streets. We checked how much residents have to pay for this ecological option to move around their towns and where they can be used this year. It turns out that even in cities where it was popular until recently, there is currently no such option.
In the capital, the Warsaw Public Bike Veturilo started its season on March 1, 2025. This year, Warsaw residents have 3,355 bikes and 337 stations at their disposal. The first 20 minutes of using a standard bike are free, and the next 40 minutes cost only PLN 1. The second hour costs PLN 3, the third – PLN 5, and the fourth, and each subsequent hour – PLN 7. However, for exceeding the 12-hour rental period, you have to pay PLN 200.
There are also electric bikes available to residents. The first 20 minutes are also free, and for the next 40 minutes you have to pay PLN 6. The second and each subsequent hour costs PLN 14, and exceeding 12 hours of rental is associated with a fee of PLN 300.
The Warsaw Public Bike Veturilo had nearly 400,000 users at the end of last year. In 2024, the bikes were rented there nearly 4.8 million times. Each was used an average of 5.59 times a day, and the average ride covered a distance of about 3.5 km and lasted 24 minutes.
Free electric bikes?
In turn, since March 3 this year, residents of Krakow and the surrounding area have been able to use the city's electric bike system Park-e-Bike, where residents have 143 bikes at their disposal. They can be rented at seven stations located at Park & Ride car parks. The system is free of charge, but requires prior registration and submission of a verification form. This can be done at one of the four Passenger Service Points. Applications can also be submitted online via the ePUAP platform.
As reported by the Public Transport Authority in Krakow, rentals are available daily from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Each bike must be returned to the station by 9:00 p.m. at the latest. Failure to return the equipment on time may result in the user's account being blocked.
You can still sign up for another city bike system – LajkBike. This is a long-term bike rental service, allowing you to rent equipment for a period of one to six months. Here, for a month's use of a traditional bike, you have to pay PLN 33, and for an electric bike PLN 89.
There are fewer bicycles in the Tri-City
Also, the city bikes MEVO were supposed to hit the streets of the Tri-City every year at the beginning of March. Unfortunately, in a fire that broke out at the beginning of February in the hall of the former Rolling Stock Repair Plant in Gdańsk, where they were stored during the winter, the system operator lost 1.5 thousand bikes, including 1.3 thousand with electric assistance. Therefore, currently, it is possible to use as many bikes there as were used in the winter season, i.e. 2050. It is not yet known when the new bikes will be delivered.
According to the price list available on the MEVO website, a monthly subscription for renting a bike is PLN 29.90, and an annual subscription is PLN 259. After using up the subscription, the cost of a minute of using a two-wheeler is from 10 to 20 groszy for a traditional vehicle and from 20 to 40 groszy for an “electric”.
Some people ride all year round
As Agnieszka Markiewicz, head of the City Bike Department in Szczecin, informed Bankier.pl, you can ride public bikes there all year round. The entry fee required to register in the system is PLN 20. However, the funds paid in can be used for rentals. The cost of a minute of riding is 10 groszy.
Szczecin residents can also use the City Bike Rental, which has 85 bikes on offer. They can be rented for a longer period, e.g. a weekend, a week or even a month. Prices start at PLN 49.
You have to pay for the theft or destruction of a motorcycle
The residents of Konin can also use city bikes, which returned to the streets on March 1 this year. They have a hundred bikes at their disposal, including five with child seats. The first half hour of riding is free, and the next ones cost PLN 1. The second hour of riding costs PLN 2, the third – PLN 3, and renting a vehicle for more than three hours costs PLN 4 for each hour started. However, for exceeding 12 hours, you have to pay PLN 200. In turn, the fee for the theft or destruction of a bike is PLN 3.9 thousand.
There will be no bicycles in these cities?
For now, residents of Wrocław, who could use 2.3 thousand bikes last year, cannot count on renting a bike. This is because the contract with the previous operator expired in the autumn, and the tender announced in December for the operation of the system for the next 5 years was appealed to the National Chamber of Appeal. The reason was too short a period for preparing the system for launch. Now the new operator will have up to four months to do so, which means that Wrocław residents may only have a chance to rent city bikes in the summer months.
However, the residents of Poznań will certainly not be able to use city bikes this year. Although there was a perfectly functioning public bike system until autumn 2023, it was closed at the end of November 2023. This is all due to a significant drop in the number of rentals. That is why the local city council decided to redirect funds to the development of cycling infrastructure and 2025 will be another year without the possibility of using public bikes in this city.
