The first residents used the yellow bikes on Sunday. Metrorower is the creation of the Upper Silesian-Zagłębie Metropolis and the Nextbike company. 1860 bicycles and 267 stations appeared on the streets, therefore more than was originally planned.
The Upper Silesian-Zagłębie Metropolis is the largest metropolis in this part of Europe. We are a kind of city of cities, on one hand allowing cities and municipalities to keep their identities and on the other, building synergistic effects where borders seem unnecessary said Kazimierz Karolczak, the chairman of the GZM board. The launch of the largest urban bike system in Poland is a milestone for us. It complements the existing GZM Transport system, implementing, among other things, the idea of “the last mile”. This investment will not only enable residents to move around the city more conveniently, but will also positively impact the development of the local economy and tourism. I believe the Metrorower, with its scale and innovations, will inspire other cities in Poland and Europe added Karolczak.
The new system is already available for residents of eight cities: Katowice, Sosnowiec, Tychy, Gliwice, Zabrze, Chorzów, Siemianowice Śląskie, and Czeladź. Ultimately, the system will include 7,000 bicycles and 924 stations in 31 municipalities.
Metrorower users can look forward to fourth-generation bikes equipped with a GPS transmitter. This means that there will be no need to attach them to racks, and the system will allow free movement between municipalities and leaving the bicycle in another town.
Thanks to the operational perfection of the technical teams at Nextbike, by this summer we will launch a fully functional Metrorower system with 7,000 bikes, speeding up implementation by over 12 months compared to the original agreement with GZM. Such a system has a real chance to generate even several million rentals in a year, becoming a powerful force in the transformation of Polish urban mobility, commented Tomasz Wojtkiewicz, CEO of Nextbike Poland.
As part of the GZM Transport, Metrorower appeared in the fare, which is the only solution of its kind in Poland. Each passenger with an average or long-term ticket, from 24-hour to 180-day ones, and the holder of confirmed GZM Transport right for free journeys, will be able to use Metrorower for free for 60 minutes a day. For half an hour of riding, other users will pay 1 PLN, and for an hour 2.50 PLN. The rate will increase with a longer time. It will also be possible to buy annual, semi-annual, and monthly subscriptions.
