Glasgow will get a new fleet of electric hire bikes after councillors agreed to award a contract to a new provider.
The city currently has 1,030 non-electric nextbikes and 209 e-bikes, but the new deal will see them all replaced with a minimum of 1,000 e-bikes provided by Voi Technology UK Ltd
Initially, the deal will run for three years but there is an option to extend it for a further two 12-month periods, with an anticipated spend over the full five years of £1m.
Glasgow councillor Angus Millar, city convener for climate and transport said: “It’s great that Glaswegians will continue to be able to take advantage of cycle hire with this refreshed scheme.”
The contract, which covers supply, operation and maintenance, will include a four-month mobilisation period to allow time for bikes to be purchased and customer data to be transferred.
A council official said the pricing structure would completely change so people were charged “minute by minute” rather than the current system where users have to hire a bike for 30 minutes.
There will also be options for monthly subscriptions and daily passes.
Users of the new fleet will download the Voi app which will enable them to locate bikes which they can then unlock by scanning a QR code.
A flexible dockless system will allow users to park in clearly marked on-street zones instead of fixed pavement docks.
Voi also plans to open a physical storefront in the city to allow people to hire a bike without using the app.
The official added that the current bikes were “very, very tired, very, very old” and of a “technology and a standard that the new operator would not use”.
Voi already operates across Europe in cities including Barcelona and Berlin, and has also been selected to run a new hire scheme in Edinburgh, with a trial due to begin on 3 September.
Twelve firms expressed interest and three submitted bids.
Current provider Tier, which manages the nextbikes, did bid for the contract but was not recommended by officials.
Reporting by local democracy reporter Drew Sandelands.