Springtime - and the bikes are back
Springtime in Aalborg means a lot of things. Days are getting longer, garden furniture is moved back out in the garden, herrings are back in the fjord in large numbers – and most importantly: The Aalborg City Bikes are back in the streets!
With the words above, site manager Jens Mogensen kicked off a two hours event to celebrate the launch of the fourth City Bike season in Aalborg. The event took place on Saturday 31 March at one of the central squares in Aalborg. Local radio broadcast live from the event with music and several competitions that involved the city bikes. Well-known Danish rapper Niarn played a gig, as well. Two of the guests at the event were especially lucky. The winner of the main competition won a trip for two to Paris to see the final hours of the Tour de France. The second prize was a brand new mountain bike. Every start of the public bike season has been celebrated by citizens, stakeholders and sponsors in order to ensure ownership of the scheme among users. This has resulted in a very low rate of vandalism and only very few of the bikes have disappeared. By providing easily accessible, high-quality and well maintained bicycles, people are using the system a lot and are taking good care of the bikes. Sometimes, people are taking so much care of the bikes that they bring them to their own homes instead of placing them in the city bike stations. Luckily, the citizens in Aalborg are very observant, and missing bikes are often reported to the operator of the scheme. Later this spring, the City of Aalborg will conduct two surveys to investigate the use of the city bikes. The results of these surveys will provide important input to the evaluation report. Watch a short video from the event here. Get information about the Aalborg City Bike here.
