In an effort to encourage more people to choose public transport over cars, a new project is being launched in ten suburban municipalities in the Copenhagen metropolitan area. Starting next week, the initiative will provide 2,000 shared electric bicycles (e-bikes), available for rental via an app at 175 different locations across the participating municipalities.

The initiative aims to facilitate transport from home to the station or from the workplace to the station, thereby motivating more individuals to opt for buses or trains instead of personal vehicles. Lars Gaardhøj (Social Democrats – Socialdemokratiet), Chairman of the Regional Council in the Capital Region of Denmark (Region Hovedstaden), emphasizes that often it is the distance of just a few kilometers to public transport that deters people from using it. “And we want to change that, because we need more people using public transport,” he states.

Unlike major cities such as Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, and Aalborg, suburban municipalities lack the same variety of car-sharing and bike-sharing services. Project manager Morten Heile Hass explains that this project aims to test whether the demand for this type of transportation exists outside the urban areas. Additionally, this is the first bike-sharing project to be implemented across municipal borders.

Bicycle rentals will be managed through the mobility app DOTT, where users can choose from different payment models. For example, with a subscription costing 19 Danish kroner (approximately 2.55 USD) per month, users can take unlimited rides of up to 20 minutes for 15 kroner (approximately 2.00 USD) each. The goal is to reduce the overall time people spend using public transport so they are less tempted to purchase a car.

“This is about making public transport more attractive by reducing the time it takes to switch between different modes of transportation. A bike ride to the station can make a difference,” says Morten Heile Hass.

The project is supported by Region Hovedstaden with an investment of 3.5 million Danish kroner (approximately 470,000 USD) and is currently scheduled to run until the end of 2025. The participating municipalities include Albertslund, Brøndby, Gladsaxe, Glostrup, Herlev, Ishøj, Lyngby-Taarbæk, Rødovre, and Vallensbæk. A similar project is also underway in Rudersdal Municipality, which includes 200 e-bikes and 32 shared cars.