Rekola

Bicycle sharing scheme in the Czech Republic and Slovakia

For the Finnish writer, see Mirkka Rekola.

Rekola

Rekola in front of Czech National Library of Technology, Prague

Overview
Area served| 4 (2023)
Locale| Prague, Czech Republic, Bratislava, Slovakia and other 6 cities
Transit type| Bicycle-sharing system
Daily ridership| 4,700 (2019)
Annual ridership| 761,731 (2018)
Chief executive| Vít Ježek
Website| rekola.cz
Operation
Began operation| 2013; 12 years ago (2013)
Number of vehicles| 2,000+ (2019)

Rekola is a bicycle sharing system in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It started in Prague in 2013 as a small project of Vít Ježek.[1] As of 2020, it is operating in six Czech cities, Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia and in the Finnish city of Vaasa. The company is operating more than 2,000 bikes, most of which are located in Prague. The daily ridership in 2018 was 4,700 people.[2][non-primary source needed] The pink bikes of Rekola do not have any docks, which makes the system five times cheaper than traditional dock system.[3] The bikes can be unlocked through an official app.[4] The user unlocks the bikes manually through the code which is given from the app.

Besides classical bikes, Rekola is also providing shared ebikes, kick scooters, skateboards, and paddleboards.

## History

[edit]

### COVID-19 pandemic

[edit]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic and after declaration of state of emergency in March 2020, the company offered unlimited number of free 30 minute rides to anybody in all cities where it operates in the Czech Republic. This offer was enabled by sponsorship from Czech companies Rohlik.cz and Prusa Research. The goal was to enable an access to transport with lower risk of virus transmission than public transport.[5]

## Locations

[edit]

Saddles of Rekola bikes, 2018

### Czech Republic

[edit]

As of 2025, Rekola operates bike sharing systems in 6 Czech cities. It operated in 11 cities in the Czech Republic in 2019. The list also shows the approximate number of bikes in each city.

City  | Launch  | Termination  | Bikes  | Notes

|
|
|
|

Number  | Year
Prague | 2013  | –  | 1,500  | 2023  | [6]
Brno | 2014  | –  | 150  | 2022  |
Olomouc | 2014  | 2023  | 110  | 2023  |
Pardubice | 2014  | 2016  | –  |  | Canceled due to lack of users.[7]
Prostějov | 2023  | –  | 140  | 2023  |
České Budějovice | 2015[8] | –  | 100  | 2019  |
Hradec Králové | 2015  | 2016  | 30  | 2016  | Canceled due to lack of users.[9]
Teplice | 2017  | 2019  | 40  | 2018  | Canceled because the city council stopped funding Rekola.[10]
Kladno | 2019  | 2019  | 80  | 2019  | Canceled because the public procurement was won by Nextbike.
Liberec | 2018  | 2019  | 100  | 2019  | Canceled because the public procurement was won by Nextbike.
Ostrava | 2018  | 2019  | 180  | 2018  | Canceled because the public procurement was won by Nextbike.
Frýdek-Místek | 2018  | 2020  | 80  | ?  |
Mladá Boleslav | 2019  | 2020  | 60  | 2019  |
Písek | 2019  | 2019  | 60  | 2019  | Trial operation between June – November 2019.
Krnov | 2023  | –  | 120  | 2023  | [11]
Žďár nad Sázavou | 2024  | –  | 60  | 2024  | [12]

### Outside of the Czech Republic

[edit]

City  | Country  | Launch  | Termination  | Number of bikes  | Notes

|
|
|
|
|

Vaasa | Finland | 2018  | 2020  | 60  | [13]
Bratislava | Slovakia | 2020  | –  | 300  | [14]
Tallinn | Estonia | 2024  | –  | 200  | [15]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Rekola – bike-sharing scheme". inherit.eu. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
2. ^ "Rekola". facebook.com. Archived from the original on 12 February 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
3. ^ "Rekola Bike Sharing: Solution for Large and Medium-Sized Cities". European Commission. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
4. ^ "The Social Impact City Guide to Prague". thegoodglobe.com. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
5. ^ "Důsledek pandemie: Rekola na 14 dní zdarma - Ve zkratce".
6. ^ "Růžová, modrá, červená, zelená i žlutá: bikesharing v Praze 2020". Prahou na kole (in Czech). 1 May 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
7. ^ Součková, Lada (5 August 2019). "V pardubických ulicích by se opět mohla prohánět sdílená kola". Pardubický deník (in Czech). Retrieved 2 May 2020.
8. ^ "Rekola – bike-sharing". Budějce.cz. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
9. ^ "Projekt sdílených kol v Hradci vyhořel, teď zkouší štěstí BajkAzyl". iDNES.cz. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
10. ^ Málek, Petr (17 April 2019). "Za růžová kola 1,5 milionu? Vedení Teplic to odmítlo". Teplický deník (in Czech). Retrieved 2 May 2020.
11. ^ "Sdílená kola bude v Krnově nabízet jiná firma, v soutěži uspěla Rekola". Městem na kole (in Czech). 18 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
12. ^ Verhaar, Suzanne (6 May 2024). "The shared pink bikes have launched in Žďár". Městem na kole. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
13. ^ "Czech bike-sharing Rekola expanded to Finland". CEE Transport. 7 October 2018. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
14. ^ "V Bratislave spustili nový systém zdieľaných". Denník N (in Slovak). 7 September 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
15. ^ "Rekola Bikesharing will start offering bicycle sharing service in Tallinn | Tallinn". www.tallinn.ee. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 14 January 2025.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rekola (bikesharing).

* Official website

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Bicycle-sharing systems

List of bicycle-sharing systems

Asia|

| East Asia|

* Anywheel (Singapore)
* CityBike (Kaohsiung, Taiwan)
* Ddareungi (Seoul, South Korea)
* Gobee.bike (Hong Kong)
* Hoba Bike (Hong Kong)
* Ketch' Up Bike (Hong Kong)
* Hangzhou Public Bicycle (Hangzhou, China)
* LinkBike (George Town, Penang, Malaysia)
* LocoBike (Hong Kong)
* Mobike (China and Singapore)
* Moov Technology (Singapore)
* SG Bike (Singapore)
* YouBike (Taiwan)

|

South Asia|

* JoBike (Bangladesh)
* Tiruchirappalli Bicycle Share (India)

West Asia|

* Antbis (Antalya)
* Bdood (Tehran, Shiraz)
* Bisim (İzmir)
* Cyacle Bikeshare (Abu Dhabi)
* Esbis (Eskişehir)
* İsbike (Istanbul)
* Kaybis (Kayseri)
* Kobis (Kocaeli)
* Sambis (Samsun)
* Tel-O-Fun (Tel Aviv)

Central Asia|

* Astana Bike (Astana, Kazakhstan)

Europe|

* in multiple countries: nextbike
* Donkey Republic
* Lime
* Bolt
* Rekola (Czechia, Slovakia and Estonia)

* countrywide: Call a Bike (Germany)
* OV-fiets (Netherlands)
* Beryl Bikes (United Kingdom)

* in one city: Aarhus City Bikes
* Belfast Bikes
* BicikeLJ (Ljubljana)
* BiciMAD (Madrid)
* Bicimia (Brescia)
* Bicing (Barcelona)
* BikeMi (Milan)
* BuBi (Budapest)
* Bycyklen (Copenhagen)
* Dublinbikes
* Helsinki City Bikes
* Forest (bike share) (London)
* İsbike (Istanbul)
* Oslo Bysykkel
* Santander Cycles (London)
* Sevici (Seville)
* Stockholm City Bikes
* Styr & Ställ (Gothenburg)
* Valenbisi (Valencia)
* Vélib' Métropole (Paris region)
* Vélivert (Saint-Étienne)
* Vélo'v (Lyon)
* Velobike (Moscow)
* Vélopop' (Avignon)
* Veturilo (Warsaw)
* Villo! (Brussels)

North America|

| Canada|

* Bike Share Toronto
* BIXI Montréal
* VeloGo (Ottawa)
* Mobi (Vancouver)
* Hamilton Bike Share

|

Mexico|

* EcoBici (Mexico City)
* Mi Bici (Guadalajara)

United States|

* B-Cycle: Austin B-Cycle
* Aventura B-Cycle
* Battle Creek B-Cycle
* Bike Chattanooga
* Boulder B-Cycle
* Broward B-Cycle
* Bublr Bikes (Milwaukee)
* Charlotte B-Cycle
* Columbia County B-Cycle
* Denver B-Cycle
* Des Moines B-Cycle
* Fort Worth B-Cycle
* Great Rides B-Cycle (Fargo)
* GREENbike (Salt Lake City)
* Greenville B-Cycle
* Heartland B-Cycle (Omaha)
* Houston B-cycle
* Indego (Philadelphia)
* Indiana Pacers Bikeshare (Indianapolis)
* Kansas City B-Cycle
* Link Dayton Bike Share
* Madison B-Cycle
* Metro Bike Share (Los Angeles)
* Nashville B-Cycle
* Rapid City B-Cycle
* Red Bike (Cincinnati)
* Roseburg B-Cycle
* San Antonio B-Cycle
* Spartanburg B-Cycle

* others: ArborBike (Ann Arbor)
* Arcata Bike Library (Arcata)
* Bay Wheels (San Francisco Bay Area)
* BICI Bike Share (Albuquerque)
* Biketown (Portland)
* Bluebikes (Boston)
* Boise GreenBike
* Capital Bikeshare (Washington, D.C.)
* CAT Bike (Savannah)
* Citi Bike (New York City; Jersey City)
* CoGo Bike Share (Columbus)
* Citi Bike Miami
* Divvy (Chicago)
* Healthy Ride (Pittsburgh)
* Lime
* Relay Bike Share (Atlanta)
* Richmond Bikeshare
* WE-cycle (Aspen)

Oceania|

* Airbike
* Lime (Australia)

South America|

* Bike Rio (Rio de Janeiro)
* Lime (Santiago de Chile)
* EcoBici (Buenos Aires)

Companies|

* BCycle
* Bolt
* Deutsche Bahn
* Donkey Republic
* JCDecaux
* Lime
* Motivate
* Nederlandse Spoorwegen
* Nextbike
* Lyft Urban Solutions
* Rekola
* Scoot Networks
* Serco
* Fifteen
* Spin

Defunct|

* 8D Technologies
* Baltimore Bike Share
* Bluegogo
* BIP! Perpignan
* CityCycle (Brisbane)
* Copenhagen City Bikes
* Helsinki City Bikes (1st generation)
* Jump Bikes
* Melbourne Bike Share
* Nice Ride Minnesota (Minneapolis-Saint Paul)
* oBike
* ofo (China)
* Ola Pedal
* OYBike (Reading and Farnborough)
* Pronto Cycle Share
* Santander Cycles Leicester
* SmartBike DC
* SMARTBIKE Puebla
* ToBike (Turin)
* Vélo à la carte Rennes
* Velodi Dijon
* Vélib' (1st generation)
* V'eol Caen
* Velcom Plaine Commune
* Wukong Bicycle
* Zagster

Portals:

* Czech Republic
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