The newly introduced system of electric rental bikes in Luxembourg City is inundated by whole host of issues.
Patrick Goldschmidt, alderman for mobility at the City of Luxembourg, stated that the current situation is unacceptable. JCDecaux, the company in charge of maintaining Luxembourg City's fleet of Vél'OH bikes, has been informed but Goldschmidt and his colleagues haven't heard back yet.
The docking stations are one of the main causes for concern. Some of them don't register when a Vél'OH bike has been brought back or fail to charge docked electric bikes. This means that the electric engine sometimes just suddenly stops working mid-journey.
Other problems are more logistical issues: People have complained that Vél'OH stations in Luxembourg City can sometimes be empty for hours or even days on end.
Goldschmidt said: "We might be the first in the world, but I'd rather not be first but have a functioning problem. It has a lot to do with batteries and electrical components such as different programmes and softwares communicating with each other. "
The City of Luxembourg is paying for about 90% of the Vél'OH programme, which adds up to about €15 million over ten years.
Understandably, the City of Luxembourg would like to know from JCDecaux how and how fast these Vél'OH issues can be remedied. Goldschmidt added that the city would "keep all options on the table and assess what this means for our relationship with JCDecaux."
Around 9,000 people have a Vél'OH subscription in Luxembourg City. More than 800 electric bikes are currently operational. This number is set to increase to 1,000 by the Easter holidays. Whether the issues can be rectified by then remains to be seen.
