I would love to see it in more cities/countries, because I use it very often. I don’t have the money to buy one for myself so the best that happend was that the city decided a few years ago to make stations where you can rent these bikes for a short shopping trip or to some nice place. They aren’t even really expensive too.
Oh free sounds even better, I think the city is just a bit scared that it could end up in the rhine
The fleet in berlin is run by many smaller organisations like schools or family centers. IIRC the deal is that city buys a cargo bike for the non profit and pays for a service, and in return the bike is available to anyone who wants to use it. There are limits on how long the bike can be borrowed and sometimes a security deposit is required but otherwise it’s free. I love my tax money supporting this initiative.
Yeah, the program in Berlin is being established by organizations like ADFC (German bicycle club) that are a bit smarter and optimistic about it. I’m pretty sure the city administration wouldn’t be capable of pulling off such a good system…