Bike-sharing in Saint-Petersburg

велошеринг

HFT Guide has tested the bike-sharing service SmartBike in Saint-Petersburg.

Convenience

There are lots of zones in the central part of the city, where you can easily take or return the bike. Bikes are comfortable, each one has a basket to place your bag and places to put your bottle and phone.

Mobile App

If the region of your app market differs from Russia, you probably can’t download this app. Now it a bit inconvenient for travellers, but service is being developed and upgraded.

On the map in the app, you can easily check the availability of bikes in the parking zones. What is interesting, that every bicycle has its name (sometimes in honour of the city or country: Sweeden, Nice, Ivanovo e.t.c).

Prices

First 30 minutes – 60 RUB, Every further minute – 5 RUB. In this way, the price of the first hour is 210 RUB. 150RUB is written off at the beginning of every 30 minutes automatically. When you return the bike the difference is paid back. 2 RUB is charged for connection of your card. Not every card is accepted. Not profitable for long journeys, suits for short trips in a total duration of 30-40 min.

It’s a pleasure to ride in Saint-Petersburg: amazing embankments and historical buildings. Unfortunately, there are very few separate bike lanes, which makes this all inconvenient.

Test of bike-sharing and photos by Inga-Kouru Nedaskovskaja