PubliBike and velopass GmbH now offer a uniform bike sharing service. The objective announced last year, "1 network, 1 brand, 1 card", has been reached: customers can now rent all 1,000 bikes and e-bikes from any of the 100 stations in Switzerland using the same card. Bike availability at each location can be checked in real time at www.publibike.ch and via the PubliBike app. All bikes and stations will feature the purple PubliBike logo.

Swiss market leader

The aim is to complete the legal merger of velopass and PubliBike into a single company by 2014. The respective strengths of PubliBike and velopass are already being combined. Velopass, whose head office is in Lausanne, was founded in 2009. PubliBike was set up in 2011 with its head office in Berne. Until now, velopass had concentrated on French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino, whereas PubliBike’s main emphasis was on German-speaking Switzerland. PostBus Switzerland Ltd took the first step towards the merger in April 2012 when it acquired velopass GmbH, the largest bike sharing service provider in Switzerland. PostBus has since become the leader of Switzerland’s bike sharing market.

Unlike serviced bike rental, customers can rent bikes or e-bikes from self-service stations around the clock. PostBus is a great believer in the idea of bike sharing as part of an attractive public transport service. It is convinced that this still new service meets a growing need on the Swiss market. PubliBike is a joint commitment by PostBus, SBB and Rent a Bike. SBB is the location and marketing partner, whilst Rent a Bike is the bike and operating partner.

New Director

Fabrice Lago (45) from Fribourg was appointed as the new Director of PubliBike on 1 April 2013. He holds a Swiss Federal Diploma in business administration and a Swiss Federal Diploma in sales management and marketing planning. He has extensive experience of SMEs and the public transport field. Fabrice Lago is trilingual (French, German and Italian), which is a great asset in support of the company’s national focus.

Former velopass Director Lucas Girardet has decided to devote himself to his newly established renewable energy company. Martin Moser will remain PubliBike Project Manager until the end of 2013. The company will be based in both Berne and Lausanne. A decision has not yet been made about the location of its head office. Employees will keep their jobs and the ongoing cooperation with various local social partners will continue.

Eleven new stations

PubliBike will open eleven new stations in German-speaking Switzerland, French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino in the course of the spring: four in Berne, one in Rapperswil (Canton St Gallen), two in Villars-sur-Glâne (Canton Fribourg) and one station each in Zurich, Renens (Canton Vaud), Melide and Capriasca (both in Canton Ticino).