New cycle hire scheme launches in Edinburgh

The new Voi bike scheme launches in Edinburgh on Wednesday morning

Edinburgh's new cycle hire scheme has launched.

Swedish firm Voi has 50 electric bikes across an 8 sq km zone of the city centre, which it says will be expanded over time.

If demand is there, the council has said that there could be 800 bikes on the streets of the capital by the end of December.

They will use a dockless model with bikes parked out of the way on pavements and at other points in the city - as opposed to the docked model used by the old Just Eat cycles scheme.

Users will be able to cycle from Powderhall to the Commonwealth Pool and Holyrood to Haymarket, but the zone sees Bruntsfield cut in half and juts inland from the Water of Leith to cut out Dean Village.

The coverage area is wider than expected, as it was initially thought that it would be limited to the city centre council ward.

Voi is also set to take over the cycle hire scheme in Glasgow later this year, replacing the current nextbikes service.

Edinburgh's cycle hire coverage area could expand if there is demand

The scheme runs at no cost to the council and bikes can be rented through the Voi app.

Fares are set at £0.11 per minute of use, or £6.60 per hour – though the firm has also made discount bundles and subscriptions available.

Hire bike coverage area

The north edge of the coverage area roughly follows the Water of Leith, minus cuts inland to avoid Dean Village and part of Stockbridge.

Around Powderhall, the boundary heads south along McDonald Road and Brunswick Road, before reaching Easter Road.

It then goes down Easter Road, before running south across Holyrood Park to a point west of St Margaret's Loch.

After that, it goes around Queen's Drive, until reaching the University of Edinburgh's Pollock Halls, which it circles to reach Dalkeith Road.

Riders using the Voi app can access 50 dockless electric bikes across the capital

Going west, it follows Salisbury Road, Salisbury Place, Grange Court, Sciennes Road and Warrender Park Road, before carving out the south end of the Links.

Completing the boundary of the coverage area, it runs up Viewforth, along Dundee Street, and then in a roughly straight line between Murdoch Terrace and Magdelena Crescent.

Bosses at Voi have said they will avoid the same fate as Edinburgh's last cycle hire scheme, which collapsed under the cost of maintenance and vandalism.

Bikes were often thrown in the Water of Leith or other bodies of water, and that scheme – which was also meant to run at no cost – ended up costing £1.8m.

Managers have said Voi's bikes are sturdier than those used by the old Just Eat scheme, and have benefited from technological advances since its failure four years ago.

Additional reporting by local democracy reporter Joe Sullivan.