Cardiff 'worst nextbike city for vandalism' as number of bikes needing repair nearly triples in months
More nextbikes are vandalised in Cardiff than in any other city the company is renting the bikes in, according to the Managing Director of nextbike UK.
Although there are more rides undertaken in the Welsh capital than in the other cities, more nextbikes are deliberately damaged here in Cardiff than anywhere else.
In the last two months, the number of vandalised bikes has almost tripled. It comes alongside an increase in aggression towards the company's service team on the ground.
Nextbike began renting bikes in Cardiff last May, following similar models in London and Bristol. Customers download an app which they use to pay for hire and pick up a bike from various stations across the city.
Since the launch, an average of 15 bikes a day have needed fixing, usually for general wear and tear with the odd vandalised bike. But at the moment, an average 40 bikes per day are heading into the warehouse for repair.
The Managing Director of nextbike UK Krysia Solheim says they are not seeing "anywhere near this level of vandalism" in other UK cities, but the trend does "follow a wave of vandalism on rental bikes across the UK and Europe" which is also being experienced by other operators.
She is certain the damage is deliberate as opposed to the bikes malfunctioning because of the nature of the destruction, which has ranged from kicking in spokes to the complete wrecking of an entire bike.
Krysia Solheim says it is a "small minority of people who are damaging the schemes" which has not put the company off rolling out more.
There are currently 650 nextbikes in Cardiff, which is due to increase to 1,000 by Autumn 2019.
The recent spate of vandalism means more of the bikes are in the repair shop for longer. The greater the damage, the longer they are off the road and mechanics are now fitting the bikes with more robust features to deter future incidents.
But this also means they are out of circulation for longer - something that's been noticed by customers who have been complaining online.
The company's director says they have brought in a number of methods to try to tackle the problem:
making adjustments to make the bikes more robust
bringing in new bikes with adjustments already made
changing in-app fines to encourage riders to return the bikes to docking stations rather than leave them stranded around the city where they are more vulnerable
monitoring accounts for suspicious activity
asking for more information when users register with the app
working with South Wales Police
asking riders to report damaged bikes