Citybike Global wins Tampere and Pirkkala bike network contract, service due spring 2028

Tampere and neighbouring Pirkkala have selected Citybike Global SA to supply a joint city bike service that will start in spring 2028. The decision follows the city's earlier tender for a regional bike network the March tender for a regional bike network and comes after this spring's expansion of about 60 new city bike stations the April station expansion.

Five bids were received and evaluated on price and quality. The contract runs for ten years, with an initial eight-year term and a two-year option, and covers bikes and stations, maintenance, transfers between stations, winter storage, the IT system and customer service. Tampere's current scheme of 700 mechanical bikes will end at the close of 2027. Usage is rising. There were 280,000 trips in 2026, up 19 percent from 2025, and officials say the larger station network helped drive that growth.

City officials describe the new service as part of the public transport offering that will smooth connections to tram and bus stops. Mika Periviita, Tampere's public transport director, said the city hopes to introduce electrically assisted bikes and will work to improve the mobile app and reliability. Final bike type and exact fleet size will be decided later this year. Pirkkala traffic engineer Joonas-Petteri Kallonen said the shared service will complement public transport and link naturally to the planned tramway. Estimated net costs are about €400,000 a year for Tampere, below the current system's cost, and under €50,000 a year for Pirkkala; each municipality will make a separate final decision on implementation.