Malaga brings back electric bike rental service, but this time it will be publicly managed

Malaga is bringing back the electric bike rental service in the city, but this time it will be publicly managed. This action was added to the urban planning commission agenda, along with an increase of taxi fares, as urgent matters.

Earlier this year, the city council revoked the authorisations of the bicycle and scooter operators after six years of activity due to contract breaches, mainly related to parking on public roads. Dott, Bolt, Lime, VOI, Link, Tier and Bird were the companies concerned.

Councillor for transport Trinidad Hernández said they have studied the examples of other city councils. The plan is to initially provide 1,000 bicycles (expandable to 2,000), which will be available at 100 rental points. The timeline aims for the project to reach full speed by 2027, although it will begin next year. The decision has been made to manage the service directly.

The investment will be spread over three years, with an initial injection of 6.5 million euros plus maintenance costs. New bikes will be purchased in 2028 and new routes and lanes will be incorporated into the network.

The tender will be launched shortly, but the service will be public. With this, Hernández acknowledged the demands of Con Málaga and its spokesperson, Toni Morillas. The installation of the points will begin in areas where there are complete cycle routes.

Toni Morillas welcomed the initiative. She added her vote in favour to those of the PP and PSOE parties. Vox abstained.

Another matter brought before the urban planning commission was taxi fares, which the association of self-employed taxi drivers (Aumat) asked to be increased due to higher operating costs. The sharp rise in insurance costs is one of the main variables. Other fixed costs that have risen are taxes and technical revisions. Inflation, cost of living and rising demand also influence their request.

Aumat proposed an increase in fares of between 3.5 and 5% to guarantee the viability of the service. The initiative went ahead with the PP voting in favour.

Con Málaga abstained. As Morillas indicated, despite being aware of the difficulties in the sector and the unfair competition from private hire vehicles, she believes that the proposal does not meet consumers' interests. She also criticised the complexity of the tariff framework and the lack of transparency.

Vox voted in favour, without going into further details. For the PSOE, Jorge Quero announced his abstention but expressed legal concerns and pointed to the major changes in the fare system. He accused the ruling team of negligence and of acting based only on partial studies. He also did not agree with the restoration of the airport fare. "It's a botched job. This isn't a fare update. The cost system is being changed," he said.