E-bikes-for-hire operator pulls out of Peterborough after 'persistent' vandalism

Peterborough’s e-bikes for public hire operator has announced it is to axe its city service because of ‘persistent’ arson and vandalism of its equipment.

Voi Technology, which runs the service with the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority and Peterborough City Council, revealed its decision to quit the city in a brief statement issued this morning. (January 3)

The action comes just two years after Voi Technology, which successfully operates e-bikes and e-scooters in scores of major cities across Europe from Cambridge to Rome, launched its Peterborough service.

Jim Hubbard, Senior Public Policy Manager for Voi UK, said: “Following a joint decision between Voi and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, it is with sincere regret that our e-bike rental service is being permanently removed from Peterborough this week.

"We’re incredibly disappointed that the actions of a few have tarnished the overwhelmingly positive experience that many people have experienced when using our e-bike service.

"However, due to persistent acts of criminality, including arson and vandalism since launching in 2020, the cost has rendered the scheme unsustainable.

“Despite regularly reporting criminal activity to the police and working incredibly hard to find solutions that allowed the service to be relaunched earlier this year, our fleet has required an unsustainable level of maintenance and repair.

“Around 40 e-bikes will be removed from the street of Peterborough this week but approximately 70 vehicles have been damaged beyond repair.

"Despite these challenges, people have made nearly 13,500 journeys using our service and replaced an estimated 5,500 car journeys.

“Our service remains exceptionally popular across the UK as the demand for Voi’s shared e-bike and e-scooter services continues to grow, including in nearby places such as Cambridge, Northamptonshire as well as Oxford.“We would like to thank all our riders for their support and apologise for the inconvenience and disappointment that we know this announcement will cause.”

Voi Technology launched its Peterborough service at the beginning of 2021 and quickly expanded the number of e-bikes available for hire from 20 to 37.

Towards the end of the year, the number of e-bikes had been increased to 129 but then the service was suspended after a spate of vandalism including one incident in which 50 bikes were damaged.

The service was eventually restored in March last year when a senior official at Voi, while expressing disappointment at the vandalism, said ending the service had never been a consideration.

Matthew Pencharz, the UK’s Head of Public Policy at Voi, had told the Peterborough Telegraph: “We never considered not bothering again in Peterborough.

“It is really important during the transition to net zero to go on offering safe, sustainable and affordable alternatives to using private cars.”

He also said “We never considered just canning it. I think that would have been irresponsible.”

Mr Pencharz said at the time that vandals had found a way to hack into the mechanics of the bike but the company had been able to remedy the issue.