ABU DHABI // City cyclists will find more options to rent in the coming days as Cyacle expands its bike-sharing stations from 11 to 50.
Cyacle, a privately owned venture in the capital, is funded by the Khalifa Fund and currently has stations on Yas Island and at Al Raha, on the outskirts of the city.
But upgraded stations will be launched on February 9 at Masdar City, with another opening in Marasy on February 17.
Cyacle, with the support of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, will roll out about 39 more stations at locations including Abu Dhabi Corniche, Al Raha Gardens, Yas, Saadiyat and Reem islands, New York University’s campus and Masdar City, said Ellaine Fatima, the marketing manager at Cyacle.
There will be 22 stations across Abu Dhabi island, with two at the Corniche, she said. The number of bikes available will be expanded this month from 75 to more than 300.
“We are planning to triple the number of bike users in Abu Dhabi city this year. Last year we had 22,000 bike users,” Ms Fatima said.
Renting the bikes costs Dh20 for a day and Dh50 for three days. There are no hourly rates available.
“Rentals are not based on an hourly basis. It’s per customer’s own convenient time,” she said.
“This is an unlimited bike ride for a day but users have to keep docking it each hour. The reason is simply because it’s bike sharing and we want other people to use it and we don’t want bikes to be left around unused.
“The response from Al Raha residents was good, so we are going to introduce it in the city and we are promoting the idea of cycling to work.”
anwar@thenational.ae
