Antwerp's bike-sharing system, Velo, broke a record last year, registering 7,168,640 rides, Mobility Councillor Koen Kennis said on Tuesday.
Velo started in 2011 with 1,000 bicycles. Today, the network has nearly 5,000.
The number of rides has increased consistently: from 6 million in 2022, it went to 6.5 million in 2023, then surpassed the 7-million mark for the first time last year.
“Velo and Antwerp have been the perfect tandem for fifteen years now,” Councillor Kennis said. “The system makes an important contribution to the ‘modal shift.’
“Around the Central Station, Franklin Rooseveltplaats, and Berchem Station locations, 1.8 million bikes were borrowed.”
Maintaining over 7 million bicycles is a considerable task, with mechanics carrying out more than 22,000 repairs last year. The repair service tracks the history of each bike using its identification number, and issues are reported by users through the app.
According to Councillor Kennis, considering the number of bikes, rides, and users relative to the population, Antwerp ranks first in Europe.
"About 12% of Antwerp’s residents hold an annual Velo subscription,” he notes. “With one bike per 120 residents, Antwerp outperforms Paris more than twice over.”
