De Lijn’s shared Blue-Bikes are growing strongly

Flemish shared bike provider Blue-bike, owned by public transport operator De Lijn, experienced its most vigorous membership growth last year since its inception in 2011. The more than 45,000 members also made a record number of rides, at just over 377,000.

Blue-bike, known for the slogan ‘Always a bike at the tip of your fingers,’ offers blue shared bikes at more than 200 locations in Belgium, mainly in Flanders. 2024 81 locations were added, mainly in the Ghent and Limburg areas. For example, more than 50 rental locations were added in the transport region of Ghent.

Over a quarter more members

The number of members also rose by over a quarter last year to more than 45,000 – up from 36,490 in 2023. Together, customers made 377,837 bike rides, which is up 6.6%. Bike rentals are ubiquitous at train stations. Leuven, Deinze, Gent-Sint-Pieters, Mechelen, and Bruges were the most popular stations.

There are currently 3,007 blue bikes in circulation, 243 of which are electric. The availability rate is 98.73%.

Key machines disappear

Blue-bike worked for years with key machines and a membership card, but in 2023, it introduced bikes with a digital lock that users could open with their smartphone. This year, the company is switching to that ultimately, as the last key machines will be removed. Last year, the app unlocked a bike more than 200,000 times.