Basel tests combined public transport and bike-sharing pass

Basel is testing a combined public transport and bike-sharing subscription, SRF reported. Holders of a Tarifverbund Nordwestschweiz public transport pass or a GA can receive 120 minutes of bike-sharing rides each month for five Swiss francs. The riding time is free for new subscriptions.

The pilot project, run by the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, aims to determine whether combined subscriptions change travel behaviour. It will run from mid-September until the end of November.

Public transport and rental bikes are often used together when timetables do not fit or passengers are in a hurry, said Alex Erath, a professor of transport and mobility at the university. Bike-sharing also extends the area served by a railway station, he said.

Erath said the two modes of transport should not be viewed as competitors. Together, they could form a stronger overall system and help people reach their destinations more flexibly and quickly.

Many public transport users who occasionally use shared bikes already have a public transport pass. But the two services currently operate in separate pricing systems, which can discourage bike-sharing use. Each rental bike journey also carries a one-franc starting fee.

The pilot includes the rental bike companies Publibike and Pick-e-Bike, the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft, and the public transport operators Baselland-Transport and Basler Verkehrsbetriebe. The Canton of Basel-Stadt’s mobility fund and the Federal Office of Transport are supporting the project.

The apps for the Northwestern Switzerland public transport network and the bike-sharing providers are not yet fully integrated. According to Erath, this is planned for next year. Rental electric scooters are also due to be included in 2027.

The university described the project as a first of its kind in Switzerland. In Zurich, customers with a ZVV public transport pass have been able to buy a Publibike annual subscription at half price since 2025, while bike locations are also shown in the ZVV app.

In Lucerne, the city and surrounding municipalities buy bike-sharing credit and make it available to residents free of charge. Erath said 40 per cent of rides there start or end at a railway station, indicating combined use with public transport.

The pilot’s results are expected from next February. They will help determine whether the combined offer should be introduced permanently. If it is, the bike fleets would probably need to be expanded before bike-sharing services are next put out to tender in 2029.