It is very disappointing to see the government expend so little energy in trying to find a way to keep Evie’s dockless bike scheme going. There seems to be a collective shrug of the shoulders as the bike service ends, when the government should surely have been shifting heaven and earth to try and find a way to keep the bikes on the road.
Shared transport is a key part of the Island’s Sustainable Transport Policy, which was updated just before Christmas. It including the following ministerial commitment (page 11): to “…continue to encourage shared mobility as an alternative to private car ownership.” It even mentions (on page 46) working with Evie to this end.
It’s worth remembering why Evie’s bikes are such an important component of the island’s transport network.
- Shared bikes complement other transport options such as buses – multi-mode transport, in the jargon.
- They play a significant role in reducing congestion in town, where there are a large number of short journeys.
- They are used particularly by the young.
- They’re an important attraction for tourists.
- Almost 30,000 people have taken a journey on an Evie bike. There’s plenty of demand for the service.
When I was minister, I faced a similar issue just before Christmas. The insurers of Evie’s car fleet suddenly pulled out, following well publicised, post Brexit problems with the Gibraltar insurance market. They were struggling to find an alternative insurance provider. I worked with fellow ministers and officers in different government departments and thanks to the efforts of those officers, Evie were able to find an appropriate insurance solution.
This time around the immediate cause of Evie’s problems is again insurance. Premiums for their bike fleet have been hiked 30 fold, again because of problems with the market; nothing to do with increased risk in the business of running shared bicycles. However, it is also the case that Evie would have needed some kind of government intervention to support the business in the medium term. This would not have involved much money but would have involved a readiness on the part of ministers to roll up their sleeves and work on an appropriate solution.
One possibility that I know Evie had suggested was for the government to buy the bike fleet (and therefore solve the insurance issue by including them on the government’s insurance policy, at virtually zero extra expense) and then for Evie to be contracted to run the bike service. This is for example similar to how Guernsey runs its bus service, it doesn’t involve reinventing the wheel.
Such a shame that the government couldn’t be bothered to even meet Evie to discuss options.
Jonathan Renouf 