Emission-free mobility with Mankeli city bikes

In season 2022, cyclists rented Mankeli city bikes approximately 110 000 times and in season 2023, approximately 295 000 times.

Students and work commuters use bikes actively between the city centre and the university campus in Mukkula. 35–50-year-old inhabitants also use bikes often for work commutes.

The bike driving zone reaches from the city centre to the central hospital in the west, Mukkula church in the north, and the south to Jokimaa. To the east, one can cycle all the way to Nastola, but there is no station there.

 – We are not planning on increasing the number of bikes as we have a good amount now. However, the inhabitants always wish for new stations, says Maintenance Engineer Anniina Karlstedt from the city. 

There has not been much vandalism towards the bikes, partly because the bikes weigh almost 40 kilograms and trigger an alarm sound when inappropriately treated.

Parking spots for e-scooters

There are hundreds of e-scooters in Lahti. E-scooters are not the city’s responsibility, but private companies manage them. The e-scooters support the city’s emission-free mobility goals, but the parking of e-scooters evokes feelings.

–If users leave the e-scooters all over the streets, they cause harm to others. For people with special accessibility needs, e-scooters sometimes cause severe problems, says Karlstedt. 

Karlstedt wishes that e-scooter drivers would acknowledge others when parking.

– Last year, the companies decided users cannot leave e-scooters in underpasses. Parking has been also restricted around the Travel Centre. Our plan is to add more parking sports for e-scooters to the city centre next summer.

E-scooters and Mankeli city bikes are relatively new ways of transportation. Anniina Karlstedt wishes that people would learn the traffic rules.

Bicycles and e-scooters have the same rules

Electric scooters follow the same traffic rules as cyclists. That’s why you cannot ride them, for example, on the sidewalks of the city centre if they are not marked as permitted for cycling. Light traffic lanes outside the city centre are generally allowed for bicycles and e-scooters.

It is also worth reiterating the rules for avoiding the crosswalk – motorists do not automatically avoid Mankelis or e-scooters in all situations. Karlstedt also wants to remind everyone to use a helmet.

– Unfortunately, we read a lot of news about what happens if you ride without a helmet, especially in the wee hours of the morning on your way back from a restaurant.

City bikes and e-scooters are easy ways to reduce private driving and traffic emissions.

– We wanted to make the use of bicycles attractive with pricing, and using them has been made as easy as possible. We want no one in the city to necessarily have to rely on a taxi or their car.