Veturilo is a public

bicycle sharing system A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost. The programmes themselves include bo ...

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, launched on 1 August 2012 with 55 stations and 1000 bicycles in 3 districts - Śródmieście (city centre),

Bielany Bielany () is a district in Warsaw located in the north-western part of the city. Initially a part of Żoliborz, Bielany has been an independent district since 1994. Bielany borders Żoliborz to the south-east, and Bemowo to the south-west. Its ...

and

Ursynów Ursynów () is the southernmost district of Warsaw. With a surface area of , it is the third largest district in Warsaw, comprising 8.6% of the city. The district has a population of over 150,000, and is one of the fastest-growing neighbourhoods ...

, 2 other stations started operating in the middle of August in

Wilanów Wilanów () is a district of the city of Warsaw, Poland. It is home to historic Wilanów Palace, the "Polish Versailles," and second home to various Polish kings. History The first mentions of a settlement in the area can be traced to the 13th ...

. It is the biggest public bicycle sharing system in Poland and the fifth largest in Europe. It is also considered one of the most successful bike sharing systems in the world.

Name

The name Veturilo was chosen in an internet contest. It is an

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

word meaning ''vehicle''. Internet users submitted nearly a thousand proposals, and a jury chose a short-list of six. In the next step, during an internet vote, users chose the name Veturilo (with 32% of votes); other proposals were: Wawabike (26%), Ziuuu (12%), Rowerynka (12%), Bajker (11%) and Wabik (6%).

System

Bicycles are available for 9 months of the year, from 1 March to 30 November. In order to use the system, users need to register and pay a 10 zł initial fee. The first 20 minutes of the ride are free of charge, longer rides cost at least 1 zł. A bicycle can be used for up to 12 hours, there is a 200 zł fee for exceeding this limit, and after 13 hours the operator can report the bicycle as stolen to the police. The fee for the theft, loss or destruction of a bicycle is 2000 zł. The Veturilo was compatible with Bemowo Bike, a bicycle sharing system in the

Bemowo Bemowo is a district of Warsaw located in the western part of the city. Its territory covers the western belt of the former district of Wola, which was incorporated to Warsaw in the year 1951. The name of the district derives from the surname o ...

district operating in the years 2012–2014.

Name

System

See also