BuBi (officially: MOL BuBi) is a bicycle sharing network in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

. Its name is a playful contraction Budapest and Bicikli ( bicycle in Hungarian), meaning "bubble" in an endearing manner. As of May 2019 the network consists of 143 docking stations and 1,846 bicycles.

History

The BuBi project was established in 2008 by the Municipality of Budapest. The capital investment for this project takes up approx. 900 million HUF (around 3 million €). 85% of this amount is covered by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

, and the remaining 15% is paid by the local government. Annual operating costs of est. 250 million HUF (around 800,000 €) are covered by MOL, the largest integrated oil and gas group, and runs a petrol station chain in Hungary – hence the name "MOL Bubi". Unlike basically everywhere else where nextbike's bicycle sharing system is implemented, which includes the hardware and the software and the bicycles, in Budapest it's not operated by

nextbike __FORCETOC__ nextbike is a German company that develops and operates public bike-sharing systems. The company was founded in Leipzig, Germany, in 2004. It operates in cities in 25 countries including Germany, UK, New Zealand, Poland, Croatia, ...

. In Budapest it is operated by

T-Systems T-Systems International GmbH (T-Systems) is an internationally operating service provider for information technologies and digital transformation. The company is part of Deutsche Telekom AG and is headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. As of 2012, T ...

and

Csepel Csepel (german: Tschepele) is the 21st district and a neighbourhood in Budapest, Hungary. Csepel officially became part of Budapest on 1 January 1950. Location Csepel is located at the northern end of Csepel Island in the Danube, and covers ...

. Normally, in other implementations of nextbike's bicycle sharing system, the bicycles are assembled in nextbike's own production hall and delivered worldwide, in Budapest, however, the bicycles are produced / assembled by

, a Hungarian bicycle manufacturer. Nevertheless, the bicycles in Budapest are identical to those in Warsaw, as well as to those in several other cities where the bike sharing scheme is created and operated by

. As of April 2014, the scheme was declared to be a first phase only. It is to be extended if it proves successful. According to

János László János or Janos may refer to: * János, male Hungarian given name, a variant of John Places * Janos Municipality, a municipality of Chihuahua ** Janos, Chihuahua, town in Mexico ** Janos Biosphere Reserve, a nature reserve in Chihuahua * Janos ...

, President of the Hungarian Cyclists' Club, a network size of 10,000 bicycles would suit the city's needs. In May 2015 the number of bicycles was 1100, and the number of docking stations was 76. In September 2016 the system was extended to 112 stations and 1270 bicycles. By December 2018 the number of stations grew to 127 with 1546 bikes and by May 2019 to 143 with 1846 bikes. A few docking stations are sponsored privately by operators of office buildings.

Network design

The MOL BuBi network consists of 143 docking stations, 1,846 bicycles and 24-hour technical support. The smaller number of docking stations on the Buda side is due to the

hills A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally considered to be not as ...

which make cycling harder. The prevailing location of the docking stations can be found o
this map
The network is designed to minimize the risk of having both empty and full docking stations. In order to achieve this, the size of the stations varies with the expected volume. Furthermore, if a bicycle is to be docked in a full station, there are extra stands with non-physical docking capability to which the bicycles can be attached. Each bicycle is equipped with an additional lock which sends an alert to network operators if locked. Then operators can intervene and reallocate bicycles. Both the size of the area covered and the fare system incentivize short, under-30-minutes runtimes. Therefore, bicycle dockings are expected to be frequent. In order to maintain smooth operation, network logistics is implemented by bicycle-transporting facilities of multiple sizes. The smallest unit can carry two bicycles on a trailer attached to an official bicycle, ensuring quick reallocation of bicycles.

Equipment

Dock terminals

BuBi users can pay the fares, buy BuBi passes and have deposits returned at the docking stations. The stations are equipped with batteries to supply the terminal and the docks with power, and the terminals are also fitted with solar panels. Each docking station features a surveillance camera to deter theft and vandalism.

Bicycles

MOL Bubi bicycles are produced by Csepel. They are city bikes designed to resist weather and time. In order to prevent theft and vandalism, they are made of irremovable parts which are incompatible with other bicycles. To satisfy urban cyclists' needs, bicycles are designed to provide their riders with comfort. Each bike is equipped with a front rack with elastic straps for packages, mudguards, chain guards and coat protectors covering the back wheel. They also feature hard wearing puncture-proof tyres.

Fares

The fee of using MOL Bubi consists of two distinct parts: the access fee and the usage fee. Users also have to leave a deposit of 25,000 HUF at the beginning of their lending period, which is refunded when the bicycle is returned. Planned fares as of May 2014 are summed up in the tables below. Prevailing fares can be found o
this webpage