Tartu residents are keen users of rental bikes

Text Susanna Poikela
Photo Visit Estonia / Renee Altrov

Estonians are known as passionate cyclists, and the statistics show they are some of the most passionate users in Europe. According to a survey by Cycling Industries Europe, Tartu is among the top 4 cities on the continent alongside Paris, Antwerp and Ljubljana in terms of rental bike use. In addition, rental bike use in Estonia as a whole is only behind France and Belgium.

According to the study, 20.4 people per day per 1,000 inhabitants used a bike rental in Tartu, and a total of 706,000 trips were recorded in 2023. Most of the trips were made by electric bicycle. 

As European cities have become more environmentally aware, one after another they have started to implement the green transition in their infrastructure. Cities are providing alternative modes of transport to cars, improving road networks and supporting companies and projects that offer green solutions such as bike rental.

In an interview with the Tartu.ee website, Raimond Tamm, Deputy Mayor of Tartu, says: “Smart Bike is undoubtedly one of Tartu’s biggest success stories, attracting more and more people to jump on a bicycle. It is noteworthy that Tartu is the only Nordic city at the top of the table.”

To learn more about this and similar topics
Bike Rent in Tartu Explore Tartu How to get around in Tartu Smart Bike Tartu Transport in Tartu What to do in Tartu