Overview

City Bikes are shared-use bicycles that can be borrowed for a fee in Helsinki and Espoo. In 2023 the season starts in Helsinki and Espoo at the beginning of April. You can collect bikes with a personal cyclist ID and a PIN code. Bikes can be collected from all active bike stations that have bikes and can be returned to any active station, inactive stations will show up grey or wont show up in the map view.

https://whimapp.com/helsinki/en/campaign/city-bike-season-2023/

This article covers information that a customer needs to know when using City Bikes. In this article, the following information is presented:

• The City Bike Service Area and Bike Availability
• Pricing for Whim Users
• Possible Extra Fees
• How to Use City Bikes
  • How to Get Your Cyclist ID and PIN Code
  • Picking up the Bike
  • During the Ride
  • Returning the Bike
  • Returning the Bike to a Full Station
  • Problem Situations
• Questions and Answers 

The City Bike Service Area and Bike Availability

• You have access to over 3500 bikes and 350 stations in Helsinki and Espoo.
• Locations of the stations can be seen from the application.

Who Handles the City Bikes

In Helsinki, HKL (Helsinki City Transport) is responsible for the City Bike system. In Espoo, Espoo Technical and Environment Services is responsible. The system is administered by City Bike Finland.

Pricing for Whim Users

With Whim, you can get access to City Bikes either by purchasing the City Bike Season Pass or by subscribing to Whim Unlimited subscription (this subscription includes the Citybike season pass). 

The season pass gives you access to City Bikes in Helsinki and Espoo for the whole cycling season of 2023 (roughly from April to October, depending on the weather). 

You can currently purchase the City Bike season pass through Whim for the price of 35€.

Included in the City Bike season pass:

• Unlimited number of max. 30 min rides. If the trip is longer than 30 minutes, extra charges apply and these will be charged from your payment card registered against your Whim account. See more from here.
• 35% lower rates for taxi trips with Taksi Helsinki for 3km/10min rides. Flat-rate taxi trips apply to Taksi Helsinki trips that are max 3km and 10minutes long. If your trip is longer than 3km and or 10min, standard meter pricing applies.
• Affordable rental cars starting from €55/day. Including reduced deductible among other things.
• Access to book and pay TIER and VOI e-scooters. As a Whim customer, you only pay standard pricing for your scooter-rides.

Possible Extra Fees*

• If you want to use a bike for a longer time (more than 30 min per time), it is possible for an additional charge:
• When a single bike trip exceeds 30 minutes, a €1 overage fee will be incurred for each additional 30 minutes.
• Maximum cycling time is five (5) hours. If you exceed 5 hours, an €80 delay fee will be charged.
• If a city bike is not returned to a bike station or to the Service Provider within 24 hours from picking up the bike, the city bike shall be considered as lost. A compensation fee of 400 euros might be charged to the user for a lost city bike.  No compensation fee shall be charged if it is possible to prove, based on information provided by the User, that the User has lost possession of the city bike against their will, and a request for investigation has been made to the police.
• More info: see charges from https://kaupunkipyorat.hsl.fi/en/products.

 *Note: If you have been charged an extra payment or fine regarding a bike which you have returned in time, please contact Whim Customer Care, sharing with us the receipt for the extra charge and/or fine you were assessed.

How to Use City Bikes

How to Get Your Cyclist ID and PIN Code

• Choose Bikes from the screen on the Home View in the app 

Fig 1. Choose Bikes from Home view 

• See the locations of the bike stations and available bikes.
• You can take a bike from any bike station where there are bikes available.
• Choose a station, tap “Collect bike” and confirm
• Your cyclist ID and PIN code are shown in the app. Your cyclist ID and PIN code will remain the same throughout the whole cycling season. 

Picking up the Bike

• Go to an available bike
• Press the enter button on the device in the middle of the handlebar and follow the instructions on the screen
• In Helsinki city bikes, the screen guides you with written instructions
• In Espoo City Bikes, the instructions are shown with symbols. Explanations of the symbols here and steps here (only in Finnish).
• You will need your cyclist ID and the PIN code, which you can find in your Whim app ticket view.
• Bike rides of up to 30 mins are included in the season pass. For longer rides, extra charges apply, please see more here.

During the Ride

• You can ride the bikes in Helsinki and Espoo and also ride from one city to the other if you wish.
• Making a stop:
• You can momentarily lock the bike in places other than stations.
• When stopped, press “Enter” and follow the instructions on the screen.
• Inside the handlebar, there is a cable lock – one end fastens to the front fork of the bicycle. Use the cable to secure the bike to a fixed object, like a post or a fence. The bicycle’s steering will also be locked and can only be opened by the user who locked the bike.
• Please note, that the bike timer will not be stopped when you lock the bike outside a station: If you don’t return the bike to a bike station within 30 minutes, overage fees will be charged.
• Follow the instructions on the screen when opening the lock.
• Please take the bike to a bike station whenever possible. There is a dense network of stations and returning the bike to a station makes it possible for others to access the bike.

Returning the Bike

• Go to a bike station and push the bike to the rack. You can see the bike stations and the amount of free racks from the map in Whim.
• Wait for the bicycle to be secured to the rack, and the screen to say "Palautus OK" or "FINISH". This means you have successfully returned the bike and your responsibility for it has ended (as illustrated in the Pic.1 and Pic.2). 

     Fig.2: Successful return in Helsinki              Fig.3: Successful return in Espoo

• After the bike is successfully returned, you should also see an "expired ticket" in the Whim app's “All Tickets” view under see previous tickets and trips as shown below. 

 
    Fig.4: Bike ticket in Active tickets View

• If there is a problem (This can sometimes happen if there are interruptions in data transfer) with the return process, try another place in the rack or, if need be, ride to the next station. 
• If your ride was longer than 30 mins, the extra charges will be charged from the payment card that is linked to your Whim account.
• You can see the duration, length, and the total cost of your ride from the app.

Returning the Bike to a Full Station

• Take the bike to the immediate vicinity of the station, at most, 10 to 20 meters from it.
• Press Enter; Select “Return” (as illustrated in image 4) and ensure that the handlebar is locked.

         Figure 4. 

• After this, lock the bike by pulling the cable lock, out from the handlebar, and wrapping it around a fixed object, preferably another City Bike at the station, and snap it into place in the slot on the front fork of the same bike you used.
• Once you have correctly returned and locked the bike, you will no longer be responsible for it. If the text “Return” does not appear on the screen, the bike is too far from the station.
• If you come to a bike station and there is a bike returned next to the station, you can pick up the bike in the same way as a bike locked to a rack.

Problem Situations

• If you have problems with your Whim app or with your bike booking, please get in touch with Whim customer care through the Whim app Help Centre or online.
• If you experience problems with the physical bikes or stations themselves, please contact the City Bike Customer Service, tel. +358942578810 (Mon–Fri 7 AM–7 PM, Sat-Sun 9 AM–5 PM) or by email at contact@citybikefinland.fi.
• Contact the City Bike Customer service immediately If you notice the the bike has been stolen from you.
• Additionally, file a report with the police within 48 hours and submit a copy of the report to our customer service. If this happens, we will not demand compensation for the bike.

Questions and Answers

• Will my pin code stay the same throughout the whole cycling season?
• What do the error symbols shown on the bike screen mean? 

Will my pin code stay the same throughout the whole cycling season?

If you have purchased a City Bike Season Pass through Whim, your cyclist ID and pin code will remai

n the same throughout the whole season 2023. 

If you have the Unlimited subscription your cyclist ID and pin code will remain the same while your subscription is active. If you drop out of the subscription, e.g. due to a holiday, your cyclist ID and pin code will no longer be usable for that time period.

What do the error symbols shown on the bike screen mean? 

If you see an error symbol on the bike screen while using city bikes, kindly check the list of error symbols for its explanation from here.