Bubi - community bike sharing service in Budapest
updates
Starting on January 1st, 2023 the prices will be increased. The monthly pass will be HUF 1000 instead of HUF 500, annual pass will be HUF 8500 instead of 5000 and the "pay as you go" model's price will be changed from HUF 20/min to HUF 40/min. I'd rather not to say my opinion about this.
basics
Bubi stands for Budapest bicikli, Budapest bicycle in mirror translation. It is a public service operated by BKK (Centre of Transportation in Budapest). There are 173 pick-up points across downtown and thousand of bikes are available to use. Unfortunately, due to its popularity many points run out of bikes on a casual basis.
how to use
Using this service is crazy simple. You have to download the "MOL Bubi" app from the Play Store/App Store. You have to sign up for an account using your phone number, then provide billing address and credit card info.
After that, go to a pick-up point, choose a bike from the available ones, scan the QR code, the lock will open and you're ready to go.
Parking is simple. Choose the parking option in the app, and then close the "smart lock".
Bringing the bike back: go to any pick-up station, place the bike in a free docking station, finally close the smart lock, that's it.
More detailed info can be found on their official website.
experience
Since there are plenty of bike lines in this city, riding the bike is very comfortable. You still need to take very close attention to the traffic, but the view is a 10 out of 10, especially next to the Danube.
The app works very well and easy to use. There's a holder for the phone on the bike and a place for your stuff in the front of the bike. The brakes work very well(this is what I was expecting..) and the seat is really comfortable to sit on, the size of it is similar to women's bikes.
pricing
The pass costs HUF 500 a month, which is dirt cheap. Each ride you start is free for 30 minutes, after that it is HUF 20 a minute.
A yearly pass is HUF 5000 a year, and the cost is the same after 30 minutes.
There's also a pay-as-you-go model, which is HUF 20 a minute.
All I can say that it is really worth the price. If you plan your ride nicely, you can stay within the HUF 500 fare for the whole month. But a few hundred, maybe 2-3 thousand of extra forints is really not too much in a month.
Here's an example. I have the monthly pass, and the 5 extra minutes after 30 costed me HUF 100.
privacy perspective
The app requires a phone number for registration, which is understandable to prevent spam and fraud, but from a privacy perspective, it is not necessarily a lovely feature. You might want to buy another SIM card if you want to use more the service more privately.
The app uses the Google Maps which is integrated in it, and Google obviously saves stuff from your usage.
downsides
As I mentioned before, some pick-up points can run out of bikes. The good side is that another pick-up point is really close by.
The privacy concerns can be a negative thing as mentioned before.
Source of the thumbnail image
If you'd like to contact me, you can do it here: blog[at]perjel[dot]hu