Budapest’s public ‘Bubi’ bike service faces a winter shutdown

A cold surprise may await those who rely on Bubi bikes this winter: the current service contract expires on 23 December, and the launch of the new system is already delayed.

New contract still not signed

According to Telex, Budapest’s public bike-sharing system may disappear from the streets from December 23, as the contract with the current operators, Csepel Kerékpárgyártó Zrt. and Germany’s Nextbike, is set to expire, while the tender for the new “Bubi 3.0” system is progressing more slowly than planned.

The contract was originally expected to be signed by late August or early September, but this has not happened. The Budapest City Assembly’s most recent meeting also made no mention of the issue on its public agenda.

If no new agreement is signed by December 23, the city’s entire bike-sharing system will have to shut down temporarily. Although the BKK has begun talks about extending the current contract, relations between the parties are reportedly tense, so the outcome of these negotiations remains uncertain.

Bubi 3.0 delayed before launch

Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony announced the third-generation Bubi system back in April 2024, originally scheduled for the first quarter of 2026. However, due to the ongoing delays in the procurement process, that timeline is now in doubt.

The new fleet is expected to be at least twice the size of the current one and include electric-assist bicycles for the first time. (We wrote more about the Bubi 3.0 developments and the upcoming e-bikes here.)

Riders already feeling the delay

Currently, tens of thousands of active users rely on the green bikes for daily transport. According to BKK data, even in winter 2023, there were several thousand rentals every day — the November average exceeded 7,000 trips, while on many days in December the daily total reached 5,000–6,000.