​Filipe Simões is an architect and urban planner, currently serving as the coordinator for cycling policies and projects at the City of Niterói. This city of 500,000 residents is located right across the bay from Rio de Janeiro, inside the metropolitan area, and has become a true cycling leader in Brazil with a level of commitment to cycling that is unique in the country. One of the secrets of these developments: Niterói’s free public bike-share!

How did the bike-sharing system in Niterói come to be, and what are the basic facts about its current scale?
The journey was long. While Rio de Janeiro launched its bike-share in 2008 and 2011, Niterói struggled for years to attract private investment due to Rio’s dominance in corporate sponsorship. We finally secured budget approval in December 2019, just before the pandemic halted progress. We relaunched the project in 2023. Today, we have 62 stations, with plans to reach 75 by August. Remarkably, we have achieved a subscription rate of about 40% of our population, which is a very high figure. The system averages 14 trips per bike per weekday, indicating strong usage.
 
What was the most critical strategic decision that allowed this system to succeed?
The most critical decision was legislative. We were the first city in Brazil to pass a law declaring the bike-sharing system a "public service," placing it on the same legal footing as water, waste management, and public transport. This meant the city was legally required to provide this service to the population. Because the city was paying for the system, we made a bold choice: we made it free for everyone. This transformed the system from a commercial product into a common good.
 
How did the city ensure the system was inclusive?
Our legislation explicitly mandates that the system must grow equally across all parts of the city, something we learnt from other cities who had previously dealt with similar systems. This piece was important to ensure an equitable distribution despite possible political and economic pressure to expand only into richer, more touristic areas. The law ensures that lower-income neighbourhoods receive the same service. Additionally, we placed stations at intermodality points, such as ferry terminals and bus stations, making the system an essential link for commuters from the wider metropolitan area.
 
You mentioned the system is free. How did that impact public behaviour regarding vandalism and theft?
It is a common misconception that free systems lead to abuse. In Niterói, the opposite has occurred. Because the bikes are free, users feel a sense of shared duty and ownership. The community actively watches out for the bikes. For instance, when a kid tried to take a bike to the beach, where it is not supposed to be, the community was outraged on social media, and the city had to address the issue publicly! The lack of a payment barrier has fostered a culture where people feel responsible for maintaining this public asset for everyone’s benefit.
 
How did the city build public support for the bike-sharing system?
We made the system part of the city’s identity from the start. The name "NitBike" was chosen through a public consultation involving tens of thousands of residents. The city’s communication channels, including Instagram and official marketing, consistently feature the bikes, and new apartment developments now market the lifestyle of having access to the bike network. This has made the system a visible part of Niterói’s daily life, as well as making the change irreversible and harder to take away.
 
What has been the impact of the bike-sharing system on the broader cycling culture in Niterói?
The bike-sharing system has served as a "gateway" for many residents. It provides a first contact with cycling, and many users eventually transition to owning their own bicycles. While cycling numbers have grown steadily since 2015, the implementation of the free, public bike-share has accelerated this growth. In some areas, like the main university area, bike-sharing accounts for up to 50% of the cycling flow, demonstrating its role as a primary mode of transport.
 
What unique challenges does Niterói face compared to European cities, and how are you addressing them?
The challenges are similar in many ways — keeping cars from parking in bike lanes, improving safety issues, and a connectivity that’s yet to be completed — but the cultural context is different. In Brazil, the car is often seen as a symbol of social mobility and a hard-won status symbol, especially for those who have recently escaped poverty. This makes it politically and culturally difficult to prioritise cycling or restrict car usage. Overcoming this requires a deep, ongoing conversation about the kind of city we want to be, moving away from a car-centric culture.
 
What is your key advice for other cities looking to implement or improve their bike-sharing systems?
The private sector can operate the system and make all of this possible, but the public sector must lead it. The bike-sharing system must be integrated into the city’s broader mobility strategy and treated as a public service. It requires a long-term vision, political will, and a commitment to equity. If the government leads with a clear strategy and treats the system as a common good, the community will support and protect it.
 
Niterói’s story shows that when you build a system for the people, the people will build it with you. Continue the conversation on bike-sharing with Filipe Samões and the other panellists in session 5.1 Measuring the value of bike-sharing: more space, intermodality and connectivity.