"A shared bicycle is perfect if you quickly need a bicycle to travel through Maastricht"

I live in Maastricht and enjoy just cycling through the city. I have the option of using my own bicycle but can also use the shared bicycle from Arriva. The Nextbike seemed like a good alternative for my own bicycle, as I could put off having to buy a new bicycle or just not have to buy a new one at all.

‘After reading all the information on the Arriva website, I registered as a user via the Nextbike app. All this important information is even listed on the bicycle itself if you weren't able to read it at home. When I arrived at the Nextbike racks, it all went really smoothly. You are free to take a bicycle from one Nextbike rack and return it to another one.’

From the city centre to the railway station

Arriva Nextbike's shared bikes are an easy, fast way to get around Maastricht. The Arriva bicycle-sharing scheme is also available without a subscription. As a new user, you can ride the first 30 minutes for free until 2 September. ‘I used a shared bicycle for a day,’ says Emile. ‘I cycled from the Nextbike rack in the city centre across the Noorderbrug bridge and to the main railway station where I returned the bicycle to the Nextbike rack there.’

Wait for the check-out notification!

‘However, checking out went a little less smoothly. I didn't know that I had to wait for the check-out notification on the bicycle's display. After a phone call with the Arriva Nextbike help desk, I realized that the bicycle I used was never checked out, which means that you just keep paying. The help desk assistant checked my bicycle out after he saw that the bicycle had been returned and was ready for the next user.’

Sending in a report via the app

‘The saddle wasn't attached properly, and I kept hearing a tick when pedalling,’ says Emile. ‘This is something that I would have liked to report via the app, so that this was known and could be fixed for the next user. The option to report any problems with the bicycle has now been included in the app, and it's great that they did something with that suggestion.’

More varied choice of bicycles

‘I really enjoyed using the Nextbike as an alternative for my own bicycle,’ says Emile. ‘A shared bicycle is perfect if you quickly need a bicycle to travel through Maastricht. But taking out a subscription to the Arriva bicycle-sharing scheme will only become of interest to me if they offer a wider variety of bicycles, such as e-bikes or bicycles with more gears so that you can go on longer cycling routes.’