By setting up a city-wide bicycle rental system in Berlin and Potsdam, Wall AG aims at enhancing mobility while helping to reduce carbon dioxide and other noxious emissions in both cities. The project is planned in cooperation with nextbike GmbH which already runs bicycle rental systems in more than 20 German towns. Since the beginning of the year, Wall AG holds a 25.1 % stake in nextbike. With the project, for which a municipal partner has to be won, Wall AG intends to participate in a tender for innovative public bicycle rental systems invited by the Federal Ministry of Transport.

Wall AG's bicycle rental system distinguishes itself by combining outstandingly attractive user fees with high economic efficiency. Since the system is entirely funded by rental fees and the marketing of integrated advertising spaces, no additional municipal subsidies are needed to ensure a rental fee of only 1 euro per hour.

"Our system combines the advantages of a popular, inexpensive and environmental friendly means of transportation with high profile advertising", Daniel Wall, Chief Executive Officer of Wall AG points out. "Our service contributes to a climate friendly alliance between bicycle and public transports, thus strengthening a sustainable urban development. We would be glad to win a municipal partner for our tender proposal."

Wall AG will station rental bicycles at all central transportation hubs and traffic junctions like Friedrichstraße, Bahnhof Zoo, Joachimstaler Platz or Hauptbahnhof (Berlin Main Station). Furthermore bus and tramway stop shelters will be integrated into a citywide net of rental points, offering easy change between public transport and bike. The selected bus stop shelters will be equipped with an information terminal and a telephone for quick and easy renting of a city-bike. By calling nextbike's service-hotline, the customer obtains a numerical code for the bicycle's lock, and is immediately on the road. To return the bicycle, the customer locks it to one of nextbikes rental points and informs the service hotline. First time customers register with their credit card data or via internet.

Key-Facts for the Wall-Group:

• International street furniture and outdoor advertising company in seven countries and more than 50 metropolises and big cities, i.a. in Berlin, Boston, Budapest, Düsseldorf, Istanbul and Sofia


• Innovative street furniture with top quality design,
  28 different design lines


• Tailor-made solutions
  created by our own research and development centre


• Premium quality level through own production, maintenance and cleaning service


• Intelligent outdoor advertising on 62,000 highly attractive poster locations, including around 3,500 transport vehicles, such as trams, buses, underground trains and trucks


• High marketing competence through national and international sales teams in 10 sales offices


• National marketing portfolio in Germany: 27 major cities, AirportNet, ShoppingNet, Leipzig Central Station, Berlinale film festival, bluespot, RollAd on highways and transport media in Berlin incl. all underground stations


• Medium-sized company run by the family as majority owner, sales in 2007: € 152.4 mill., employees: 723