German company Nextbike has revealed the city is among its next prime locations to set up its bike sharing scheme and could be brought into the city by Autumn.

Up to 750 bikes could be available for anyone to use, which would mean up to 75 bike terminals across the city.

The system works by bikers using either a smartphone app or by calling a hotline number, collecting the bikes from terminals – once registered, people can use the bikes in all Nextbike cities and countries. For other UK Nextbike cities, users can sign up to either an annual subscription tariff option or a casual fare option.

The annual subscription is designed for regular use and costs £60 annually with the first 30 minutes of every ride free and then an extra 50p for every additional 30 minutes – the maximum amount being £5.00 in a 24-hour period.

The bikes, which are worth around £1,000, have integrated locks, GPS on board and a number of anti-theft measures integrated. If brought in, it's hoped it will ease congestion and improve health and mobility in the city. Nextbike Managing Director, Julian Scriven, originally from Bewdley, feels Wolverhampton is an ideal place to bring in the bikes. He said:

“I’m from the Kidderminster area and we’re aware of the potential in the West Midlands. Wolverhampton is one of the top areas for local transport use, with 10 per cent of people using it and 13 per cent of people already walk or cycle to work.

“The council is forward-looking and should we get support from the them, phase one could be in place by Autumn. Support from councils is the deciding factor of where to roll it out next.

“In an ideal world, we’d have the scheme in Birmingham too, so people commuting from either city can get on a bike to the metro and leave the bike at a stop when they get off.

“It’s a very exciting time with the Transport for West Midlands in place and Wolverhampton appears very interested."