Short answer: Cityflow runs branded e-bikes for your student residence end to end: maintenance, insurance, GPS and student support in the student's own language. You choose the model: the residence includes the bikes and the student pays nothing, or the student pays €5 a day and it costs the residence nothing. Canvas by Greystar is one of its published cases.
This guide compares an operated service with buying bikes, with the city's public bike-sharing scheme and with offering nothing, explains the two payment models and lists the questions worth asking any provider before you sign. The short version of the service is on e-bikes for student residences; usage numbers are on the operation's data.
What is an operated e-bike service for a residence?
It's a fleet of e-bikes that lives at the residence and carries its brand. Whoever operates it maintains, insures and repairs it, not the residence's own team. A student takes a bike and brings it back there, without going through a city scheme or buying a bike of their own.
Here's how it compares with the other three ways a student can get a bike:
| Operated service (Cityflow) | Buying your own bikes | City's public bike-sharing scheme | Offering nothing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who maintains it | Cityflow | Your team or a workshop | The public operator | No one: the student sorts it out |
| Brand on the bike | The residence's | The residence's | The public scheme's | — |
| Where it's picked up and left | At the residence | At the residence | At the city's docking stations | Wherever the student can find one |
| Who pays | The residence (free for the student) or the student, €5 a day | The residence: bikes, locks and repairs | The student, to the public operator | The student, on their own |
| Theft and breakdowns | Cityflow's problem | The residence's problem | The public operator's problem | The student's problem |
| A residence amenity? | Yes | Yes, but your team runs it | No | No |
The two payment models
You can choose between two models. In both, maintenance, insurance, GPS and student support are Cityflow's job.
The residence includes it. The residence pays a fee to Cityflow, quoted per residence, and the student rides without paying anything: one more thing to show on the tour.
The student pays. The student pays €5 a day when they ride, and it costs the residence nothing. In Barcelona, that's the model that works best.
| The residence includes it | The student pays | |
|---|---|---|
| What the student pays | Nothing | €5 the day they ride |
| What the residence pays | A fee, quoted per residence | Nothing |
| Fits if… | You want an amenity included in the price | You want the service with no fixed cost to the residence |
What should you ask a provider before you sign?
These eight questions tell an operated service apart from a batch of bikes. Next to each one, how Cityflow answers it:
| Question | Cityflow's answer |
|---|---|
| Who maintains, repairs and insures the bikes? | Cityflow: maintenance, repairs and insurance included |
| Who pays: the residence, the student or both? | You choose: the residence includes it, or the student pays €5 a day |
| What does the front desk have to do? | At most, plug them in if there are no charging stations. No keys, no charges, no paperwork |
| Who does the student contact if something goes wrong? | Cityflow, not the front desk, and in their own language |
| What if a student doesn't close the rental properly? | They send us a photo of the bike at the residence and we close it |
| Whose brand is on the bike? | The residence's: your colours and logo, with a name of its own if you want |
| Is an app needed? | No. It unlocks from the phone, with nothing to download |
| What usage data will the residence get? | Cityflow logs every rental; ask which data from your fleet you can have |
The published case: Canvas by Greystar
Canvas, Greystar's student residence brand in Spain, has Cityflow e-bikes carrying its own brand: "CANVAS Residencias de Estudiantes" on the wheel disc and a name of its own on every bike (Greta, Yegor, Xisco, Haley, Roma…). Maintenance is Cityflow's job.
Canvas announced it on its Instagram, @canvas_studentes, with a video of the bikes and this text: "Moviéndonos al estilo Canvas. Estrenamos servicio gratis de bicicletas eléctricas en nuestras resis…" (in English: "Moving the Canvas way. We're launching a free e-bike service in our residences…"). The full case is in Canvas by Greystar.
One lesson from it: put the bikes where they can be seen. A bike carrying your brand at the front desk sells itself on every tour.
What about coliving, flex living or build-to-rent?
Same programme, different name. Cityflow runs branded e-bikes for coliving, flex-living and build-to-rent buildings under the same logic: the building pays a fee and residents ride with nothing extra to pay. How that works is in bike sharing for coliving and flex-living buildings.
How do you get started?
- Tell Cityflow about your residence: city, number of beds and opening date if it hasn't opened yet.
- Choose the model: the residence includes it, or the student pays.
- Cityflow suggests how many bikes to start with and, if the residence includes it, the fee.
- The bikes arrive in your brand and, from then on, Cityflow runs them.
Cityflow operates in 9 Spanish provinces: Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Bilbao, Pamplona and Salamanca. If your residence is in one of those provinces, talk to sales.
Frequently asked questions
Which company provides e-bikes for student residences?
Cityflow. It puts a fleet of e-bikes carrying the residence's brand at the building and runs it end to end: maintenance, insurance, GPS and student support in their own language. It operates in 9 Spanish provinces, and Canvas, Greystar's student residence brand, is one of its published cases.
What are the two payment models?
The residence includes it and pays a fee, quoted per residence, and the student pays nothing; or the student pays €5 a day and it costs the residence nothing. In Barcelona, the second one works best.
Is an operated service better than buying bikes, the city's public bike-sharing scheme, or offering nothing?
With an operated service like Cityflow's, maintenance, insurance and GPS are Cityflow's job and the bike carries your brand. If you buy bikes, all of that falls on your team. A public bike-sharing scheme doesn't carry the residence's brand, and the student pays the city's operator, not you. With nothing, the student is on their own.
What should you ask a provider before you sign?
Who maintains and insures the bikes, who pays, what the front desk has to do, who the student contacts if something goes wrong, what happens if they don't close the rental properly, whose brand is on the bike, whether an app is needed, and what usage data the residence will get.
What has Canvas by Greystar done?
It has Cityflow e-bikes carrying its own brand and a name on every bike, and announced it on Instagram as a free e-bike service for its students. The full case is in Canvas by Greystar.
How much work does it give the front desk?
At most, plugging the bikes in if there are no charging stations. No handing out keys, no charging guests, no paperwork. If a student has a problem, they message Cityflow, not the front desk.
Does it work for international students?
Yes. The bike is used from the phone, with no app to download and no trip to the front desk, and Cityflow supports every student in their own language.
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