Greater Manchester’s Starling Bank Bike hire scheme has reached one million rides, with more people than ever hopping on the bikes to get around.
Starling Bank Bikes play a key role in boosting people’s access to cycling in Greater Manchester, with bikes now available to hire in Manchester, Salford and Trafford.
And with the scheme going from strength-to-strength, Transport for Greater Manchester will be adding 300 new e-bikes to the fleet over the coming months.
The scheme is part of the Bee Network’s vision for a fully-integrated, London-style public transport network that helps more people to walk, wheel and cycle around the city-region.
Not only have bike hire users clocked up one million rides, they have also collectively pedalled 2.5million kilometres since the scheme first launched in November 2021, the equivalent of travelling around the world 62.5 times.
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said: “It’s amazing how popular Starling Bank Bikes have become and hitting that one million rides milestone is a real testament to the scheme’s success.
“The bikes are affordable, easy to use and an important part of the wider Bee Network.
“Looking ahead, we have ambitions to expand the scheme to new areas and provide even more people with access to the bikes.”
The fleet upgrade, due to start in the New Year, will see the number of pushbikes matched by e-bikes in an even split across the scheme.
The new model of e-bike has the added benefit of being lighter, with the battery integrated into the main frame, plus a larger composite basket at the front for users’ belongings.
Dame Sarah Storey, Active Travel Commissioner, said: “It’s fantastic to see one million journeys surpassed for the Starling Bank Bike Hire Scheme and with that the plans to further expand the bike offering to include more e-bikes from next year.
“With a lighter version of e-bike being introduced, the scheme will become more accessible to a greater number of people, and it is great to see the bike design evolving following customer feedback too.
“The average length of a journey on a Starling Bank Bike is just over 2.5km, showing the scheme is delivering a solution for the shorter journeys that fall between a walkable distance and public transport journey.”
The Greater Manchester bike hire scheme first launched in November 2021, with Starling Bank becoming the first sponsor of the scheme in January 2024.
Ridership continues to grow with more than 107,000 people registered to use the bikes so far, including 35,000 new users joining in 2024 alone.
Starling Bank Bikes are available to hire when parked at one of the Starling stations and can be unlocked via the scheme’s app. Pushbikes cost 50p to unlock and 5p per-minute to ride while e-bikes cost £1 to unlock and 10p per-minute.
The bike hire scheme contributes to the ongoing efforts to decarbonise Greater Manchester’s public transport network by enabling people who either don’t own their own bike, or don’t have it with them, to opt for pedal power. Riders who make the switch from a car journey to a hire bike can decrease their carbon footprint by up to 83.7%.*
In addition, scheme operator Beryl estimate that 74.66 tonnes of CO2 has been saved since the bikes arrived Greater Manchester in 2021.
Long-term proposals for bike hire in Greater Manchester include the expansion of the fleet to 8000 bikes covering areas of each borough where demand is likely to be high.
The expansion would provide even more people with easy and affordable access to thousands more bikes as part of a phased roll-out.
The proposed expansion would support the integration of cycle hire services into Bee Network ticketing and enable people to use a bike as part of the ‘first or last mile’ of their journey when using bus or tram.
*Source: Beryl Impact Report 2023
