Three hundred new e-bikes to be added to Starling Bank Bike Hire scheme as Mayor Andy Burnham and Active Travel Commissioner Dame Sarah Storey set out vision to boost cycling in city-region

Three hundred new e-bikes will be added to Greater Manchester’s Starling Bank Bike hire fleet this Spring, further boosting people’s access to cycling.

• More than half of Starling Bank Bikes will be electric by summer 2025 as part of fleet upgrade
• By the end of March, 130km of Bee Network standard walking, wheeling and cycling routes will have been completed across Greater Manchester
• Twelve Bee Network Cycle Hubs upgraded at key transport locations, supporting multi-modal journeys
• Mayor Andy Burnham and Active Travel Commissioner Dame Sarah Storey set out next steps to boost cycling in Greater Manchester

The move will mean that more than half of the city-region’s bike hire fleet will be electric by summer 2025.

Hot on the heels of the launch of contactless tap and go across the Bee Network, Mayor Andy Burnham and Active Travel Commissioner Dame Sarah Storey have set out their next priorities for boosting cycling across the Greater Manchester.

They say that the rollout of high-quality walking, wheeling and cycling network will be essential to the success of the Bee Network, with measures to include:

• Major improvements to the Starling Bank Bike Hire fleet:

Three hundred new e-bikes will be available from mid-May and have the added benefit of being lighter, with the battery integrated into the main frame, plus a larger basket at the front for users’ belongings.

The bikes support Greater Manchester’s ambition to enable one million more sustainable journeys every day by 2040 and contribute to a healthier, greener and more productive city-region.

Starling Bank Bikes have already helped to get more people cycling and also re-engage lapsed cyclists, with 44% of riders having returned to cycling after a break.

So far, Starling Bank Bike users have clocked up 1.15million rides, with 1,600 rides being made per day in March.

• Upgrades to cycle hubs across Greater Manchester:

Twelve Cycle Hubs in Greater Manchester have been re-branded with the distinctive Bee Network yellow branding.

Each cycle hub provides cyclists with safe and secure places to lock up their bikes near to public transport links, supporting fully-integrated journeys.

• Delivery of more segregated, Bee Network-standard cycle routes:

By the end of this month, 130km of segregated walking, wheeling and cycling routes will have been completed across the city-region. In the next two years, TfGM anticipates that the network will reach 176km by 2027.

• Expanding and integrating cycling with other parts of the Bee Network:

The Starling Bank Bike Hire scheme has stations and bikes in Manchester, Salford and Trafford but the long-term ambition is to expand the scheme to new locations in Greater Manchester.

Options are also being explored to fully-integrate bike hire with the Bee Network fare structure and app in future.

In addition, work continues to assess the carriage of bikes on trams in future after a guided pilot was carried out last year.  

Dame Sarah Storey, Active Travel Commissioner for Greater Manchester, said:

"Barriers to cycling include having a safe and secure place to lock a personal cycle, so I am very pleased to see the upgraded Cycle Hubs and am working hard to ensure there's a greater focus on secure parking at more locations.

“It is also great to see the additional e-bikes being added to the fleet of the Starling Bank Bike Hire scheme. These bikes are incredibly popular and the new bikes will be lighter and have other upgraded features.

“The 2024 Annual Active Travel report shared the importance of building a connected network that enables people to use walking, wheeling or cycling for all or part of a journey on other Bee Network modes and work is ongoing to deliver this.

“Alongside this, other key work includes the next steps for the carriage of bikes on trams and fully integrating cycle hire into the Bee Network fare structure further down the line."

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, added:

“This week we have reached a major milestone with the arrival of ‘Tap and Go’, and another step in the delivery of a world-class, integrated public transport system that makes travelling across Greater Manchester easier, affordable and more convenient than ever before.

“Walking, wheeling and cycling is integral to the Bee Network and we want to make sure that walking to the bus stop or hiring a Starling Bank Bike is easy, safe and accessible for everyone.

“We know from people’s feedback that they often prefer to hire an electric bike so that’s why we’ll be adding even more e-bikes to the fleet. This supports our longer-term ambition to expand the bike hire scheme to new areas and bring the scheme into the wider Bee Network fare system with bus, tram and eventually rail.”

The introduction of contactless payment across both Bee Network buses and Metrolink sees Greater Manchester realise its long-held ambition of having a truly multi-modal, integrated and affordable transport system that is on par with other major cities around the world. This offer will only enhance with the integration of rail services and stations into the Bee Network by 2028.