Bike sharing schemes enable anyone to borrow a bike for a journey in London. There are a number of different bike share schemes that currently operate in the borough.
Map of bike sharing schemes in Hackney
Lime cycle hire
Lime UK run a cycle hire scheme in the borough, where users can pick up and return electric bikes from a network of designated cycle hire parking bays.
You can hire bikes through a smartphone app which are used in a similar fashion to TfL Santander bikes. You can download the Lime app from the Apple app store or Google Play.
See the map below for locations of cycle hire parking bays in Hackney. These locations also appear on the Lime App. Users who park outside these designated bays when in Hackney may receive a fine.
Lime charges a fixed rate to unlock an e-bike and then per minute to ride. Average journeys cost between £3.50 and £4.50.
Fines may be issued if a user doesn’t park their bike in a cycle hire parking bay when ending their journey in the borough of Hackney.
Many residents will be eligible for Lime Access membership which gives a 50% discount on unlimited e-bike rides.
Santander cycle hire
Users can pick up and return bikes from a London wide network of parking bays called ‘docking stations’. Santander docking stations in Hackney are generally found around Regent’s Canal, and in and around Victoria Park. You can find more information on the Santander cycles app or on TfL.
Bikes can be hired through a smartphone app and used in a similar fashion to Lime e-bikes.
You can download the Santander Cycles app from the Apple app store or Google Play.
See TfL’s website for more information on memberships and pricing.
It costs £1.65 (same as a bus fare) for the first 30 minutes of each journey and £1.65 for each additional 30 minutes. E-bikes are £3.30 for the first 30 minutes.
There are monthly and annual memberships available and up to 50% membership discounts where using cycles to get to work; an NHS employee; or a student aged 18 or over.
Frequently asked questions about Santander and Lime bikes
Lime Access membership offers a 50% discount on all their e-bike rides. You can qualify for Lime Access if you can show evidence you hold one of the following passes:
- Jobcentre Plus Travel Card
- Blue Light Card (for emergency service workers)
- Student Card (NUS student card or institution specific)
- Other free or discounted travel cards for the London, Greater Manchester or Milton Keynes area,
- Other eligible key worker IDs and passes (including central and local government jobs and emergency service workers)
- 18+ Student Oyster card
- Apprentice Oyster card
- 60+ London Oyster Card
- Freedom pass (including Disabled Persons Freedom Pass)
- Veterans Oyster Photocard
To become a Lime Access user, you must first have a Lime account. If you don’t have one, download the Lime App available on IOS and Android and create an account.
Create a Lime Access account on Lime’s website using the same contact details as for your Lime account. It will ask you to upload a document or photo of the pass you hold from the list above. Lime will then enrol you onto the Access programme providing you with 50% off all Lime e-bike.
For more information visit the Lime website where you can download the mobile phone App required to use the scheme.
The Santander Cycles scheme and Lime E-Bike hire are the only public cycle hire on the streets of the borough.
Among Hackney’s neighbouring boroughs, Lime also operates in Islington, Camden and the City of London.
Bikes hired in one borough can be ridden across borough boundaries, although the rules around parking bikes do vary between boroughs.
There are currently 68 cycle hire parking bays in Hackney for Lime e-bikes to park in.
We are currently working to expand the number of these bays.
Report Lime bikes via email london-ops@li.me.
Report Santander cycles via email abandonedtflcycle@tfl.gov.uk
It is often useful to include a photograph of the offending bike.
In Hackney, all riders should end Lime e-bike journeys in a cycle hire parking bay and all Santander cycle journeys in a docking station.
Cargo Bike Share
Cargo Bike Share is an on-street, on-demand, cargo bike hire service. The bikes are publically available so business, residents, and other members of the public can hire them in order to make deliveries, collect shopping, or conduct other errands.
The scheme is part of the Zero Emissions Network, a joint initiative between:
- Hackney Council
- Islington Council
- Tower Hamlets Council
The scheme is supported by the Mayor of London and is run in collaboration with micro-mobility provider Beryl.
There are currently four docking stations in Hackney from which users can hire the Cargo Bike Share cargo bikes. These are:
- Fleetwood Street in Stoke Newington
- Broadway Market
- Calvert Avenue in Shoreditch
- Pitfield Street in Shoreditch
Each docking station houses two electrically assisted cargo bikes which are capable of carrying up to 80kg each. It costs £1.50 to unlock a bike and 10p per minute thereafter. Users must return the cargo bike to the same docking station they hired it from. They’re available for immediate hire, or reservations through the Beryl app.
If you would like to find out more information about the Cargo Bike Share scheme you can visit cargobikeshare.cc or email zen@hackney.gov.uk.
The Cargo Bike Share Toolkit for Professionals is an in depth look at the Zero Emissions Network’s experience of running the U.K.’s first on-street, on-demand, publically accessible public hire service for cargo bikes.
Our Cargo Bike Share Toolkit provides easy to use guidance to help transport professionals develop and deliver their own cargo bike hire schemes.
Request on-street cycle parking
To request new cycle parking locations for bike sharing schemes in the borough, see On-street cycle parking.
Page updated on: 16 May 2023