Infrastructure for the 60 on-street docking stations will be replaced in a phased approach to accommodate the initial suit of bikes, which will include both traditional pedal bikes and electronic ones. As a start, about 400 new bikes, with 100 of them being e-bikes, will be introduced to the city this year.

One of the objectives for this scheme is to increase the popularity of the Belfast Bikes scheme, which began in 2015 and peaked in 2021. Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Micky Murray, has said that the introduction of the bike scheme has “helped to create a better connected, low carbon and climate resilient city”, which helps to meet the Council’s ambition of being an inclusive, net-zero emissions economy in a generation.

The Department for Infrastructure recently announced a £1.9 million funding boost to aid Council’s delivery of the new Active Travels project, including the implementation of the e-bikes to Belfast Bikes. Under the Climate Act 2022, the department has an obligation to spend over £80 million a year on Active Travel, but it is currently only spending roughly £12 million a year, making it the lowest per capita spend in the UK or Ireland. The Active Travel Enabling grant will be used to fund the development of the new infrastructures for the new docking stations and improve cycling areas in Belfast, which at the moment only has two miles of segregated cycling lanes.