Brighton and Hove Gets Its Own Shared E-Cargo Bike Scheme
The OurBike scheme launched in Brighton and Hove in May 2026, with hire points at Preston Park, Kemptown and Hove. More locations are coming in the weeks ahead.
Brighton and Hove now has its own shared electric cargo bike scheme, giving residents and businesses a new way to get around the city without a car
Brighton and Hove has become one of the first cities outside London to host a community-led shared electric cargo bike scheme, after the city was selected to pilot the programme by the Department for Transport's Active Travel England Innovation Fund.
The scheme, run by social enterprise OurBike in partnership with Brighton and Hove City Council and the University of Brighton, launched in late May 2026 with bikes already available to hire at three locations across the city. More hubs are planned in the coming weeks and months.
For anyone who has ever wanted to try an e-cargo bike but been put off by the cost of buying one, the storage challenges of keeping one at home, or simply not knowing where to start, this pilot is designed with exactly those barriers in mind.
What is an e-cargo bike and why does it matter?
An electric cargo bike is a larger, sturdier version of a standard e-bike, built to carry heavy loads or passengers. Unlike regular hire bikes, these are designed for practical everyday tasks: the school run, a trip to the supermarket, transporting equipment for a small business, or even moving small pieces of furniture.
The OurBike bikes available in Brighton and Hove can carry up to two children, one adult, or loads ranging from shopping and food deliveries to small furniture. The electric motor means hills are not the obstacle they would be on a standard cargo bike, making them a realistic option for a city that is not entirely flat.
Cargo bikes have grown significantly in popularity across Europe over the past decade, particularly in cities like Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Berlin, where they have become a mainstream alternative to car use for families and small businesses. In the UK, adoption has been slower, largely due to the upfront cost of ownership, which can run to several thousand pounds for a quality electric model. Shared schemes like this one aim to change that equation entirely.
OurBike describes itself as the UK's largest community-led e-cargo bike share scheme, providing shared access to electric cargo bikes for residents and local businesses. The Brighton and Hove pilot marks its first major expansion outside London.
Where can you hire one in Brighton and Hove?
The scheme launched with three host locations across the city, each chosen as trusted local venues where bikes are available to book and collect.
The three launch locations are:
- Rotunda Café, Preston Park — serving the north of the city and surrounding residential streets
- Detroit Club, Kemptown — covering the east of Brighton including the seafront and Village area
- Platf9rm, Hove — based in the centre of Hove for residents and businesses on the western side of the city
Additional bikes and host locations are planned to be added across Brighton and Hove over the coming weeks and months, according to the council's press release issued on 28 May 2026. The spread of launch sites across Preston Park, Kemptown and Hove suggests an intention to reach different parts of the city from the outset rather than concentrating the scheme in one area.
One of the OurBike electric cargo bikes is now available to hire in Brighton and Hove. The bikes can carry two children, one adult or everyday loads like shopping and equipment.
How does it work and what does it cost?
Users book bikes through the OurBike mobile app, which is available to download on iOS and Android. Bikes can be reserved in advance and unlocked directly from a phone using integrated smart lock technology, meaning there is no need to collect a key or visit a staffed point.
The pricing is straightforward. Rides cost £5 per hour or £1.25 per 15 minutes. For anyone trying the scheme for the first time, OurBike is offering free minutes to help new users get started:
- Residents receive 60 free minutes
- Businesses receive 180 free minutes
For a family using the bike for a school run or a short shopping trip, the pricing compares favourably with the cost of parking in central Brighton, where short-stay car parks can charge more than £5 for under an hour. For businesses making regular local deliveries, the 180 free minutes offer a genuine opportunity to test whether a cargo bike could replace some van journeys before committing to regular use.
Who is behind the scheme?
OurBike is operated by PedalUK, a social enterprise focused on expanding access to cycling and active travel. The Brighton and Hove pilot has been funded through Active Travel England's Innovation Fund, a £1 million national programme run by the Department for Transport that awarded grants of up to £100,000 to 12 projects across England following a competitive bidding process. The fund was announced on 12 May 2026.
PedalUK received £99,819 through the fund to set up, deliver and evaluate the Brighton and Hove pilot, which is described in the fund documentation as a five-cycle community-led e-cargo bike sharing scheme. The project is being developed in partnership with Brighton and Hove City Council and the University of Brighton, with the university's research feeding into how the scheme is designed and evaluated.
Emma Hughes, General Manager at OurBike, said the scheme is specifically aimed at making cargo bikes a realistic everyday option rather than something only accessible to people with the budget or space to own one outright.
"This pilot is about making cargo bikes a realistic option for everyday life in Brighton and Hove, not just for people who can afford to own one or store one at home," she said.
"We want these bikes to feel practical, visible, and easy to use for local residents and businesses. Whether it is carrying children, shopping, work equipment or deliveries, shared e-cargo bikes can replace many short car journeys while making active travel more accessible."
Hughes also described the Brighton and Hove launch as a deliberate step to take OurBike's model beyond London, where the scheme has previously operated.
"This funding enables OurBike to launch and test our London e-cargo bike share scheme outside the capital in Brighton and Hove," she said. "Building on research from the University of Brighton and working with Brighton and Hove City Council and local partners, we are addressing the real barriers to e-cargo bike use by embedding bikes in communities and making everyday cycling more accessible and affordable for families and businesses carrying children, goods or equipment."
An OurBike electric cargo bike on the streets of Brighton and Hove. The shared hire scheme launched in May 2026 with bikes available from £5 an hour.
How does this fit into Brighton's wider cycling picture?
The e-cargo bike pilot arrives at a moment when cycling in Brighton and Hove is growing. The city's Beryl Bikes hire scheme, which launched with operator Beryl in March 2023, passed one million journeys in March 2026 according to Brighton and Hove City Council. More than 129,000 people have used the scheme since its relaunch, cycling over 2.8 million kilometres across the city. There are currently 750 pedal and electric bikes available at more than 100 hubs.
The OurBike scheme is a different proposition to Beryl Bikes. Where Beryl focuses on standard e-bikes and pedal cycles for commuting and leisure, OurBike's cargo bikes are built for load-carrying and are aimed explicitly at replacing car journeys that involve transporting children, goods or equipment. The two schemes complement each other rather than overlap.
Brighton and Hove City Council is also consulting on a potential e-scooter trial, which could launch as early as summer 2026, meaning the city is steadily building out a range of alternatives to private car use across different journey types and user needs.
Active travel, which covers walking, cycling and wheeling, has been a consistent priority for the council in recent years. The Active Travel England Innovation Fund that backed this scheme is designed specifically to support projects that reach people who are currently underrepresented in active travel, including those who face financial, practical or confidence barriers.
Why Brighton and Hove?
Brighton and Hove was not chosen by accident. The University of Brighton has existing research expertise in active travel and sustainable transport, which informed OurBike's bid for the Innovation Fund. That academic partnership means the pilot will be evaluated properly, with findings feeding back into how the scheme develops locally and potentially informing how similar schemes are rolled out elsewhere in the country.
The city's geography also makes it well-suited to cargo bike use. Much of Brighton and Hove is relatively compact, with a high density of residential streets, schools, independent businesses and food retailers within a few kilometres of each other. Many of the short car journeys made daily in the city, to schools, to local shops, to markets, to delivery points, are exactly the kind of trips a cargo bike handles well.
The three launch locations reflect that geography. Preston Park sits at the heart of a large residential area to the north. Kemptown serves a densely populated neighbourhood to the east with a strong independent business community. Platf9rm in Hove is a co-working hub with an existing community of small businesses and freelancers who might find the cargo bike genuinely useful for everyday work.
How to get started
To hire an OurBike e-cargo bike in Brighton and Hove, download the OurBike app on your phone. New users automatically receive their free minutes: 60 minutes for residents and 180 minutes for businesses. Bikes can be booked in advance through the app and unlocked using smart lock technology directly from your phone.
The current hire locations are Rotunda Café in Preston Park, Detroit Club in Kemptown and Platf9rm in Hove. More locations are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. For the latest information on the scheme, visit the Brighton and Hove City Council website or the OurBike website.
If you are a business and want to explore whether cargo bikes could work for deliveries or local transport, the 180 free minutes for new business users is a low-risk way to find out.
This article is based on a Brighton and Hove City Council press release issued on 28 May 2026, and official Department for Transport announcements published on gov.uk. For more on cycling and transport in the city, read our Brighton Travel Guide 2026.
