Edinburgh’s Voi e-bike hire scheme has emerged as a top performer in Europe, registering unparalleled success in terms of trips per vehicle per day, according to recent figures. Launched in September 2025, the rental e-bikes have rapidly integrated into the city’s transport infrastructure, demonstrating a significant uptake in public adoption.
The scheme, which commenced with an initial fleet of 50 bikes across 40 parking locations, has undergone substantial expansion within eight months of operation. As of the latest reporting, the network now comprises over 800 bikes available at 200 sites across Edinburgh.
Councillor Stephen Jenkinson, the City of Edinburgh Council’s Transport Convener, highlighted the scheme’s impressive performance. “Since Voi’s introduction in Edinburgh, almost 550,000 trips have been taken by around 53,500 users,” Jenkinson stated. These journeys collectively cover approximately 1.3 million kilometres, an equivalent distance to circumnavigating the Earth 34 times. The scheme currently averages around 5,000 trips daily.
A key indicator of the scheme’s efficiency is its trips per vehicle per day metric, which stands at 8.4. Councillor Jenkinson noted that this figure “far exceed[s] the average that companies look for,” typically around 2.5 trips per vehicle per day, dubbing the pilot period an “overwhelming success.”
Building on this momentum, the council is planning further expansion of the Voi network. New areas slated to receive bikes before the city’s festival season include Portobello, Cramond, Gorgie, and Dalry.
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The Voi scheme’s current achievements mark a notable improvement over its predecessor, the Just Eat Cycles programme operated by Serco, which ceased operations in September 2021 due to issues including vandalism and financial viability. In just eight months, the Voi e-bikes have facilitated 2.6 times the number of rides compared to a full year of the previous scheme’s operation.
Aberdeen has recently launched its own Voi e-bike scheme in May 2026, with an initial fleet of 350 bikes available across 18 designated parking spots at a rate of 18p per minute, and 5,000 recorded rides in the first week of operation. The Aberdeen rollout replaces a previous e-bike scheme that was scrapped two years prior, and is designed to become self-funding within three years.
While it is too early to draw direct performance comparisons, the Edinburgh success has set a high benchmark that Aberdeen’s scheme will be looking to build towards.
