1001 Smart Cities
🇩🇪 Hamburg

StadtRAD Hamburg Bike Share

🤖 AI-generated summary · ◆ 8 sourced claims · 🔎 Last verified

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed below and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

8 sourced claims on this page, none individually verified yet — turn on “Sources in the text” to see each one.

How this atlas is made · What “last verified” means · What “source-checked” means · The full record behind this page

✎ Updated 28 Aug 2026 2 sources added. What changed →

The first 30 minutes are free, but the data layer is the interesting part: live dock occupancy is published under an open licence, so anyone can audit whether the outer districts are really served.

Outcome🔄 Ongoing
Evidence🏛️ Official
what does this mean?The strongest source is the operator's or the city's own reporting — an official report, dataset or press release. It grades who did the looking — not how well the project went. All four grades →
Run byDB Connect GmbH (Deutsche Bahn) for the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
Scale🏙️ City-wide
CostCity subsidy reported as initially about EUR 1 million per year under the 2019-2028 contract, down from about EUR 2.6 million, rising with fleet growth.
FundingCity of Hamburg operating subsidy under a competitively tendered 2019-2028 contract, plus user fees (EUR 8.90/year since April 2024, first 30 minutes free). Not advertising-financed.

Part of 1001 Smart Cities — 1,167 documented projects · 🏙️ 8 more in Hamburg · 🚲 Cycling guide · 🚲 Mobility projects

Hamburg's station-based bike share has run since July 2009, operated by DB Connect under a city contract awarded for 2019-2028. About 4,300 bikes and 56 cargo pedelecs stand at nearly 360 stations; the first 30 minutes are free. Live per-station availability is published as open data through Hamburg's SensorThings API, and bikes became bookable in the hvv switch transit app in 2026.

Live 📅 since 2009

📊 Impact

Operator reported rentals up 11% from March to September 2024 after the fleet was modernised.

🎓 Lesson

The data layer, not the bikes, is what makes this legible: because the city publishes live dock occupancy under an open licence, anyone can audit whether the network actually reaches the outer districts.

🚲 MobilityCyclingShared mobilitySensors & IoTOpen data

Sources

↗ StadtRAD Hamburg (operator site)Operator's own page: in service since 2009, about 4,200 bikes and 56 cargo pedelecs, app-based rental.
↗ Hamburg BVM — StadtRAD service pageCity page: DB Connect as operator, over 4,300 bikes at over 350 stations, 56 cargo pedelecs, first 30 minutes free, annual fee raised to EUR 8.90 on 13 April (the page states day and month, not the year).
↗ Transparenzportal Hamburg — StadtRAD-Stationen datasetPublished 7 August 2025 · updated 24 January 2026The data layer: station positions plus currently available bikes and cargo pedelecs, served live via the OGC SensorThings API and an MQTT broker at iot.hamburg.de. Publisher BVM, licence Datenlizenz Deutschland Namensnennung 2.0.
↗ Hochbahn press release: StadtRAD in hvv switch (30 June 2026)About 4,300 bikes at nearly 360 stations, bookable directly in the hvv switch app alongside transit, carsharing, ridepooling and e-scooters.
↗ KCW: tender for StadtRAD HamburgPublished 23 July 2018Contract 2019-2028 awarded to DB Connect on 29 June 2018; fleet to grow from 2,450 to 4,500 bikes; city subsidy cut from about EUR 2.6m to about EUR 1m per year.
Show 2 more sourcesShow fewer
↗ Radio Hamburg: Elf Prozent mehr Stadtrad-Ausleihen seit Modernisierung (4 Oct 2024)Press report citing operator DB Connect: rentals up 11% from the start of the fleet modernisation in March to September 2024; customers up 10%; about 3,900 bikes at 325 stations at the time.
↗ Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg — StadtRAD presentation (9 Feb 2012)City presentation on the bike-share system: project timeline dates the opening of stage 1 (67 stations) to July 2009; tariff, station and fleet history.

📅 How old is the evidence?

Two clocks, kept apart: when this entry’s sources were published, and what has happened to its record in the atlas. Documented span: since 2009. 5 of 7 sources carry a publication date, from 9 February 2012 to 30 June 2026.

When the sources were published

  1. Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg · city governmentFreie und Hansestadt Hamburg — StadtRAD presentation (9 Feb 2012)
  2. KCW GmbH · vendorKCW: tender for StadtRAD Hamburg
  3. Radio Hamburg · pressRadio Hamburg: Elf Prozent mehr Stadtrad-Ausleihen seit Modernisierung (4 Oct 2024)
  4. Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg · city governmentTransparenzportal Hamburg — StadtRAD-Stationen dataset · updated 24 January 2026
  5. Hamburger Hochbahn · operatorHochbahn press release: StadtRAD in hvv switch (30 June 2026)

Every source, with links ↑

What happened to this record

  1. Entered the record
  2. 2 sources added
  3. Sources last read

Every revision, permanent →

Show your work What this page rests on and what it can’t tell you · all 8 claims with their sources · the forensic record

Evidence Passport · public beta 8 addressable claims, 7 source dossiers, one permanent baseline. The passport is unreviewed — an AI-assisted structural migration, not a human or expert endorsement. Every revision keeps a permanent copy under revision history.

Inspect the claims, one by one — verbatim text, sources and caveats for all 8

The text below is copied verbatim from the published record. Each claim names the source dossiers that carry it; caveats stay attached to the claim they qualify.

Claim 1 clm-f4208fefc4211bf7 quantitative
has run since July 2009
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The operator's own site states "Seit 2009 ist StadtRAD Hamburg das führende Bikesharing-System in Deutschland", confirming the launch year; the city's own StadtRAD presentation (9 Feb 2012) dates the opening precisely in its project timeline: "07 / 2009 Eröffnung Stufe 1 (67 Stationen)" — the July launch month.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. StadtRAD Hamburg (operator site)
  2. Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg — StadtRAD presentation (9 Feb 2012)
Claim 2 clm-9308eba26dc8eb33 quantitative
operated by DB Connect under a city contract awarded for 2019-2028
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
KCW's write-up of the tender states directly: "Gewinner der Ausschreibung für die Laufzeit 2019-2028 ist der bisherige Betreiber – die Deutsche Bahn Connect GmbH" ("Winner of the tender for the 2019-2028 term is the incumbent operator, Deutsche Bahn Connect GmbH"), naming both the operator and the exact contract term in one sentence. The operator's own site separately confirms DB Connect's role by describing StadtRAD as part of "der großen Call a Bike-Familie, dem Bikesharing-Angebot der Deutschen Bahn" (Deutsche Bahn's bikesharing brand).
Caveat
Among the five listed sources, the specific contract term "2019-2028" is documented only by KCW, a transport consultancy publishing its own case-study page about a tender it advised on — that page reads as advisory/promotional material rather than a city or operator record, and would grade as a media-tier source on its own. Neither the city's own StadtRAD service page (hamburg.de) nor the operator's own site names the contract dates in the pages checked here.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. KCW: tender for StadtRAD Hamburg
  2. StadtRAD Hamburg (operator site)
Claim 3 clm-65afce95df0aced7 quantitative
About 4,300 bikes and 56 cargo pedelecs stand at nearly 360 stations
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The Hochbahn press release of 30 June 2026 states exactly: "Rund 4.300 StadtRAD-Fahrräder an fast 360 Stationen im gesamten Stadtgebiet stehen damit über eine einzige Anwendung zur Verfügung" ("about 4,300 StadtRAD bikes at nearly 360 stations across the whole city are now available through a single app") — matching the bike and station figures precisely. The Hamburg BVM service page adds the cargo-pedelec figure: "über 4300 Räder an über 350 Stationen sowie 56 Lastenpedelecs zur Verfügung" (over 4,300 bikes at over 350 stations plus 56 cargo pedelecs).
Caveat
hamburg.de's own page is internally inconsistent and, either way, gives a somewhat lower station count than the entry: one passage says "über 350 Stationen" (over 350) and another, undated news item on the same page says "knapp 350 Stationen" (just under 350). Only the more recently dated Hochbahn release (30 June 2026) matches "nearly 360" exactly; the difference is consistent with the network's ongoing station rollout rather than a contradiction.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Hochbahn press release: StadtRAD in hvv switch (30 June 2026)
  2. Hamburg BVM — StadtRAD service page
Claim 4 clm-1c02e44dbd1c9b29 quantitative
the first 30 minutes are free
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
hamburg.de states directly, describing the April 2026 tariff update: "Wichtig: Die ersten 30 Minuten pro fahrt bleiben weiterhin kostenlos" ("Important: the first 30 minutes per ride remain free of charge") — confirming this is still current even as other tariff elements changed. KCW's 2018 tender report shows the same rule already applied at contract start ("first half-hour remaining free of charge").
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Hamburg BVM — StadtRAD service page
  2. KCW: tender for StadtRAD Hamburg
Claim 5 clm-fac0bc7ac17d7d0d descriptive
Live per-station availability is published as open data through Hamburg's SensorThings API
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The dataset page describes exactly this, not merely station locations: "Der Datensatz enthält die Position aller StadtRAD-Stationen im Hamburger Stadtgebiet und die Anzahl der aktuell zur Ausleihe zur Verfügung stehenden Fahrräder und Lastenpedelecs" ("the dataset contains the position of every StadtRAD station in Hamburg and the number of bikes and cargo pedelecs currently available for rental at each"), delivered live "im JSON-Format ... in der SensorThings API (STA)" (in JSON format via the SensorThings API). So the API carries live per-station bike/pedelec counts, not just a static list of addresses.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Transparenzportal Hamburg — StadtRAD-Stationen dataset
Claim 6 clm-08a8aaa5a4146f40 quantitative
bikes became bookable in the hvv switch transit app in 2026
Published field
snippet · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
Hochbahn's press release, dated 30.06.2026, announces exactly this under the headline "StadtRAD jetzt in hvv switch: Mobilität in Hamburg wächst weiter zusammen" with the subhead "Ab sofort auch Fahrrad-Leihmöglichkeit in Hamburgs Mobilitäts-App" ("as of now, bike rental is also available in Hamburg's mobility app") — an immediate, 2026 rollout.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Hochbahn press release: StadtRAD in hvv switch (30 June 2026)
Claim 7 clm-55fd8bcaea256e88 quantitative
Operator reported rentals up 11% from March to September 2024 after the fleet was modernised.
Published field
impact · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
Radio Hamburg, citing the operator, reports: "Seit Beginn der Modernisierung der Flotte im März sei die Zahl der Ausleihen bis September um elf Prozent gestiegen", explicitly "teilte der Betreiber DB Connect mit" — a rise of 11% in rentals from March to September 2024, framed by the operator itself as running from the start of the fleet modernisation.
Caveat
This is the operator's own figure, reported via press coverage, not an independent evaluation; the source treats "since the modernisation began" as the operator's own framing rather than a demonstrated cause.

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Radio Hamburg: Elf Prozent mehr Stadtrad-Ausleihen seit Modernisierung (4 Oct 2024)
Claim 8 clm-1e70236a71e0f4d0 descriptive
the city publishes live dock occupancy under an open licence
Published field
lesson · verbatim
Mapping
mapped · no interpretation or interpolation added by this passport
What the mapping says
The dataset page is published by the city ("Veröffentlichende Stelle: Behörde für Verkehr und Mobilitätswende (BVM)") under the licence field "Lizenz: Datenlizenz Deutschland Namensnennung 2.0" — Germany's standard open-government-data licence (DL-DE-BY-2.0), which is Open-Definition-conformant and functionally equivalent to CC BY (attribution required, otherwise unrestricted commercial and non-commercial reuse). This is a genuinely open licence, and the dataset it covers is the live per-station bike/pedelec count described in the previous claim.
Caveat
No claim-specific caveat recorded

Sources carrying this claim

  1. Transparenzportal Hamburg — StadtRAD-Stationen dataset
Forensic record — source dossiers, gaps, hashes and the exact revision this page renders

This layer records what is known about each source, what is still missing, and the exact snapshot this page is rendering. A missing date, archive or hash stays visible as missing.

unreviewed Revision 2026-08-28-claims-and-dates effective 2026-08-28 · created 2026-08-28

Awaiting operator and domain-expert review; publication of this revision implies neither.

sha256:8a85a890a3c584fefba5b9073b2f833dba755e5524c7b9560accd9e720d5b999
Revision history → Permanent version link → Machine-readable record → Evidence Constitution →
8
of 8 claims mapped
7
source dossiers
5
publication dates recorded
0
archives linked
0
exact locators
0
content captures hashed

Governance facts carried by the record

Operator
DB Connect GmbH (Deutsche Bahn) for the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
Actor types
utility
Funding model
public
Funding description
City of Hamburg operating subsidy under a competitively tendered 2019-2028 contract, plus user fees (EUR 8.90/year since April 2024, first 30 minutes free). Not advertising-financed.
Cost
City subsidy reported as initially about EUR 1 million per year under the 2019-2028 contract, down from about EUR 2.6 million, rising with fleet growth.
Ownership
Not recorded
Decision rights
Not recorded
Exit conditions
Not recorded

7 source dossiers

StadtRAD Hamburg (operator site) stadtrad.hamburg.de · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-f7489435163e5121
Publisher
Name not classified · stadtrad.hamburg.de
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-28
Dossier created
2026-08-28
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Operator's own page: in service since 2009, about 4,200 bikes and 56 cargo pedelecs, app-based rental.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Hamburg BVM — StadtRAD service page hamburg.de · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-be8b77270f4cda52
Publisher
Name not classified · hamburg.de
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
Not recorded
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-28
Dossier created
2026-08-28
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

City page: DB Connect as operator, over 4,300 bikes at over 350 stations, 56 cargo pedelecs, first 30 minutes free, annual fee raised to EUR 8.90 on 13 April (the page states day and month, not the year).

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Transparenzportal Hamburg — StadtRAD-Stationen dataset suche.transparenz.hamburg.de · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-f5cc0907527ad6f0
Publisher
Name not classified · suche.transparenz.hamburg.de
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2025-08-07
Updated
2026-01-24
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-28
Dossier created
2026-08-28
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

The data layer: station positions plus currently available bikes and cargo pedelecs, served live via the OGC SensorThings API and an MQTT broker at iot.hamburg.de. Publisher BVM, licence Datenlizenz Deutschland Namensnennung 2.0.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Hochbahn press release: StadtRAD in hvv switch (30 June 2026) hochbahn.de · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-0898a741513b9317
Publisher
Name not classified · hochbahn.de
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2026-06-30
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-28
Dossier created
2026-08-28
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

About 4,300 bikes at nearly 360 stations, bookable directly in the hvv switch app alongside transit, carsharing, ridepooling and e-scooters.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
KCW: tender for StadtRAD Hamburg kcw-online.de · 2 linked claims

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-3955fbe385f7dff4
Publisher
Name not classified · kcw-online.de
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2018-07-23
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-28
Dossier created
2026-08-28
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Contract 2019-2028 awarded to DB Connect on 29 June 2018; fleet to grow from 2,450 to 4,500 bikes; city subsidy cut from about EUR 2.6m to about EUR 1m per year.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Radio Hamburg: Elf Prozent mehr Stadtrad-Ausleihen seit Modernisierung (4 Oct 2024) radiohamburg.de · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-2cd4f966a0ee7894
Publisher
Name not classified · radiohamburg.de
Type / language
web-page · language not classified
Published
2024-10-04
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-28
Dossier created
2026-08-28
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

Press report citing operator DB Connect: rentals up 11% from the start of the fleet modernisation in March to September 2024; customers up 10%; about 3,900 bikes at 325 stations at the time.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg — StadtRAD presentation (9 Feb 2012) hamburg.de · 1 linked claim

Open original source ↗

Stable source ID
src-b6138ad6d1f2da88
Publisher
Name not classified · hamburg.de
Type / language
pdf · language not classified
Published
2012-02-09
Updated
Not recorded
Source last checked
No source-level check date
Record last verified
2026-08-28
Dossier created
2026-08-28
Retrieved copy
No local capture recorded
Archive
No archived copy linked
Content hash
No captured content hash
Locator
Open the recorded source note

City presentation on the bike-share system: project timeline dates the opening of stage 1 (67 stations) to July 2009; tariff, station and fleet history.

Descriptive only — not page/paragraph exact
Claims linked
Known limits of this passport
  • Publisher names and source languages have not yet been classified; domains are recorded without guessing.
  • Existing source notes are descriptive locators, not page- or paragraph-exact citations.
  • A missing archive, publication date or content hash is shown as null rather than inferred.
  • The project-level evidence grade ranks the strongest source in the entry; it is not a truth score for every claim.

Continue exploring

Compare this project

🇨🇦 BIXI Montréal: city-owned bikes, non-profit operator, operator-held data · Montreal Ownership contrast: Montreal's operator holds copyright in trip data; Hamburg publishes live dock occupancy openly under DL-DE-BY. 🇩🇰 Bycyklen: Tablet-and-GPS Bike-Share · Copenhagen Copenhagen's GPS bike-share went insolvent in 2022 when subsidy fell away; Hamburg's tendered 2019-2028 subsidy model survived. 🇩🇪 hvv switch Mobility Hubs & App · Hamburg Same city, same app: StadtRAD bikes became bookable inside the hvv switch mobility-hub app in 2026.

Explore the wider context

🔑 Your Smart City Is Owned by Someone Else📖 Geofencing📖 Open data📖 Urban data platform (UDP)
📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “StadtRAD Hamburg Bike Share” — Hamburg, Germany. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/hamburg-stadtrad-bikeshare/ (last verified 2026-08-28). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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