Use instead of ownership: the new market survey by Zukunft Fahrrad counts around 100,000 shared bikes and almost as many subscription bikes. Bikes used on a temporary basis are used most where they are integrated with buses and trains. There is no tax incentive for subscriptions and bike sharing yet, but mobility budgets could close this gap.
You no longer have to buy a bike to ride one every day. Whether leased through an employer, rented on a monthly subscription, or picked up spontaneously via an app, the ways to use a bike without owning it have become much more varied in recent years. The industry association Zukunft Fahrrad has surveyed providers for the second time to find out how big this market has become, with 1 September 2026 as the reference date. New this year are commercial bike subscriptions and tourist rental bikes.
According to Zukunft Fahrrad, what counts in bike sharing is less the size of the fleet than how often each bike is used. Shared bikes are used most where they are integrated into local public transport, for example as a local add-on to the Deutschlandticket. KVB-Rad in Cologne shows what this can look like: in the first half of 2026, each bike there was used for an average of seven trips a day, 2.88 million in total. Shared bikes are particularly popular for the first and last leg of a journey, from the station to the office or home.
According to the association, bikes on private subscriptions are also used intensively, and for a simple reason: maintenance and repairs are included in the monthly price. If something breaks, the provider takes care of it at no extra cost. The range now extends from simple city bikes to electric cargo bikes, and providers differ mainly in price, term, and service.
For the first time, Zukunft Fahrrad has also estimated the number of commercial subscriptions. These are mainly electric delivery bikes for food delivery services. In the association's view, they are a roadworthy alternative for self-employed riders to the illegally motorised fat bikes that are often used. Zukunft Fahrrad is therefore calling for market surveillance authorities to take action against such bikes and for delivery services to take more responsibility for safe e-bikes.
As of the reference date, the survey found:
By far the largest segment remains the company bike: according to a study by Deloitte and Zukunft Fahrrad, around 2.2 million bikes were leased through employers at the end of 2025. Unlike a subscription, company bike leasing usually runs for three years, but in return it benefits from tax incentives.
For tourist rental bikes, the figure for the Baltic coast is only a snapshot. It is hard to say how big the market is nationwide, because there are a great many small rental businesses.
Unlike company bikes, bike subscriptions and bike sharing do not yet have a dedicated tax incentive. Zukunft Fahrrad sees mobility budgets as a way to close this gap and is calling for their tax treatment to be simplified. The association also proposes funding social tariffs for bike sharing and bike subscriptions from the EU's Social Climate Fund.
For companies, the survey shows that the bike works as a benefit beyond company bike leasing. Subscriptions can be cancelled at short notice and include servicing, while shared bikes close the gap between the station and the office. This means they also reach employees for whom a multi-year leasing contract doesn't pay off or who don't have access to one. With a mobility budget, both options can already be offered today alongside a job ticket or company bike.
Source: Zukunft Fahrrad, market data survey on sharing, subscriptions, and rental of bicycles ("Marktdatenumfrage Sharing, Abos und Miete von Fahrrädern"), reference date 1 September 2026
