Canterbury Cycle Storage Expansion Reaches 79 Spaces Across City Car Parks

From One Phase to Ten Sites

Canterbury now has 79 secure cycle storage spaces dotted across its city centre car parks and key transport hubs — the combined result of two phases of installation under the council’s Connected Canterbury initiative, funded by the UK Government.

Phase one was announced in October 2025. Six vertical lockers went into Orange Street car park. Station Road West received three bike hubs and two bike hangars, while North Lane, Millers Field and Canterbury bus station each got bike hubs, adding five, six and seven spaces respectively — modest numbers, but a start.

But phase two has pushed things further into the city.

Where the New Spaces Are

The second phase adds secure storage at Watling Street car park, Iron Bar Lane, Castle Row car park, St Radigund’s car park and Longport car park. Closer to residential streets and the historic core. The council says the phased approach allowed new sites to open once related Connected Canterbury works in those areas were finished.

The storage on offer isn’t one-size-fits-all, either. Short-term rentals — anything from 15 minutes up to two weeks — are managed through app-controlled Bike Hubs lockers. For something more permanent, key-operated units supplied through Bikeaway come in at £12 per month, or £120 per year, which works out at £10 per month.

So does that pricing actually undercut the cost of parking a car in Canterbury city centre on a regular basis? For most commuters, almost certainly.

The Case For — and the Caveats

Canterbury City Council frames the project as part of a broader push on sustainable transport, air quality and getting around the city more easily. Secure, bookable storage makes cycling more practical for commuters and visitors who’d otherwise think twice about leaving a bike on an open street stand.

Active travel advocates will welcome it. But 79 spaces is a fairly modest total when you set it against the sheer volume of people travelling into Canterbury daily from across East Kent — Whitstable, Faversham, Herne Bay, the villages in between. Whether demand at peak times outstrips supply at the busiest sites remains to be seen.

Some motorists and businesses may raise an eyebrow if car parking bays have been reallocated to accommodate cycle storage — a trade-off the council hasn’t publicly detailed. Others will take the view that less congestion and a quieter city centre is a reasonable exchange. You can probably guess which camp the council falls into.

Bikes and Buses: The Bigger Picture

Storage at Station Road West and near Canterbury bus station is designed to support bike-and-ride journeys — cycling to a hub, locking up, then continuing by rail or bus. That matters for people travelling in from villages and towns across the district who can’t, or simply don’t want to, bring a car into the city.

The Connected Canterbury initiative draws on UK Government funding to support better walking, cycling and public transport connections across Canterbury. The cycle storage project sits within that wider framework, alongside Kent County Council’s own county-level walking and cycling programmes.

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Key Takeaways

• Phase two of Canterbury’s Connected Canterbury cycle storage scheme has brought the total number of secure spaces to 79 across ten city centre sites
• Long-term storage is available through Bikeaway at £12 per month or £120 per year, with short-term app-controlled Bike Hubs lockers also available from 15 minutes upwards
• New phase two locations include Watling Street car park, Iron Bar Lane, Castle Row, St Radigund’s and Longport car parks

What This Means for Kent Residents

If you cycle into Canterbury — or you’ve wanted to but kept putting it off because of where you’d leave the bike — the expansion gives you more options in more parts of the city than before. The pricing for long-term storage is low enough to make it a realistic alternative to daily car parking for regular commuters. And for those coming in from elsewhere in East Kent by bus or train, the storage near Canterbury bus station and Station Road West means cycling to the station is now a genuinely practical part of the journey rather than an optimistic footnote. The council hasn’t confirmed whether a third phase is planned, but the Connected Canterbury initiative remains ongoing.