TfL celebrates 10 years of cycle hire amid record-breaking summer

Transport for London (TfL) has celebrated a decade of cycle hire in London, announcing a record-breaking summer of hires. More than 85,000 new members have signed up to the scheme since March – a 200 per cent increase on the same period last year – which is said to be due to a surge in cycling as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Previously, the scheme had never surpassed more than 50,000 hires on a normal workday – a record that has now been broken 13 times over the last seven weeks. Santander Cycles saw its busiest ever week with 363,000 hires between 25 – 31 May.

Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said: “We are determined to ensure that the capital’s recovery from coronavirus is healthy and sustainable – enabling more people to cycle is absolutely central to this.

“London’s cycle hire initiative has been a fantastic success story and over the past decade we have seen this flagship scheme go from strength-to-strength.

“We are delighted that this summer there has been record-breaking demand for our Santander Cycles and we are capitalising on this by adding new docking stations, cycle hire hubs and bikes, which will make it even more convenient for Londoners to take to two wheels.

“Our world-leading Streetspace for London programme is also making it safer and easier to cycle in our city – more than 40km of new or upgraded cycle lanes have been built or are under construction, along with 16,000 square metres of extra pavement space.”

Helen Sharp, TfL’s Head of Cycle Hire Business Development, commented: “10 years ago we launched the cycle hire scheme. Today, our Santander Cycles are as familiar a sight on our streets as a black cab or a roundel, embraced by Londoners and visitors to our city alike.

“We’re thrilled to celebrate 10 years of our successful cycle hire scheme, which is helping us to achieve our vision for London becoming one of the world’s best capital cities for cycling.

“Cycling has grown enormously over the last 10 years and never more so than during this summer. There has never been a better time to cycle and we look forward to expanding our iconic Santander Cycles scheme in the months and years ahead.”

Dan Sherwood, Director of Marketing, Santander, said: “For the last 10 years the scheme has played a significant role in the way millions of people experience the city, with records consistently being broken along the way.

“Since we started our partnership, we’ve worked hard to ensure Santander Cycles play an important part in keeping communities of all backgrounds connected and mobile in a healthy, sustainable and affordable way.

“From the installation of the green safety Beryl Laserlights, the creation of the hire app, the introduction of contactless payment systems, GPS tracking and the expansion into more boroughs, we’re proud to play a part in helping people and businesses through the scheme.”