Transport for London (TfL) and Santander are making significant improvements to the Santander Cycles scheme by more than tripling the number available to hire and further expanding access to cycling for all by the end of summer. The e-bike fleet will reach a total of 2,000 bikes by the end of summer 2024.
The e-bikes have broken records this year, with more than one million hires made since they were introduced in 2022. The bikes are being hired at around twice the rate of a classic bike, highlighting their popularity. The new e-bikes will enable even more Londoners to enjoy the benefits that cycling can bring, from improved health to cleaner air. The new bikes also help to break down the barriers that stop some people from cycling, including fitness and journey length. 27 June saw the highest volume of e-bike users to date, with 3,584 hires, demonstrating the importance of expanding the fleet to ensure more people across the capital have access to the bikes.
E-bikes are available to registered users, for a fare of £3.30 per 30-minute ride or £1 per 60 minutes for monthly and annual members. The e-bike single ride price is cheaper than any other operator in London*. With the £3 Day Pass, e-bikes are available to hire for an additional fare of £1 per 30 minutes. Customers can use the Santander Cycles app to hire bikes and quickly see where all e-bikes are located across London. E-bike battery levels are also shown on the app.
TfL offered a free Day Pass on Sundays in June to celebrate the launch of TfL Cycle Sundays, a new programme of leisurely cycle routes designed to encourage more Londoners to get out and enjoy the capital by cycle. This gave customers unlimited 30 minute rides for free using a standard Santander cycle or £1 per ride if using an e-bike. The offer was redeemed more than 13,000 times by 5,586 unique customers and 64 per cent of the customers who redeemed it were new to Santander Cycles. TfL will be using the success of this promotion to look at further ways of attracting more customers to the scheme later this year.
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The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Our Santander e-bikes are proving extremely popular with Londoners and so I’m delighted we’re tripling our e-bike fleet this summer. These additional bikes will enable even more people to cycle for shorter journeys, helping build a better, fairer and greener London for everyone.”
David Eddington, TfL’s Head of Cycle Hire, said: “Santander Cycles is a vital part of London’s transport system, and the scheme has gone from strength to strength, with cycle hire in the capital now an integral part of travel.
“These additional e-bikes will give more people in London an opportunity to try these brilliant bikes and use them more often. Santander Cycles has played an important role in encouraging more people to cycle and we’ll continue to improve the scheme to ensure a greener and healthier future for everyone in London. We look forward to completing our expansion by the end of summer.”
Dan Sherwood, Marketing Director, Santander UK said: “It’s great to see the Santander Cycles scheme expanding once again. We couldn’t be more proud to have been working with TfL since 2015 on this fantastic scheme and watching it go from strength to strength as an affordable, convenient and sustainable way of travelling the streets of London. The 900 additional e-bikes being introduced today will allow even more people to access and enjoy the scheme this Summer.”
TfL has recently created new cycle routes across London with user-friendly maps showing how they connect to create local networks. This follows on from the recent launch of TfL Cycle Sundays, which offers a range of easy-to-follow leisure cycle routes and maps across London to explore the capital on Sundays. The campaign has been developed in collaboration with leading cycling organisations and aims to offer beginner friendly journeys for Londoners, backed up by a range of support to make it even easier to try out cycling for the first time.
Road danger and the fear of collisions are a major barrier to increasing cycling numbers. TfL encourages Londoners to cycle safely and London’s boroughs have made significant progress in expanding London’s network of high-quality Cycleways in recent years. London now has over 390km of strategic cycle routes across London, and during this financial year, TfL will continue to work with London’s boroughs to deliver more Cycleways, expanding the network to new areas. With £19.5m of investment already announced, this funding will complete Cycleways between Lea Bridge and Dalston, between Deptford and Deptford Creek and Hammersmith and Kensington Olympia. This funding will also progress design and delivery of Cycleways across Bexley, Harrow, Hounslow, Bromley and Redbridge.
