Transport for London and Santander are offering free and unlimited 30 minute rides for all Londoners on every Sunday in June to celebrate the launch of TfL Cycle Sundays. The offer comes as Santander e-bikes recently celebrated one million hires, demonstrating their immense popularity in London.
TfL Cycle Sundays is a new programme of leisurely cycle routes that aims to support and encourage Londoners who are new to cycling to explore the capital by cycle on Sundays. TfL Cycle Sundays, which has been developed in collaboration with leading cycling organisations, 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. Leisure cycling provides people with an easy and sustainable way to maintain their mental and physical wellbeing and build up confidence.
The TfL Cycle Sundays offer can be claimed by downloading the Santander Cycles app or heading to a docking station terminal, choosing a Day Pass, and using the code CYCLESUNDAYS. Santander e-bikes will be available to app users for an additional £1 per half hour journey. Hires longer than 30 minutes incur an extra £1.65 for each additional 30 minutes for pedal bikes, and £3.30 for e-bikes.
The Cycle Sundays routes have been selected by TfL and a range of partners including British Cycling, Cycle Sisters, JoyRiders, London Cycling Campaign, Sustrans and Wheels for Wellbeing, and include park rides in Greenwich and Battersea, an accessible cycle tour of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, a loop through parks in Haringey and many more spanning the capital. The routes give cyclists of all abilities a choice of leisure routes up to ten miles long on quiet roads and paths.
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A full list of routes can be found on the TfL Cycle Sundays website, which also offers cycling discounts, links to cycling organisations and their events and access to TfL’s free online Cycle Skills course for new cyclists or anyone who needs a refresher to get cycling again.
The Walking and Cycling Commissioner, Will Norman said: “The boom we’ve seen in cycling in the capital over recent years has been fantastic, and we are determined to make cycling as accessible and affordable as possible, to encourage even more Londoners to give it a go. This is why I am delighted that Santander Cycles will be offering unlimited free rides every Sunday in June, as part of Cycle Sundays.
“As the weather gets warmer, this is perfect time to give cycling a try, for free, taking advantage of our growing network of cycleways, low traffic routes and off-road routes. This is just one of the ways the Mayor and TfL are working to build a better, fairer and greener London for everyone.’
David Eddington, Head of Cycle Hire at TfL, said: “TfL Cycle Sundays offers a range of leisure routes across London which are perfect for beginners looking to get into cycling.
“Cycling is not only brilliant for your mental and physical health, but also a great way to explore and see more of London. We hope that enabling all Londoners to use Santander Cycles for free every Sunday will get more people out cycling, as well as giving them a chance to try out our brilliant bikes.”
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 360km 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.
