Santander Cycles play a hugely important role in making cycling more accessible to Londoners, enabling people to choose a healthy and sustainable form of transport.
That’s according to TfL, on the back of new figures showing there were more hires made in 2022 than any other year in the scheme’s history.
In total, 11,506,889 hires were made across the year – 565,625 hires more than were made in 2021.
TfL says the increased number of hires reflects wider increases in walking and cycling seen in London over recent years.
The scheme also saw record breaking months between September 2021 and August 2022, with each month achieving the highest number of hires for that month since the scheme launched 12 years ago.
In October last year, TfL and Santander introduced a new fleet of 500 docked e-bikes to the scheme that help to break down the barriers that stop some people from cycling, including fitness, age and journey length.
Data from 2022 shows that the e-bikes have been a success, with 129,232 hires made so far. Waterloo Station was the most popular docking station in 2022 with 131,005 hires.
Meanwhile, last month, TfL and Southwark Council completed an expansion of the scheme in Southwark, with seven new docking stations serving people in Bermondsey and Walworth.
Will Norman, London’s walking and cycling commissioner, said: “It has been another incredible, record-breaking year for London’s tremendous Santander Cycles scheme with over 11.5 million rides, proving that the boom in walking and cycling we saw during the pandemic is here to stay.
“2022 also saw the introduction of fantastic new e-bikes with more Londoners than ever using sustainable ways to get around the capital.
“The mayor and I are determined to continue building a cleaner, greener and more prosperous London for everyone – Santander Cycles plays a hugely important role in making active travel around the city as accessible as possible.”
10 January 2023