Skip to main content

London's shared bikes go electric

TfL's Santander Cycles scheme adds 500 e-bikes in UK capital and changes fare structure
By Adam Hill September 12, 2022 Read time: 2 mins
Santander cycles London decarbonisation active travel green economy (© ITS International)
For existing bikes, £2 daily access charge is replaced with £1.65 flat rate per 30-minute ride (© ITS International)

Transport for London (TfL)'s shared Santander Cycles scheme includes e-bikes from today.

The hire scheme in the UK capital is being expanded with 500 e-bikes added "across key central London locations".

The new vehicles will initially be available to registered users only, for a fare of £3.30 per 30-minute ride or an additional fare of £1 per 60 minutes for monthly and annual members.

TfL has also introduced changes to rates: the £2 daily access charge is replaced with a £1.65 flat rate per 30-minute ride (which matches the price of a London bus ride).

A new monthly membership has also been introduced, costing £20 per month and allowing customers to make unlimited 60-minute rides.

E-bikes can be docked at any of the scheme's 800 docking stations in London.  

The scheme is popular, with more than a million rides in July, and 10.9 million hires in total in 2021.

TfL says more than one million individual customers used the cycle hire scheme last year, the first time this milestone has been reached in a calendar year - and 178,000 new members joined the scheme in 2021, a 7% increase on 2020. 

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said he was "determined to continue building a cleaner, greener London for everyone and this includes making cycling as accessible as possible".

David Eddington, TfL's head of cycle hire, said: "We want to make sure that the scheme continues to be one of the easiest and most sustainable ways of travelling in the capital."

Santander is to sponsor the scheme until May 2025. 

For more information on companies in this article

boombox1
boombox2