The average hire time for Santander Cycles has hit its lowest figure in over a decade.
Transport for London (TfL) records show that the average casual bike-ride in February 2025 was a mere 14 minutes long, the shortest recorded time since November 2010.
London Cycling Campaign senior policy officer Tom Bogdanowicz believes that while the trend was unfortunate, it could be explained by the capital’s changing cycling habits.
Bogdanowicz said: “Santander bikes are almost as iconic as red buses so it’s disappointing to see a downturn in casual [but not member] usage.
“Competition from shared dockless e-bikes is clearly a factor, but this is encouraging Santander to boost its e-bike fleet and change its pricing model.
“If that proves attractive to riders then the welcome overall growth in cycle trips may continue.”
Although commonly referred to as ‘Boris bikes’, London’s public cycle scheme was initially planned by former Mayor Ken Livingstone in 2008 and subsequently launched under Boris Johnson’s tenure, in association with Barclays Bank, two years later.
Since then, TfL has introduced more than 12,000 bikes at approximately 800 docking stations around the capital.
Uptake has steadily increased over the past decade, with the annual number of total bicycle hires, combining member and casual riders, regularly hitting over 10million from 2016.
The scheme drew in a record numbers of riders in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic as social-distancing rules prompted Londoners to change commuting habits.
However, this upward trend dramatically reversed following the summer of 2022.
Despite recording a year-on-year increase of 127,515 rides last month, figures shows the average uptake since 2023 has been historically low.
Multiple reasons have been suggested to explain the downturn, such as cost-of-living pressures or competition from private dockless e-bikes and e-scooters, which TfL admitted last year may be impacting demand.
Of the competitors, NeutronHoldings Inc, which operates as Lime, has not made its internal data public but claims nearly half of Londoners aged 18-34 use its e-bikes weekly.
Recording an 85% increase in the total number of journeys in 2023-2024, the company claimed there were over 16million journeys taken during commuting hours in 2024.
Bolt, which owns Forest e-bikes, stated it records an average of 1.2million e-bike rides every month.
However, there are growing signs of a backlash against the growth in the private, dockless e-bike sector.
Brent Borough Council threatened to ban Lime e-bikes last year and, in February, forced the company to make multiple regulatory commitments for restricting capacity and improving parking infrastructure by July.
Addressing claims about historically low ride-times, a spokesperson for TfL stressed the organisation continues to expand and modernise the Santander Cycles scheme.
Directly addressing the growing popularity of private e-bikes, TfL began introducing their own docked e-bikes in 2022, exclusively accessible to TfL-Santander Cycles members.
One in every six TfL-Santander bikes is now an e-bike, with the 2,000-strong fleet having tripled since July 2024.
The move is part of Mayor Sadiq Khan’s wider cycling action plan, which contains an explicit commitment to modernise and improve the city’s Santander Cycles offering.
It was also announced last month the 30-minute ride restriction on a £3.50 unlimited day pass would be doubled to 60 minutes by 6 April.
TfL’s head of cycle hire David Eddington said: “Santander Cycles is a vital part of London’s transport system and we recently made significant improvements to the Santander Cycles scheme by doubling the day pass ride time and reducing the price of hiring an e-bike.
“We’ve seen strong use of our e-bikes since their introduction, with two million hires so far and a single ride price that is cheaper than any other operator in London.
“Our continued expansion of the scheme’s fleet, alongside our new tariff, will guarantee the future success of the scheme as an integral part to London’s green and healthy future.”
A Mayor of London spokesperson said: “Santander Cycles play a vital role in enabling Londoners to travel affordably and sustainably.
“The scheme also expands access to cycling, with many people enjoying its health benefits and choosing to take it up as a regular form of transport after trying it for the first time through the scheme.
“We are seeing record levels of hires from members of the scheme, rather than casual users, as well as continued strong demand for the scheme’s e-bikes.
“These changes will encourage more people to use Santander Cycles and help us to build a better, greener and fairer London for all.”
Feature image credit: Toby Carmichael
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