Best ever year for Transport for London's bike hire scheme

Last year was the best on record for `the Transport for London (TfL) cycle hire scheme, with more than one million individual users.

The scheme, run with Santander, clocked up nearly 11 million rentals, beating the previous record set in 2018.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, more than a quarter of Londoners took to pedal power during the past financial year.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said safe roads for cyclists are essential.

He added: "It's fantastic to see our cycle hire scheme reach such incredible heights, achieving its highest ever hire numbers last year. Not only have we seen a huge rise in cycling since the pandemic, but participation has also broadened, particularly among people from minority ethnic communities.

"In order to keep up this success we need safe roads for cyclists, and we continue to work with boroughs to roll out cycle lanes, extra pavement space and safer junctions."

Despite an increase in the number of Londoners cycling during the pandemic, car usage has recovered almost to pre-pandemic levels already in the capital while passenger numbers on public transport continue to dwindle, prompting the mayor earlier this week to warn that London faces the threat of "filthy air and gridlocked roads".

City Hall has said that more than two-thirds of car journeys made in London could be cycled in under 20 minutes but plans to expand the scheme, including the introduction of more e-bikes to hire, could be on hold due to TfL's financial situation.

It was revealed in November that a failure to secure long-term funding for TfL could result in several long-term projects being dropped.

Last month the government provided an extension to TfL's emergency funding deal that extends support through to February.