TfL celebrates 15 years of cycle rent with citywide pictures competitors

Transport for London (TfL) is marking the fifteenth anniversary of its cycle rent scheme with a pictures competitors.

The cycle rent scheme launched at 6am on 30th July 2010 with 315 docking stations and 5,000 bikes throughout eight London boroughs. Today, there are greater than 12,000 cycles obtainable, together with greater than 2,000 electrical cycles from greater than 800 docking stations.

To mark the fifteenth anniversary TfL and Santander are trying to find 15 pictures of Santander Cycles that showcase London’s pure landscapes, landmarks and hidden gems.

TfL is working with Wildlife Photographer of the Year on the Natural History Museum, London, who will assist choose the most effective pictures and choose 15 successful pictures.

Those 15 winners will obtain a free annual Santander Cycles membership (value £120) and a pair of tickets to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition on the Natural History Museum (legitimate October 2025 – June 2026). One first prize winner will even obtain 5 tickets to a breakfast reception on the museum on 6 November and an opportunity to discover the museum earlier than it opens to the general public.

London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, Will Norman, mentioned: “For 15 years, TfL’s cycle rent scheme has helped make biking extra accessible and supported Londoners to decide on cleaner, more healthy methods to get round – enjoying a key function within the Mayor’s plans for a extra sustainable metropolis.

“I encourage Londoners to enter this anniversary competition. There are some fantastic prizes up for grabs and it’s a great opportunity to celebrate the brilliant places you can discover by bike, whether it’s a famous London landmark or a hidden gem off the beaten track.”

To enter the competitors, riders merely have to e mail their {photograph} to [email protected] earlier than tenth September 2025.

Full T&Cs are here.

15 years of cycle rent in London

• 30 July 2010 – Cycle rent is launched within the capital and 6.2m hires are made within the first 12 months of the scheme
• July 2012 – Almost 47,000 hires – essentially the most in in the future for the reason that scheme launched
• December 2013 – Cycle rent extends east, west and south with the opening of 150 new docking stations, with new stations in Wandsworth, Hammersmith & Fulham, Lambeth and Kensington & Chelsea
• May 2015 – Santander and TfL launch a seven-year partnership and Santander Cycles launch
• May 2015 – The Santander Cycles app was launched to make it simpler to search out and rent bikes
• June 2016 – The scheme breaks the 50 million rent mark
• January 2016 – Santander Cycles expands to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park with eight new docking stations
• 2016 – All cycles are fitted with laser lights to extend visibility. The lights challenge an emblem of a bicycle six metres in entrance of the cycle, onto the bottom, giving cyclists a bigger footprint on the highway
• October 2017 – The subsequent technology of Santander Cycles arrive in London. The new cycles supply riders improved dealing with, security and luxury, with a brand new gel saddle, decrease body, tyres with puncture prevention, new gear hub and improved entrance and rear lighting
• February 2018 – Santander Cycles prolong to Brixton with eight new docking stations
• November 2018 – The strategy of hiring a cycle was made simpler with a faster reserving course of and the introduction of contactless funds
• December 2019 – New docking stations open at Blackfriars, Victoria, Queensway and Paddington rail stations
• December 2021 – 2021 noticed highest ever use of Santander Cycles with greater than 10,900,000 hires in 2021 as a part of a wider improve in biking within the capital
• September 2022 – TfL and Santander introduce e-bikes to London’s Santander Cycles scheme
• December 2022 – London’s Santander Cycles rent scheme sees one more record-breaking yr in 2022
• February 2023 – Santander Cycles expanded its community with new seven docking stations in Southwark
• Summer 2024 – 1,400 further e-bikes have been added to the fleet, giving many extra Londoners the chance to profit from an reasonably priced, handy and sustainable manner of travelling
• March 2025 – The day cross trip time is doubled to at least one hour and the worth of hiring an e-bike is diminished