Santander Cycles (AKA Boris Bikes, nicknamed after the star of the 1931 James Whale film of ‘Frankenstein’, south Londoner Boris Karloff) have been on our streets for a whole decade. Remember when they were blue with the Barclays logo? But if you’ve ever ridden one of the hulking city monsters in their ten years of existence, then you’ll know that they’re built for anything but speed. Serious cyclists wouldn’t dare put their feet to the pedals of a Boris Bike due to their clunky, unsophisticated riding experience.
Well, it all changes today, as 500 new electric-powered hire bikes have been added to London’s fleet of Santander Cycles to encourage more people to get pedalling. The E-Bojo-Bikes will be available across central London, as part of a three-year, £18.75m extension of Santander’s sponsorship.
The motor on the bikes will allow them to reach 15.5mph, which is the standard UK E-bike speed restriction, but obviously higher speeds will be possible when riding downhill. Primrose Hill, anyone? Either way, the E-bikes require a lot less pedal power than the conventional Santander Cycles. E-bikes are typically smoother and require less effort on the bumpy terrain of London’s streets, too.
Unfortunately for us, however, this shiny new E-steed comes with a heftier price tag. The current £2 daily ‘access charge’ for non-members (plus additional charges on journeys over 30 minutes) will be scrapped for journeys on the new model. The E-bikes will cost £3.30 per 30-minute ride (that’s £1.10 per every ten minutes; as a comparison, a Lime E-bike costs 15p a minute, ie £1.50 for ten minutes). The bikes will also only be available to cyclists who have paid £3 to register with the Santander-sponsored scheme. The conventional Boris Bikes will continue to make up the majority of London’s 14,000-bike fleet and will be available for £1.65 per 30 minutes – the same price as a single bus fare.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said this morning: ‘I am delighted to see our first ever Santander Cycles E-bikes in action on London's streets today, and to join Londoners riding these E-bikes around our city on their first day.’
‘The new E-bikes have an important role to play in breaking down some of the barriers that prevent Londoners from getting on a bike, whether that be fitness, age or length of journey,’ he said.
‘I’m determined to make cycling as accessible as possible as we continue building a safer, greener, more prosperous London for everyone.’
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