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(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)The number of “Boris bikes” being declared lost has reached a record number, Transport for London has revealed.
A total of 1,164 of the hire bikes were lost in the nine months to the end of last September - well up on the 934 lost in the whole of 2020, according to TfL responses to freedom of information requests.
TfL classifies a bike as “missing” if it isn’t returned 24 hours after being hired, but waits three months before declaring it “lost” as many are found within days.
The number of lost bikes has been rising steadily since 2019, which TfL attributes to “an increase in crime and change in customer behaviour following the launch of dockless bikes”.
This suggests that some riders fail to realise that the Santander-sponsored bikes have to be re-docked in a docking station rather than left in the street.
In addition, 41 bikes were stolen in the first nine months of last year, compared with 77 in 2020, and 65 were broken.
New bikes are fitted with GPS trackers when they are added to the 12,000-strong fleet, and cameras are fitted at some docking stations that have been targeted by criminals.
About 500 electric Boris bikes are due to be unveiled this summer to encourage their use by older or less fit people.
The bikes were hired 10.9m times last year, and were used by more than a million individual riders.
David Eddington, TfL’s head of cycle hire, said: “We take cycle theft extremely seriously and are taking measures to deter it, including installing GPS trackers on bikes, installing cameras at select docking stations and checking equipment at docking stations to ensure bikes are returned properly.
“Sadly, bike theft in general is rising but the higher numbers of lost and stolen bikes also reflect the way we record thefts.
“We work hard to recover bikes, which can take time.
“Many of the bikes recorded as lost and stolen in recent years are likely to be found. As bikes are recovered, we remove them from the lost and stolen figures.
“We continue to work closely with the Metropolitan Police Service to deter theft of Santander Cycles, to ensure that bikes are available for people who need them.”
