How many Santander Cycles go missing and where they end up
Request ID: FOI-1825-2122 Date published: 07 December 2021
You asked
I would like to know how many Santander Cycles go missing, of those how many are recovered, and where they end up.
I'm looking for:
- How many Santander Cycles have gone missing each year since the scheme launched
- How many of the cycles that go missing are recovered each year
- Where the cycles that go missing and are recovered are found
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1825-2122 Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 12th November 2021 asking for information about the cycle hire scheme. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. Your questions are answered in turn below, so far as we can. Note that Santander Cycles has played a vital role in keeping people moving during the pandemic and we want to make sure bikes continue to be available, which is why we take any theft or loss extremely seriously. In recent years we have stepped up our measures to ensure bikes are recovered – this includes working closely with the Metropolitan Police to deter theft of Santander Cycles, as well as taking measures such as installing cameras at select docking stations, introducing new bikes with GPS tracking, and checking equipment at docking stations to ensure bikes are returned properly. We encourage people to continue to report any abandoned bikes to us via our website, email or the Santander Cycles app. Question 1: How many Santander Cycles have gone missing each year since the scheme launched? And; Question 2: How many of the cycles that go missing are recovered each year? Answer: TfL does not hold comprehensive, accurate data for the years 2010-2012. The data from 2013 onwards is provided in the table below. Note that the data for 2021 is to the end of July. “MDH>24H” means the bicycle has been missing during rental for over 24 hours:
Year
MDR >24H
Recovered
Missing
2013
4639
4531
108
2014
8594
8396
198
2015
7905
7668
237
2016
6214
5967
247
2017
6620
6256
364
2018
6952
6463
489
2019
10513
9708
805
2020
12448
11498
950
2021*
7862
7011
851
Total
71747
67498
4259
*to 31st July 2021 Question 3: Where the cycles that go missing and are recovered are found?