Tuesday 07 January 2020 1:12 pm

TfL and Santander to mark 10-year anniversary of Boris bikes

Two households of any size will be able to meet up outside by Easter.

Santander and Transport for London (TfL) are set to celebrate the 10th anniversary of so-called “Boris bikes”.

The hire scheme – officially known as Santander Cycles – began in July 2010 with 315 docking stations over eight boroughs and was informally named after Prime Minister, and then mayor of London, Boris Johnson.

This is despite the fact that the idea was his predecessor’s – ex-Labour London mayor Ken Livingstone.

The Transport for London (TfL) initiative now boasts 12,000 bikes over 781 docking stations.

The transport body estimates that more than 87 million bicycles have been hired over the 10-year period, including more than 10 million last year.

TfL and Santander are now planning to celebrate the milestone of the public hire scheme.

This will include events and competitions to be held over the next half a year.

Santander’s Dan Sherwood said: “It’s incredible to celebrate 10 years since the scheme launched.

“Over that time Santander Cycles has evolved to cover more than 100km² of London, ensuring more communities than ever can benefit from the fantastic scheme.

“We look forward to another exciting year of success in 2020.”

It comes in a year where TfL will also celebrate its own 20th anniversary, since it was founded in 2000 as a part of the creation of the Greater London Authority.

It was the successor to London Regional Transport, which operated between 1984 and 2000.