The British Transport Police have recovered a stolen “Boris bike” in Brighton and returned it to the hire scheme’s operator in London.
The stray bike is among a number to have disappeared from the capital, with some ending up in Southend, Cornwall and Ireland.
Others have been found as far away as Romania, Turkey, the Gambia, Jamaica and even Australia, according to the Guardian.
The “lost” bikes’ destinations were revealed after a “freedom of information” request to Transport for London which runs the scheme.
The Guardian reported the response today (Friday 25 February). The newspaper said: “Hundreds of bikes that go permanently missing from the 14,000-plus fleet every year.”
Like the Boris bike found in Brighton, the one in Ireland was also recovered, with the help of garda (Irish police) officers.
And the British Transport Police (BTP) also helped return those found in Cornwall and Southend.
The Guardian added: “TfL is reluctant to discuss the theft of what many still refer to as ‘Boris bikes’ after the London mayor in office at the time they were introduced, even though the scheme originated from Boris Johnson’s predecessor, Ken Livingstone.
“The number of bikes lost permanently is gradually rising, albeit from a total number that has more than doubled since it was launched.
“In 2013, the first year records are available, 108 bikes went missing – this rose to 950 bikes in 2020 and 851 in the first seven months of last year.
“From the start of 2020, TfL has trialled GPS tracking for some of the bikes as a way of reducing overall theft numbers.
“Theft and vandalism have created a significant barrier to other bike share schemes in the UK, particularly companies that offered dockless bikes that could be left on the pavement or street after a ride.
“In 2018, the Chinese firm Mobike pulled out of Manchester because of what it called ‘unsustainable’ losses from theft and vandalism. It has since ceased all UK operations, but for wider commercial reasons.
“In contrast, the TfL scheme requires customers to take bikes from fixed docking points, using either membership or a bank card, and charges up to £300 if a bike is not returned.
“The scheme has proved increasingly popular, in part due to the construction of more cycling infrastructure around London, but also, more recently, because of people avoiding public transport due to covid. The system reported a record number of 10.9 million hires in 2021.”
The Guardian quoted TfL’s head of cycle hire, David Eddington, as saying: “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.”
