Barclays/TFL cycle hire scheme in London

[Orang Utan]

hmmmm

 

[editor]

hmmmm

Just look at the pricing if you don't believe me:

Up to 30 minutes
FREE

Up to an hour
£1

Up to one and a half hours
£4

Up to two hours
£6

Up to two and a half hours
£10

Up to three hours
£15

Up to six hours
£35

Up to 24 hours (maximum)
£50

*To hire for more than a couple of hours it might be cheaper for you to use a company that specialises in hiring for longer periods.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/14811.aspx

 

[Orang Utan]

fuck me!

 

[editor]

I like the itemised bills you get:

18 Sep 2010
15:51 18 Sep 2010
16:05 Panton Street, West End - Endsleigh Gardens, Euston Hire £0.00

18 Sep 2010
14:27 18 Sep 2010
14:50 Great Marlborough Street, Soho - William IV Street, Strand Hire £0.00

 

[Orang Utan]

wow, fair enough, still can't imagine ever wanting to use one still, but that's just me

 

[PacificOcean]

So, Thorpe Park have to go on safety checks every morning, just for the one in million chance that there may be a defect -but TFL are giving bikes away to Londoners and tourists as long as your credit card can afford it, with no helmets against HGVs and frantically, manic London traffic - I don't see how this is a good idea?

 

[Cobbles]

Why do people fall off their bikes?

Poorly maintained road surfaces with protruding manhole covers slick with bus diesel exhaust dribblings.

Oh, and tramlines - a nineteenth century abomination that can be brought back into play by a vain Labour Council.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8400094.stm

"Cyclists are to be given classes on how to navigate Edinburgh's roads after tram tracks were unveiled in the city centre.

The move follows reports of six accidents on Princes Street since the road was reopened with new tram lines just over a week ago."

 

[Orang Utan]

well, lots of people seem to be enjoying using them, so let em have their fun

 

[editor]

wow, fair enough, still can't imagine ever wanting to use one still, but that's just me

I wasn't sure what I thought of them until I tried them out on Saturday and loved the sense of freedom. I was trying to find the Pope Protest march and could see helicopters in the distance, so hopped on a bike and rode to the march, and put the bike in a rack.

Then when I wanted to get up to Kings Cross, I grabbed another bike and took a pleasant ride north, all for free. It's a brilliant scheme.

 

[editor]

So, Thorpe Park have to go on safety checks every morning, just for the one in million chance that there may be a defect -but TFL are giving bikes away to Londoners and tourists as long as your credit card can afford it, with no helmets against HGVs and frantically, manic London traffic - I don't see how this is a good idea?

Tens of thousands of people already safely cycle "with no helmets against HGVs and frantically, manic London traffic" every day, and your tabloid style sensationalism is a little weird to be honest.

Have you ever ridden one of these bikes? When was the last time you cycled through central London? Apart from a few major roads, it's hardly a heaving mass of rabid HGVs.

Poorly maintained road surfaces with protruding manhole covers slick with bus diesel exhaust dribblings.

Oh, and tramlines - a nineteenth century abomination that can be brought back into play by a vain Labour Council.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8400094.stm

Oh for fuck's sake. Mr Bike-Hating Irrelevant is back banging on about fucking Edinburgh again.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

So, Thorpe Park have to go on safety checks every morning, just for the one in million chance that there may be a defect -but TFL are giving bikes away to Londoners and tourists as long as your credit card can afford it, with no helmets against HGVs and frantically, manic London traffic - I don't see how this is a good idea?

I used to do the safety checks whilst working in maintenance at Thorpe Park. I'd often come in tripping my tits off...

 

[PacificOcean]

Tens of thousands of people already safely cycle "with no helmets against HGVs and frantically, manic London traffic" every day, and your tabloid style sensationalism is a little weird to be honest.

Have you ever ridden one of these bikes? When was the last time you cycled through central London? Apart from a few major roads, it's hardly a heavy mass of rabid HGVs.

:

Oh come on - when was the last time you watched BBC London news without a cheery "and finally" piece about some experienced cyclist being decapitated by a 25?

Add to the mixture the people who probably haven't rode a bike since six and tourists where they drive on the right - all without a helmet.

I give this two months before someone is killed.

 

[PacificOcean]

.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

And OU, they work great for me. I work in Victoria, but in the mornings my train goes fast in to Waterloo, meaning 3 trains to get to Victoria. So I giot a fold up bike to get from Waterloo to work.

Then I got hit by a lorry, without a helmet, *shock.horror*. Once my arm & ribs had healed I was back to folding up, but it's a pain to have to take it on busy trains and for the return journey trains stop at Clapham to whick me home, so it's quick to train it all the way.

So the bike hire scheme works great for me, a 15 minute ride from Waterloo in the morning and all for £45 a year.

Sure they're not fast bikes, but there's nowt wrong with them as such and it's quite a novel experience to potter along the roads.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Oh come on - when was the last time you watched BBC London news without a cheery "and finally" piece about some experienced cyclist being decapitated by a 25?

Add to the mixture the people who probably haven't rode a bike since six and tourists where they drive on the right - all without a helmet.

I give this two months before someone is killed.

I'm not a medic, and I'm happy for a doctor to correct me on this; but I'm fairly sure that when you are decapitated, the bump your head takes as it falls to the ground is not the greatest of your worries.

 

[Orang Utan]

Oh come on - when was the last time you watched BBC London news without a cheery "and finally" piece about some experienced cyclist being decapitated by a 25?

er...i've never seen a london news with that item. you really are hysterical. get some perspective.

 

[editor]

Oh come on - when was the last time you watched BBC London news without a cheery "and finally" piece about some experienced cyclist being decapitated by a 25?

I'm having trouble thinking of any recent cyclist decapitations, to be honest. Could you provide some examples? And were they wearing a helmet at the time?

I'm not a medic, and I'm happy for a doctor to correct me on this; but I'm fairly sure that when you are decapitated, the bump your head takes as it falls to the ground is not the greatest of your worries.

Indeed. It's an idiotic, sensationalist argument that flies in the face of all the medical evidence and studies that has been posted thus far.

Sadly, I've no doubt that sooner or later someone will get killed riding one of these bikes - it's a risk all cyclists take in big cities, helmet or not - but, I haven't seen any massive rise in deaths since the scheme started.

Besides, most inexperienced cyclists are hardly likely to take to the main streets - I imagine most will just pootle along the south bank/Soho/ Covent Garden and through parks etc, etc.

 

[Orang Utan]

i'm nor sure if a helmet would prevent decapitation unless it was a vader mask made of steel or something

 

[Open Sauce]

So, Thorpe Park have to go on safety checks every morning, just for the one in million chance that there may be a defect -but TFL are giving bikes away to Londoners and tourists as long as your credit card can afford it, with no helmets against HGVs and frantically, manic London traffic - I don't see how this is a good idea?

Straw man, millions of people get into cars daily without safety checks on their cars or their own well being, resulting in about 2500 deaths a year in Britain.

 

[Open Sauce]

x

 

[FunkyUK]

I live out in the sticks in Hertfordshire, and can't be arsed to lug a bike (folding or otherwise) down to london on the train in rush hour, so the hire bijkes are ideal for me. Stonking value at £45 a year, (kings cross to St pauls, 12 mins) and i don't have to traipse up and down to the underground, and cram onto a tube at KX. I use the bikes to pop to shops / meet friends for lunch etc, and can't imaigne ever needing to rent for more tnan 30 mins at a time. Fucking awesome TFL.

 

[Crispy]

So, Thorpe Park have to go on safety checks every morning, just for the one in million chance that there may be a defect -but TFL are giving bikes away to Londoners and tourists as long as your credit card can afford it, with no helmets against HGVs and frantically, manic London traffic - I don't see how this is a good idea?

You know what's even worse? Every day, literally millions of people walk on hard, head-damaging surfaces, mere inches away from many tonnes of moving metal, all controlled by flawed humans who most likely are not skillful enough. And, get this, no safety equipment is provided. It's scandalous, I tell you.

 

[editor]

I've done a little feature (and used your quote funky - hope that's OK!): http://www.urban75.org/blog/we-salute-the-london-tflbarclays-cycle-hire-scheme/

You know what's even worse? Every day, literally millions of people walk on hard, head-damaging surfaces, mere inches away from many tonnes of moving metal, all controlled by flawed humans who most likely are not skillful enough. And, get this, no safety equipment is provided. It's scandalous, I tell you.

You can't be serious? There must be decapitations all over the place.

 

[Badgers]

What are the expansion plans / proposed times on these?
I would like to see more of this caper filling the city zone by zone.

Just sorting out our membership this week

 

[ozzage]

I love these bikes. I joined up early and use them one or two days a week on average - not massively. Sometimes after work I take one part-way home before jumping on the tube just to get some air and movement.

On the weekends if we're in central London my g/f I use them to just explore, or to get to specific places where we might have otherwise walked or taken the bus/tube.

Best of all for me though, is that having become confident riding in central London thanks to the hire bikes, I've now commuted twice from home on my own bike (2nd time today) which I would never have even considered otherwise and find myself generally using my bike much more even in my local area. Somehow the Boris Bikes have been a catalyst for me to rediscover the joy of being on a bike!

 

[Crispy]

I love these bikes. I joined up early and use them one or two days a week on average - not massively. Sometimes after work I take one part-way home before jumping on the tube just to get some air and movement.

On the weekends if we're in central London my g/f I use them to just explore, or to get to specific places where we might have otherwise walked or taken the bus/tube.

Best of all for me though, is that having become confident riding in central London thanks to the hire bikes, I've now commuted twice from home on my own bike (2nd time today) which I would never have even considered otherwise and find myself generally using my bike much more even in my local area. Somehow the Boris Bikes have been a catalyst for me to rediscover the joy of being on a bike!

Awesome

A hard-boiled cynic might even think you were being paid to praise the system so highly, but IMO, I think it's just as fantastic as you make it out

 

[Black Halo]

I give this two months before someone is killed.

It has almost been two months (9 days left) already, I can't see your prediction being fulfilled to be honest.

I also am unaware of these "cheery" pieces discussing the decapitation of a cyclist, maybe I haven;' been paying enough attention though

 

[Badgers]

Would a motorist give these things a bit of a wide berth?
Given the press attention, the bright blue colour and such?
Probably not but do you think it makes a difference?

 

[littlebabyjesus]

It has almost been two months (9 days left) already, I can't see your prediction being fulfilled to be honest.

I also am unaware of these "cheery" pieces discussing the decapitation of a cyclist, maybe I haven;' been paying enough attention though

Ban roads, I say. Ten people per day are killed on Britain's roads, which are maintained by the State!

 

[PacificOcean]

I love these bikes. I joined up early and use them one or two days a week on average - not massively. Sometimes after work I take one part-way home before jumping on the tube just to get some air and movement.

On the weekends if we're in central London my g/f I use them to just explore, or to get to specific places where we might have otherwise walked or taken the bus/tube.

Best of all for me though, is that having become confident riding in central London thanks to the hire bikes, I've now commuted twice from home on my own bike (2nd time today) which I would never have even considered otherwise and find myself generally using my bike much more even in my local area. Somehow the Boris Bikes have been a catalyst for me to rediscover the joy of being on a bike!

Does't it fuck your suit up though?