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Barclays/TFL cycle hire scheme in London

deadringer said:
so do those stats make it worthwhile or a waste of money?
Click to expand...

Depends how tight the contract is and who has to pick up the bill for any fallout (if it's all tied in with the supplier - I have no issue with this as I think that they will be looking into a bottomless black hole). It's a blatant vanity project for Boris along with his Super Highways that you'll be able to cycle on with your hired bike.
 
deadringer said:
so do those stats make it worthwhile or a waste of money?
Click to expand...
I suppose I'd think of it as a reality check. In fact another reality check after citydreams explained the impact on pollution of greater cycling uptake.

Bit of a double-whammy. It's still a process though - six years since Oyster, a few since the CC, who knows how the next 6 or 12 years of this process will bring . . .
 
4876-m.jpg


http://www.transportxtra.com/magazines/local_transport_today/news/?id=17393
 
Crispy said:
I did read somewhere that network rail isn't allowing any outside their stations. Can't find a link. Say it ain't so?
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I'm pretty sure its not that Network Rail aren't allowing them, TfL aren't putting them near the stations to begin with because the initial feasibility study (pdf link) recommended against it, partly on the basis that they would be unlikely to be able to satisfy demand - it would look pretty silly if no-one arriving at Euston/Waterloo after about 7.30am was able to get on one because they'd all gone! The Mayor has already committed to serving the major rail termini in a future phase of it I think.

The plan may be to monitor how the bikes in the 'Phase 1' deployment next May come to be used, and then plan 'Phase 2' on the basis of this evidence, because obviously its not just a case of putting them outside the stations, you'd need to have xx number more spaces in the rest of central London to park them. There was an article in LTT last year about the Barcelona scheme which showed that much of the custom for the hire bikes was rail commuters switching from metro to bike for the last leg of their journey - good for relieving tube crowding but the impacts on the surface networks would need to be carefully considered, as well as actually finding the space for hundreds of extra bike racks outside eg Liverpool Street which would be a challenge.

One thing that has struck me about the recent progress of the scheme is the lack of Oyster-compatibility, which was originally promised. A lot of the columnists comment about Boris as Mayor that he's not to good on details and is too easily given excuses by officials, and this would certainly seem to be evidence of it - I can't imagine Ken accepting this kop-out, which I would think will threaten the viability of the scheme much more than not serving the major stations.
 
I was in Lyon recently and they have one of these schemes there which I used several times. I thought it was pretty good. There are enough bike stations that you can just cycle around a bit till you find one and leave your bike there. A day card costs €1 for the first half hour and €2 for ever subsequent half hour (you have to give your card details for a €150 deposit too).

The bikes themselves are pretty heavy; built I guess to be vandal-proof. So I wouldn't have fancied cycling up a steep hill for any distance on one. But on the flat they are fine.

I suppose I took about 7 or 8 bikes over the course of a couple of days. Of those, on one the gears weren't working, one had a missing pedal and on one the chain was all jammed up. Not really a problem though because I just put them back and took another. There were a few occasions where there were no bikes left at a station but the computerised system let you know how many bikes were at other nearby stations.

They seemed to be pretty well used: I saw quite a lot of people out and about on them.

So from a user perspective, I'd say the scheme was working pretty well. I've no idea how it's doing in terms of costs/vandalism etc though. I did wonder about how long the bikes would last in London.
 
the ones in Cardiff 'OYBIKE' have started appearing and i was watching some cabbies confusedly inspecting one outside Cardiff central BR this morning.

not seen anyone on them yet mind (what with all the grief to register and have to be topped up at all times)
and one of the papers sent an idiot reporter out on one who concluded they'd prefer their warm car! :rolleyes:

i did crash one of terminals seeing how they work :oops:
 
No cheaper than getting the bus, in many cases, then.

It's a rather strange pricing structure: price per hour increases the longer you have it? :confused:
 
The pricing is fine for me, the Oyster thing is crazy - though I understand the cost of integration was deemed too high. Great, great shame.
 
They are meant for small journeys

Park up

Do your stuff

Get another bike

Loved the one in Paris, got about all over

Pity the docking stations are zone one, means you can't cycle from town to Brixton, and then pick up another bike and go back to town

Also, most of the scheme is north of the river and the docking stations aren't marked on the Tfl map

Doh!

The docking stations were all over Paris and I think this is why it worked

:)
 
teuchter said:
No cheaper than getting the bus, in many cases, then.

It's a rather strange pricing structure: price per hour increases the longer you have it? :confused:
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'cos they want to encourage short journeys, not people taking them off for a day trip down the Thames. Similar pricing in Paris etc.

I don't understand the £1 'access fee' - is that per use? In which case the first half hour isn't free, it's £1.
 
beeboo said:
'cos they want to encourage short journeys, not people taking them off for a day trip down the Thames. Similar pricing in Paris etc.
Click to expand...

Thinking about it, it does make sense if you want to keep as many bikes available at any time as possible.

I don't understand the £1 'access fee' - is that per use? In which case the first half hour isn't free, it's £1.
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Yes I think so. This is how the one I used in Lyon works.

That's a bit rubbish that they are all in Zone 1 though. The main use I can imagine having for them would be to get home from town if I'd missed the last tube and couldn't be bothered hanging about for a night bus.
 
I just checked tfl press release and the 'access fee' is £1 a day, £5 a week or £45 a year. Which is v. similar to Paris. I'l. Def be tempted to pay the £45 for access for a year - as long as the distribution of bikes is good, can see me using it a lot.
 
It gets you as many 30 mins per day as you want. It's just limited to 30 mind at a time (between taking a bike and docking it again)
 
I'm a bit pissed off the boundary ends at Notting Hill gate. Why not extend it down into Shepherds Bush? Its not as if there's not a bloody big shopping centre just two minutes further down the hill that people might want to access.
 
teuchter said:
You'll lose your deposit presumably. The French one I used, you had to pay a deposit of €150 or so, on your debit/credit card.
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Oh right, I see - so if I nick off with a bike and cycle it home, and then cycle it in again tomorrow morning, I get charged whatever the relevant fee is onto my card?

Does this mean you have to have a card in order to use them?
 
London_Calling said:
The full feasibility study makes for interesting reading. They looked in depth at Paris, Lyon, Brussels, Barca, Berlin, Stuttgart and the OYBike scheme - a broad range of schemes.
Click to expand...

Interesting reading indeed.

I liked this bit:

107. In October 1993, Cambridge implemented a
cycle hire scheme but it was considered to
be a failure. Within 24 hours, all 300 bicycles
had been stolen, ending up in rivers, ditches or
used to smash windows. The main reason for
its failure was the lack of deposit, providing no
incentive for people to return the bicycles
Click to expand...

The smaller London scheme they looked at, though hasn't had major problems with theft.

Also, they pointed out that although theft was initially a problem in Paris it has decreased over time, possibly because a lot of theft was a result of users unfamiliar with the scheme not docking the bikes properly.
 
They've just started installing the docking bays in the City - one on Wood Street, one by the Museum of London
 
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