Barclays/TFL cycle hire scheme in London
- Thread starter se5
- Start date
quimcunx
imprimeo, lamino, distribuo
Near my work there are now docking stations for the bikes and a pillar with a map and instructions and tarriffs.
I think the tarriffs are a bit of a pisstake, frankly. £1 for half an hour is fine but £35 for between 3 and 6 hours....
Also one of the instructions suggests there is no way to lock the bike except in a docking station. Would that be right?
e2a: it was free for half hour (after daily access) actually, and maybe £1 for an hour...
I think the tarriffs are a bit of a pisstake, frankly. £1 for half an hour is fine but £35 for between 3 and 6 hours....
Also one of the instructions suggests there is no way to lock the bike except in a docking station. Would that be right?
e2a: it was free for half hour (after daily access) actually, and maybe £1 for an hour...
Yeah. The Paris ones come with a built-in lock, but it was decided early on with the London ones that this was more trouble than it was worth.
teuchter
je suis teuchter
I think the idea is to stop people taking the bikes for any longer than they are actually using them. Apparently £1 will get you as many half hours you like during a day.
So you can take a bike, cycle for 25mins, dock it, go to some shops for half an hour, cycle for 20 mins, dock it, have lunch for an hour and a half, cycle for 20 mins, dock it and that will all cost you £1.
Whereas if you took the bike for three and a bit hours and didn't dock it while you were at the shops or having lunch it would cost you £35 or whatever. I imagine the idea is to keep as many bikes available as possible at any time, rather than having them sitting unused locked up outside cafes and stuff. The inability to lock them goes along with this I suppose.
Of course, it does depend on there being enough docking stations that there is always one pretty close to where you're going.
Seems to work OK in Paris.
toblerone3
Grrrrr
Is there a map of the docking stations somewhere. *Goes to look on TfL website*
toblerone3
Grrrrr
No maps of the docking stations as far as I can see. Just a map of the general hire area.
Black Halo
Well-Known Member
This will cost you £0 (assuming you have paid the £45 for the year).
From here:
The first 30 minutes of each journey are free.
At Camden Green fair (and maybe at the Urban Green Fair in Brickwell Park later in the year) they had a info stand and were handing out a map which had a load of stands marked on it but it did say it was not all of them but it had a huge amount. Surprised it isn't online actually. The planned locations are easy to find they are marked by a series of black squares on the pavement (e.g. beside Tesco in Vauxhall/Kennington and near the old Lilian baylis school )
EDIT:
Actually locations:
Spreadsheet - https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AlyaxVAWYL6GdE1FamJjT2NrbldORXlMcU43LXI2cFE&hl=en#gid=0
Small map embedded in this page - http://cyclehireapp.com/locations.html
RE-EDIT:
Just the map on a page - http://cyclehireapp.com/map.html
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
It's still so frustrating they couldn't incorporate this into Oyster. Really, very.
joustmaster
offcumdun
it does strike me as massive balls up. i can't see why it would be so difficult either.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
It's to do with getting money out of you if you don't return the bike. How do you charge someone's Oyster £300 (or whatever it is) without their permission? How do you know that the Oyster's owner is actually holding the card? (Oyster has no PIN)
joustmaster
offcumdun
i guess that makes sense. my oyster is registered with my bank card. Couldn't they just limit it to people who do that?
That's what taxis are for (no need to hunt around fruitlessly for a dock near where you want to start from/end up either)!
NB - their carrying capacity is a bit better than a bicycle as well.
joustmaster
offcumdun
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
Taken a taxi in london recently? You'd still be sitting in traffic while I'd be parking my bike at the other end. The docks are 300m apart. If you can't walk 150m, then I'm very sorry for you
Taken a taxi in london recently? You'd still be sitting in traffic while I'd be parking my bike at the other end. The docks are 300m apart. If you can't walk 150m, then I'm very sorry for you
Who's shelling out to inflict yet another piece of pointless nonsense every 300M across London's pavements?
Anyway, why would I want to bother dragging 6 bags of Waitrose's finest (plus a couple of wine carriers) that far?
So, they're useless for shopping.
toblerone3
Grrrrr
Taken a taxi in london recently? You'd still be sitting in traffic while I'd be parking my bike at the other end. The docks are 300m apart. If you can't walk 150m, then I'm very sorry for you
Yes for all your cynicism Cobbles cycles in central London will be quicker, cheaper, less polluting and safer than taking a taxi.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
So are taxis, unless you're rich.
Black Halo
Well-Known Member
Also from reports I have heard from Dublin (similar bikes) you would have to be a proper Sadomasochist to cycle it for any length of time, heavy as fook apparently.
snowy_again
Slush
I borrowed one last week. They are top heavy, but the cockpit is relatively well designed, even if the turning circle is quite large.
They'll be hard to trash, as there's actually not much on them to trash, although they're so heavy I wouldn't want someone to crash into me on one. The gearing's sensible, but as has been pointed out above, they're not for long or hilly journeys. The half hour thing makes perfect sense.
The rear lights are placed low down on the stays, and that's about as far as I can get to criticising it.
They'll be hard to trash, as there's actually not much on them to trash, although they're so heavy I wouldn't want someone to crash into me on one. The gearing's sensible, but as has been pointed out above, they're not for long or hilly journeys. The half hour thing makes perfect sense.
The rear lights are placed low down on the stays, and that's about as far as I can get to criticising it.
RubyToogood
RubyTwobikes
I was reading up about this the other day, and for me, the biggest deterrent to using this would be the lack of guarantee of being able to get hold of another bike to get back to where I started.
toblerone3
Grrrrr
Suck it and see.
RubyToogood
RubyTwobikes
That's the point, I wouldn't want to suck it and see. If I'm going to make a journey I need to be sure I can get back again.
Although actually when I think about it I just wouldn't use the scheme anyway as I always go into zone 1 by motorbike, so I can't see any advantage in swapping to bicycle for the last bit.
Although actually when I think about it I just wouldn't use the scheme anyway as I always go into zone 1 by motorbike, so I can't see any advantage in swapping to bicycle for the last bit.
toblerone3
Grrrrr
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
There's not a single docking station in Shepherds Bush, and the furthest west location is Kensington Olympia 
I might have actually considered hiring one to get back home from late nights in the west end but I honestly don't think I'll bother seeing as I wouldn't be able to 'dock' it anywhere when I got back, and it's still more expensive than getting on a bus.
I might have actually considered hiring one to get back home from late nights in the west end but I honestly don't think I'll bother seeing as I wouldn't be able to 'dock' it anywhere when I got back, and it's still more expensive than getting on a bus.
London_Calling
Pleasant and unpatronising
It'll be fascinating to look at the patterns of use.
And also to see if it acts as a stepping stone to get more people to buy and use their own bikes.
And also to see if it acts as a stepping stone to get more people to buy and use their own bikes.
toblerone3
Grrrrr
There's not a single docking station in Shepherds Bush, and the furthest west location is Kensington Olympia
I might have actually considered hiring one to get back home from late nights in the west end but I honestly don't think I'll bother seeing as I wouldn't be able to 'dock' it anywhere when I got back, and it's still more expensive than getting on a bus.
Well that's just the limit of the scheme at the moment. Its not designed for typical bike commuters either. It doesn't cover Brixton, Hackney, Camden, Camberwell or Clapham either!
Its purely for people moving within the central area of London.
