Comments on: The bike, the scheme and the future of London’s cycle transport

By: Kat

Kat — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:54:18 +0000

There are currently match funding opportuniites for businesses in London under the ‘A New Way To Work’ scheme which can help businesses set up more facilities and resources to encourage more sustainable travel (including cycling)

By: Semionauten » Blog Archive » Radeln als Zeichen

Semionauten » Blog Archive » Radeln als Zeichen — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 10:50:07 +0000

[...] irgendetwas via Zahlencode mit meinem Handy zu kaufen. In anderen Ländern macht man sich ebenfalls Gedanken über passende Zahlmethoden. Komisch jedenfalls , dass ich die Dinger noch nie in Aktion, sondern lediglich vor Bahnhöfen oder [...]

By: Paul Hodges

Paul Hodges — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:09:14 +0000

London reconnections [link]http://londonreconnections.blogspot.com/[/link] is quoting a $250 CC hold, which sounds much more like it. If they really are theft-proof circa £100-150 wouldn’t be an unreasonable recovery fee, providing for staff costs wihout Bixi/Serco going broke.

By: Paul Hodges

Paul Hodges — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:36:23 +0000

Look quite good solid bikes – heavy probably though. I think the 3-speed hub, hub brakes (& hub dynamo lights I am assumming from photo) are a good city choice for easy cycling.

The anti-theft stuff sounds good – could they market the same system – minus the auto-lock perhaps) for our own bikes? I have scannable chips in my components but that’s not as good as GPS trackers (as used in £50k+ cars)!

Agree with the 24-hour min hire being limiting. The small commercial operation, whose name escapes me, who have set up 50 odd stations of c 15 bikes so far, mainly in West Lodon suburbs & unis, rents up to 1/2 hour. Also think they run via mobile phone credits – ideal for students. Perhaps 1/2 hour is not necessary but surely 2-3 hours / half-day is vital to attracty a casual / tourist crowd.

By: Nicola

Nicola — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:37:18 +0000

A 3 GBP price tag seems prohibitive, and why would you want to rent such a bike for 24 hours anyway? The great thing about the Paris Velib scheme is that you can pick up a bike and use it free for the first half hour, which probably covers most trips. You hop on a bike, cycle to where you want to be, find the nearest docking station (there are plenty all over the place), leave the bike there, and you’re done. If you then want to go somewhere else some time later, you check out another bike etc.
This ensures that the Velib bikes get maximum use and circulation, with minimum “downtime”. For the user, it means great flexibility and minimal hassle and worry (no need to lock the bike to a tree and worry about it being stolen or vandalized – as soon as it’s docked back into the station you cease to be responsible for it of course, and it’s free to use for the next person). Under the Montreal scheme described here I’d be just as worried about my $1000 deposit as I would be about my own $1000 bike getting stolen, so what’s the point?

I’m a great fan of the Paris scheme, but the more I hear about the way London wants to implement it (if they do indeed want to copy Montreal), the more worried I get that it’s being set up to fail.

By: velorution » Blog Archive » Another Dome?

velorution » Blog Archive » Another Dome? — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 06:45:47 +0000

[...] Andreas has written a description of the Montreal scheme, run by Bixi, one of the partners of the winning London [...]

By: Andreas

Andreas — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:30:23 +0000

Hi Steve – I found this weird also. I think what is meant is that they will have the ability to charge $1000 if the bike is not returned not that they will take 1000 as soon as you register.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:00:39 +0000

$1000 deposit on a credit card – interesting. In London, this would mean two things:
- People would get charged interest/PPI on their cards for the shortest of uses, particularly those who have higher or more ruthless cards (i.e. those who probably don’t have a car and are likely to use a hire bike).
- Students, many of whom don’t have a credit card, contrary to popular belief, can’t use it.

I guess they’ll have to figure out a solution to that one!