Slow Start for Hire Scheme

[Adrian]

I've just signed up for the renewing 24hr access. We shall see how it goes.

[alexb]

I'm not sure I'll use the bikes much, but I hope that the increased use of such bicycles around central London will have a calming effect on motor vehicles.

If cabbies, and their ilk, know that there are more, slightly uncertain cyclists around, I hope they'll take more care, and moderate their speed more.

This has to be good on all levels for cycling in London (I hope!)

I plan to use the schem, for shopping around town. I wouldn't want to risk my own bike and can't afford to use the tube casually, but this gives me a cheaper alternative. What happens if all the docking stations at your destination are full? Can you check ahead?

[bobb]

How do you (as a visitor) pay for the ones in Paris?

With extreme difficulty!!*

You will have to use every single card in your wallet before it lets you have a bike. Then you have to run to the bike it allocates you, but if you don't find it in time it will time out and you have to go through the whole procedure all over again. When you think you have managed to get one it will have a broken chain or a kicked in wheel. So you have to go again. If you don't speak fluent French, the instructions at the machine are impossible. There will be an impatient but stylish Parisian lady getting a bit bored. She will help you though.

Once on the road, it's great. But once you park it up at your destination, you will spend the next few weeks checking all your credly card statements on a daily basis worrying that you've been charged several hundred Euros.

*Doing all this when not exactly sober probably made it more difficult than it actually is 

[TimO]

... What happens if all the docking stations at your destination are full? Can you check ahead?

The "terminal" will tell you where the next nearest one with available spaces is, and will allow you the extra time needed to get there (presumably you have to use your "key" to get this time).

[Sergeant Pluck]

Do the bikes have a Dutch-style lock on them?

[citoyen]

Do the bikes have a Dutch-style lock on them?

No. This was discussed on the Bike Show last week and it was a deliberate policy not to have locks on them to discourage people from keeping hold of them while not actually riding. The fear is that a lot of the bikes would end up spending a lot of time out of commission because they're locked up outside a cafe or shop or something.

This is also why the hire terms give you the first half hour free but the charges go up quickly after that.

The idea is that there will be enough stations for this not to be a problem - you'll only ever be a short walk away from a bike. (Whether the idea translates into reality is another matter.)

d.

[Tim Hall]

Access, register, Oyster, key....blah blah blah.

Can I get one at minimal cost for Friday 27th August and take it to Whitstable?

[delthebike]

I doubt that London hire bikes will be as slow a start as the Melbourne scheme. 600 bikes since the end of May and only 70 have been used!

[citoyen]

Tim, maximum single use period is 24 hours, which will cost you £50. Then there's a £150 charge for late return.

d.

[Naggers]

I doubt that London hire bikes will be as slow a start as the Melbourne scheme. 600 bikes since the end of May and only 70 have been used!

I'm amazed. Melbourne is a great city to cycle in.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I doubt that London hire bikes will be as slow a start as the Melbourne scheme. 600 bikes since the end of May and only 70 have been used!

I'm amazed. Melbourne is a great city to cycle in.

Compulsory cycle helmet laws will always make these schemes fall over.

[Naggers]

I doubt that London hire bikes will be as slow a start as the Melbourne scheme. 600 bikes since the end of May and only 70 have been used!

I'm amazed. Melbourne is a great city to cycle in.

Compulsory cycle helmet laws will always make these schemes fall over.

Good point. I forgot about the h*lm*t law.

[hatler]

That's ridiculous. Helmet compulsion and a bike hire scheme partly predicated on spontaneous bike hiring are virtually mutually exclusive. No wonder it's a flop.

[rdaviesb]

My hire keys arrived this morning. Will be useful for those times when I can't cart the Dahon around London but still want to avoid the tube.

[TimO]

My hire keys arrived this morning. Will be useful for those times when I can't cart the Dahon around London but still want to avoid the tube.

I'm curious to see what they look like, mine should arrive in a couple of days, but there's no rush since they haven't installed any bikes yet.

I've noticed a couple of extra stations appear on my commute, they do seem to have turned up the rate of installation.

[delthebike]

I doubt that London hire bikes will be as slow a start as the Melbourne scheme. 600 bikes since the end of May and only 70 have been used!

Oops! It is actually fewer hires than 70 per day not 70 total. 

[TimO]

The keys are actually quite chunky, I would have preferred a card which I could have just shoved in my wallet and forgotten about until I needed it.

They're about 5cm by 1½cm and 3-4mm thick, with a hole in one end, so presumably you can put them on a keyring or similar.

I had a flash drive which seemed to be of a similar sort of construction on my key ring, and dropped my keys which resulted in bits of flash driving going everywhere.  I hope thiese keys are a bit more rugged.

I wonder if they are thin enough to shove somewhere into my wallet, in a pocket or part of it that doesn't get used otherwise?

I've gone online and activated them, so now all I need is some bicycles in the stands!

The envelope also had a nice little pamphlet in it, which is a map of London with the docking stations on one side, and has things like instructions, charges, do's and don'ts on the other side.

[clarion]

The keys are actually quite chunky, I would have preferred a card which I could have just shoved in my wallet and forgotten about until I needed it.

This.  With maybe 'Oyster' printed on it

[ScumOfTheRoad]

Two bicycles spotted last night, in the stands in Long Lane at the back of Guys Hospital.

[citoyen]

Are the bikes actually "live" now? There aren't any in the station outside the office.

Not sure if my key has come yet - forgot to check the post last night. I'm getting quite impatient to have a go on one of these shiny new bikes.

d.

[Tim]

These bikes form part of my brother's commuting plan when he moves across London - no need to worry about locking a bike/issues with availability (all being well), under half an hour from station to office, plenty of suitable docking stations at either end, and preferable to the alternatives.

Means I should get the bike I lent him repatriated to our garage when it happens.

[Gaz]

[David Martin]

Well that is me signed up for auto renew 24hr access. Should be great when I now travel to London to be able to hop on a bike around town.

[dkahn400]

I'm even more confused  so you can buy a key for £3 plus £1 daily "membership"

The key is like an Oyster card. Without putting any money on it it's useless.

The £1 daily membership means that your 24 hours start when you first use it. You can use it as many times as you like in the following 24 hours (with subsequent usage charges if you use one for more than 30 minutes at a time).

For another 24 hours (even if you use it just for 5 minutes) for you'll have to pay another £1.

If you're planning on using the bikes for more than 45 days a year then you'd be better off going for annual membership up front.

I though the key was only available for an annual fee, why call it membership then... its just a registered pre-pay key.

So how do I get a second key for visitors?

Apply again and pay (£3) again, then choose which membership period you want the other keys for.

I was told by the help line that I couldn't do this. As I had registered as an annual member any additional keys would also need an annual fee.

[citoyen]

Get another member of the household to register separately with 24hr access?

It's a stupid flaw in the system.

d.