It is easy to list this problem or that problem with the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme (aka Boris Bikes).
In summary, the main issues appear to be:
However, the scheme also has many good points:
In summary, the main issues appear to be:
- expensive to set up and operate
- limited scope of the scheme - there are only docking points in a fairly central area of London, and a few inner surrounding districts, and the hire charges make it prohibitively expensive to do more than cycle from one docking station to another.
- issues about bikes to hire being in the right places
- issues about docks to park bikes being full
- not aimed at the under 14s, and thus making the scheme unattractive to families with children under that age who might travel to London for a day out (like our family, for example!)
However, the scheme also has many good points:
- the large cost of the scheme is a very public statement about the seriousness of the desire by the Mayor of London (the "Boris" in the "Boris Bikes") and TfL (Transport for London - the official city transport organisation) to tackle the issue of traffic congestion which:
- is primarily caused by ever rising numbers of cars on the roads
- causes air pollution (with all the associated health issues for Londoners)
- results in lost productivity due to slow movement
- in a survey conducted as part of an official report published in November 2010 (p.12), 20% of Boris Bike users reported using the bikes rather than "the Tube" (the mostly underground metro railway in London).
- severe overcrowding at peak periods has dogged the Tube for many, many years, and adding extra capacity and/or routes is VERY, VERY, expensive indeed (think of all that tunnelling!).
- using the cycle hire scheme as a substitute suddenly does not look so expensive after all!
- for some users travelling into London by train, the scheme is very attractive - the most popular point for hires is Waterloo Station, in the mornings, and the most popular point for docking is the same site in the evenings
- the hire scheme also suits students who actually reside in the area where the scheme operates. Almost 25 years ago, I resided in student accommodation for about six months in Westminster (well within the area of operation of the scheme!)
- if the bike scheme had been around then, I, and many of my fellow students, would have used the scheme extensively
- if one uses one's own bicycle one has to think about the theft risk, etc. etc. If one hires a Boris Bike instead, docking it in a rack near one's location, once the bike has been docked, one is no longer concerned about the security of the bike - it is "Boris's" problem :-)
- if one is a regular rail traveller into London, the bike hire scheme can save one quite a bit of money:
- from where I live, there are two types of annual train ticket sold - one type is for just the train journey, the other type includes bus and metro (underground train, aka "The Tube") travel in London as well (a "Travelcard" ticket)
- the difference is £480 pounds per year! (thats about $770 US, or 575 Euros)
- an annual "access fee" for the Boris Bikes scheme is only £45 per year
- so if one works within a thirty minute ride of a main railways station, and especially if one has no secure cycle storage at work, then one can make a major saving by using the "Boris Bikes" scheme!
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