The London Cycle Hire Scheme

It would be great to have this map updated for the recent expansion of the cycle network in Mar '12! This is by far the easiest map I've found, that I could easily add to 'my places' in my googlemaps.

Been using this as a pleasant alternative to the bus or tube.

However, severely disappointed when without warning, £150 was deducted from my account without warning. This is out of order! I returned all my bikes within the allotted time and this is clearly an error with the docking mechanism. Also, if you are wanting to get to work, one cannot always rely on there being a bike free, and I often find myself wandering between empty docking stations. Its great, when it works out.

As shown above, you just can't trust these people with your bank details. I'm in a difficult position now all this money has suddenly been extracted without warning.

I got two bike hires today and although the bike was fun itself I couldnt believe when I was £35 down because of 5minutes. The price rose from £15 to £35 with a 3hour gap between. I am a 16year old girl and cant afford to waste money on bikes because I was wrongfully informed. I was under the daydream of it only costing £1. There was also no helmets, I had to explain to over 6people how the bike hire system worked if there was more than one bike hired and I was constantly looking around because of the huge prices for damage or loss. I couldn't even enjoy a drink because I was worried about the possible £300 charge. I definately will not be using it again and have told everyone else not to. Finally and most worryingly there was no indication of when the money would be taken out of my bank account, there is a large chance of me going into overdraft.

I see that a lot of people are complaining about being charged for more than one key. Why would you want more than one key?

I see that a lot of people are complaining about being charged for more than one key. Why would you want more than one key?

I am a regular cyclist and used this to go to Leicester Square on Friday night so my bike could stay safely locked up.

I find the bike too heavy at the front, and scary to use even as an experienced bike rider. The balance is not easy to keep when lifting a hand to indicate and I felt far from safe, and the resistence too light meaning you can't pull away and keep a good enough speed that the cars aren't annoyed by your presence.

I journey that would normally take me 15 minutes took me 28...

I think these bikes are the equivalent of driving a hired smart car on the motorway in terms of perception.

I also think they urgently need to look into helmets, London's roads are not safe enough to be cycling around without one.

This scheme is very expensive. What is it working out for each bike? What are rates of vandalism? Even accounting for the fraction paid off by Barclays, this is a very expensive scheme for the tax payer.

I don't think London is a good city for cycling and in fact I used to commute everyday by bicycle there. One of the worst aspects is people overtaking. You really have to go at the speed, 20 or 30mph, and that takes an electric vehicle or a strongly assisted bike. In China, which is far ahead of us, there are reports that the women riders say that they prefer electric assist bikes because they are safer pulling out at junctions. The sad fact is that ebikes are and all electric scooters can be made so small you dont need to leave them anywhere as you can take them indoors, and in China, there is no need for a public financing system to get uptake, in spite of much lower purchasing power. Regulations limiting power are one aspect. Another interesting issue is that cycling is NOT more efficient, it is in fact far less efficient than compact electric vehicles travelling at a similar top speed. The human muscle is 25% efficient, and the electric motor and battery is now 90+. The energy needed to ride is derrived from food. Food is more polluting to make than the power comming down the wire. It takes 5 units of energy on average for each one unit of food energy delivered. Additionally, electric bikes can be powered from solar cells immediately above them. This is far greener and far more desirable for the less able bodied. It also would support mobility scooters. The big problems in bike design can be largely related to the need for a mechanical transmission and ergonomic seating arrangement, that makes them much bigger than they need to be. Its now possible to make electric scoots or hybrid e-cycles that you could take up to your desk at work. And they would use less power than you computer to recharge. Finally, I take issue with claims that the cycle is a healthy way to excercise. It is not. The studies have all been done in unrealistic conditions, such as ignoring particulate intake, and focused on gas intake and exit. Other 'studies' (dissertations) looked at cycling in much greener conditions than london roads. One key study did test real world conditions and showed that cycling in traffic led to a worryingly rapid loss of lung function and a sharp increase in inflammation of the air way. Since traffic fumes are possibly the biggest killers, and since the harmful pollution is mostly from particulates (ie <pm2.5) then cycling is in fact dangerous to health. You'd be better off exercising away from the road.

This would be a great idea, if only it wasn't plagued by the fact that it's been badly thought out. If you have more than 1 key on your name, you MUST pay access fee for ALL keys when you top up.. and even worse, using one key means that the access begins on ALL keys. So if you have 4 keys, you end up paying 4 pounds and NOT 1. Moreover, there's no way to top up at the moment, if not by calling the ever-busy customer service.

If their intentions are for going green purposes they should revise their prices, its ridiculous having to pay 6 pounds for 2 hours ride not mentioning the 1 pound to grab the bike! Its far cheaper to go by tube and has its conforts, you are in the nice and warm, dry, sat down reading the paper and you will get there fast... the government should have taken this idea and provide it in very low cost, while reducing polution it also reduces several deaseases caused by lack of exercise.

I enjoyed riding the bixi bikes in Montreal when my daughter lived there. They were great for riding around the centre of the city, going for lunch or shopping, then getting the Metro back to her place. Now that she has moved to London, I am looking forward to bopping around central London on a one of these in October.

NOT HAPPY !! I have 4 keys and only used 1 today but i am being charged for all 4 !!

as a long time cyclist im applauding the system. though some people may do well to remember we're not quite in the same realm as copenhagen and the netherlands yet and adhere to the basics on our heavily shared roads (you know, red traffic lights mean stop, checking before changing lanes, indicate where you're going, etc), it is refreshing to see cyclists coming close to outnumbering motorised traffic. im sure this will drop off in winter, where we revert back to the few hardy commuters. (just a note, its great to cycle in winter, really warms you up). financially savvy people will work out how to use the system to their advantage, though it is interesting to see so many complaints regarding the costings for extra keys. i wish the scheme the best of luck and am keen to see how this cycling revolution plays out !

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bluelanesfree-london-cycle/id385913274?mt=8

blueLanes is a great iPhone app for the London bike hire scheme.

The concept is great, and the pricing system forces you to use the bikes fairly. 30 min is enough to get most places that you want to be. The only things they need to change are:

a. £1 per day is what you get charged if you only have 1 key. If you have 4 keys and only use one, you get charged £4! Similarly, £45 annual membership (1 key), £180 annual membership (4 keys). I've tried adding another account so I only have 1 key, but the system won't allow. Boris - charge me by the amount I use my bikes, not by the number of keys I have sitting at home!

b. Customer service. I lost a key, called, called again, emailed, finally got to speak to someone who logged my request to cancel a key. 4 days later I got a call saying my key had been handed in and would I like it sent back - no record in the system of my request to cancel.
I was also overcharged on bike hire, calls, emails every day to try and get my money back, but it's hopeless.

Might be a good idea to put little stickers on the center of the handlebars or crossbar showing the basic traffic/hand turn signals (left, right, stopping) so everyone will be safer... personally I am very happy to have more bikes on the road, whatever the outcome- cars REALLY stink up the joint (London has bad air, sorry!), cars drive way too fast, and don't really get anywhere faster anyway! Riding a bike is faster because it beats congestion, in more ways than one, is cheaper, healthier, way more fun, and there is no down side but the rain and people who forget to share the road.

I am all for people using bicycles to cut down congestion and to make life generally a bit easier. What I am concerned about is the complete lack of road skill that people seem to have on the bicycles provided by this scheme. I ride a motorcycle to work each day, whilst I find that the regular bicycle commuters have some road sense, once off riders on the scheme cycles certainly do not!

How about making tandem's available on this scheme also?
it is a great way of working together and not all can cycle!
Yeah for cycling!

They also do this in Barcelona...its a great idea. The more you use it, the more familiar you will become with the docking stations. Lots of peeps in Barca use them to get to work...one side of the city to the other for example....not many just use them for pleasure...altho they are there for you to do so if you wish....think positively and lets get it going.....think bike!!!!!

While I think it this scheme fill an important gap I am not too happy with some things. It seems quite pricey, for a start. And what about security? No locks? No helmets? In a city like London, with yawning potholes and racing minicabs, this raises serious security issues for inexperienced cyclists. All I can hope is, that it convinces more people to get their own bike and start using it. With a helmet, that is.

STAY AWAY from this. There is no service, you order 3 keys, then use only one bike but get charged for 3!
that's INSANE..
promising but really not ready yet.

-> impossible to reach on the phone, the person you talk to tell you she can't help
-> on the website when you click on submit the complaint the website crashes and tell you to call them...what a joke!!

Wait another 3 months maybe.

STAY AWAY from this. There is no service, you order 3 keys, then use only one bike but get charged for 3!
that's INSANE..
promising but really not ready yet.

-> impossible to reach on the phone, the person you talk to tell you she can't help
-> on the website when you click on submit the complaint the website crashes and tell you to call them...what a joke!!

Wait another 3 months maybe.

I think the scheme is brilliant BUT the scheme is misrepresenting the costs. All the publicity says £45 per year plus £3 per key for up to four keys but they charged me £96 for two keys and now they have changed the website. But all the printed publicity and parts of the website clearly say "£45 per year plus £3 per key". I am waiting for a call back from TFL as the operator was unable to deal with my query....I am not holding my breath

I've just received this week's T.O.and am dismayed to see so much space in the letters page devoted to the misinformed ramblings of dullards. Maunder and your oh so vulnerable pedestrian (in every sense of the word) mates - just keep your eyes open and stop wandering into the middle of the road without looking, scooter boy, thanks for reminding me there is a more despised class of road user than cyclists, and those who think it is too expensive/in the wrong place/corporate whoredom etc. try engaging your brain and working out why it has been done how it has been before BLEATING.

I have foiund it brilliant! Have joined up the annoying gap between Liverpool Street and London Bridge a couple times, I've escaped late evening bus gridlick in the West end and docked at the point beyond which the buses run freely again and I've picked up a nice bit of lunch from the delicious Vietnamese cafe that is just a bit too far to get to and from by foot from the office.

The only criticism is that they are geared a bit low so you can't really get much speed up but maybe that's just a sop to those quivering on the sidelines, horrified at the (rather sedate) rise of the cycles!

I used the BIXI bike scheme they have in Montreal, when I was there a few weeks ago and it was fabulous!!! Highigh of my trip was being able to bike whenever and wherever for a small price, especially as it was very hot this was much nicer than walking. They do have big wide streets and dedicated up and down lanes for bixi's - would be fab if we had this space in London but we dont! Ive signed up but am a bit apprehensive to use the bikes as I am not a brilliant cyclist and busy roads scare me! I will use it for riding to Parks and local non main roads.
The priciple idea is fabulous it's just the safety issue most people are concerned about - Boris needs to concentrate on this aspect - as otherwise the scheme might not take off in the way it has been able to in other countries and that would be a HUGE shame. London is a lovely city and even nicer when you're not surrounded by traffic and fumes! :)

oh and its NOT £50 compulsary ... I have paid only £5 ior so to start the membership so Streetcar is NOT cheaper... streetcar is also not good for everyone !

very very UNHAPPY with it so far.

1) the BCH person told me I could have 2 keys on one membership, when I went online and orderer one year membership (£45) + one key, I was charged £90, what's the point then?

2) I ordered 2 keys (£1 credit only for now), I received my welcome pack with only 1 key, on my account it says I have 2, so rung them, they couldn't help so I am waiting for them to call back. Basically my weekend with my girlfriend will be spent walking I guess..

3) now I can't seem to upgrade to £45 for the key I want to use (not the spare one).

I think they did a good job at having the bikes ready on time, but their service is absolutely horrible.

I would advise to wait another 3 months before signing up.

This scheme is following closely the French scheme which I find brilliant. It is not a bycicly rental service, but a free quick mobility service. 1/2 free promotes quick travel to most places at a "reasonable" distance. An increasing price by time (and not reducing as common sense would indicate) demotes people from taking the bike for long... leaving them for other people to use. If you want a bike to visit London, this is not it! To have a bike for a whole day(or longer), other companies must already provide that service.

Congrats for the initiative!

sally you miss the point. It's supposed to be for quick, free trips. They're not being greedy, they're trying to make you share. If you take a bike for a day, then nobody else can use that bike. The way it's structured, 1 bike can serve hundreds of people making quick trips around the city. Plus if you need a bike for a day, just keep stopping and swapping every half hour. If I take the tube/bus to work it'll cost me £2-£5/day. If I take a bike it's £1/day, may be faster than tube/bus, and gives me some exercise. Brilliant!

If you want to keep the same bike for a whole day (remembering you also need to carry a chain and lock it whenever you stop), then there's plenty of other bike hire places that are designed for that type of service - and I imagine you'd have to get there early on popular days or all the bikes would be gone already.

Those of you complaining about the £50 fee - are you really planning on riding the bike for 24hours without stopping?! More fool you.

£35 +1 for 6 hours !!! That is insane. Great scheme but the greed of the TFL again is embarrassing. Ride a bicycle advertising Barclaycard? No thanks.
And half an hour is free ? It's simply misleading advertising ! It's 1 pound to acces daily, so not free. And if you forget to return the bicycle on time that's £150 pounds ! Why on Earth so much ???? Anyone can forget sometimes. It's only a bicycle !!!! The whole scheme just smacks of TFL's corporate greed. Couldn't they make it affordable to everyone? Pricing and Barclays involvement are a just one big disappointment. So symptomatic of the UK corporate culture. Complain to TFL and ask them to lower and simplify charges and scrap the fine !

To Gina Melosi
"London is now one of the best cycle cities in the world."

You obviously have not ridden a bicycle in some bicycle friendly cities such as Amsterdam or Munich. London is a terrible (and dangerous, ask any cab driver and he will tell you horrow stories about accidents with bicycles) bicycling city with almost no dedicated paths.

Where you got the idea that London is great for biking is a mystery.

to Eva Marcuse, London is now one of the best cycle cities in the world. We don't need anyone to show us how to ride stylishly. I see so many hot bikes on a daily basis, it's like a constant stream of porn to my bike-obsessed brain. Granted these Barclays bikes really aren't very sexy though...

While the idea is good in principle the pricing is outrageous. It seems that the private firm BIXI (most recent profits about $7 million) has set the pricing such as to yield more sizable profits.

In comparison the pricing in Germany is only about 1/5 th, where the maximum daily rate is £10 while in London it is £50 !!!

Not only that, the London BIXI scheme asks for an annual fee of £45 (which is NOT offset against riding charges) while the German scheme is a one-time fee of €5 which IS offset against riding fees.

It is amazing that London could not come up with a similar scheme to Germany's but opts instead to make a profit off its claims to want to encourage people to ride cars less.

London Cycle Hire LIVE for android has now been updated to include live information on the number of bikes and bike spaces along with an interactive map and other great features. Search the android market for "London Cycle Hire LIVE" or check out this blog entry http://blog.ifuller1.info/?p=104

London Cycle Hire LIVE for android devices now includes live information on bike and bike space availability along with other great features. Head on over to the market and search for "London Cycle Hire Live" or checkout more details on my blog - http://blog.ifuller1.info/?p=104

I do hope they'll get round to bringing the stations south to at least Brixton- but it's the beginning of the scheme, and it was always going to be concentrated on zone one to start with.

A bit dismayed by the bitching here, to be honest. This is a brilliant, progressive scheme and it deserves support at its inception-- you can guarantee that the car lobby will be sharpening its claws if it affects the car's pre-eminence in London.

So it's sponsored by a bank. Big deal. Live in the real world, morons.

Please people, it is sponsored by a bank, presumably because they bid the most amount of money for the advertising.

It's not in the rest of London yet, because it makes sense to role it out centrally first and then gradually expand.

It's not expensive if you are just using it for a journey to another cycle drop-off point (which you should be).

It is expensive if for some reason you want to pay for the privilege of laying it next to you in the park or otherwise keeping the bike when you're not actually riding.

Stop moaning and engage your brains!

People, get a grip please!

If you want to use the bike for periods of more than 24 hours, then you should just pay £45 for annual access

Alternatively, dock it every 30 minutes and you can cycle around all day for free. If you are out and about, you are going to need to dock the bike anyway to get a drink or visit a museum - it all makes sense!

The Cycle hire scheme has always had plans to be much bigger than it is now, this is the first phase! If its not in your area now, its not to say it won't be. Putting it in across the whole of London would have been overkill in the first stages!

The cycle hire scheme zone extends from Whitecahapel in the east to Earls Court in the west. It would therefore take a cyclist travelling at 12 miles per hour roughly 45 minutes to cross from one side of the zone to the other. The excess usage charge however kicks in after just 30 minutes.

Open source map I built at http://www.swannsway.co.uk/london_attractions.html

The location of the docking stations is tantamount to saying zone 1 is London, and London is zone 1. What a massive insult to the majority of Londoners who don't live in zone1. How on earth can they call it a London scheme! Once again South London gets shafted with most of its docking stations being located in the touristy areas of Lambeth and Southwark so essentially serving visitors not Londoners. Pathetic!

Why oh why are they branded with a bank?! Such a missed opportunity - we could be adding to the frisson and joy of London, instead we're not allowed to forget: it's all about money, mate. Money money effing money. Romance factor = zero.

Initially very excited, because I'm actually travelling to London next week. Sadly, the pay-as-you-go option will only be available from September onwards.
Is it that the company wants to make fast money in August by pushing people towards the expensive annual subscription?
In Brussels, a similar system (the Paris one) has been installed a few months ago, and subscriptions are free until the end of 2010!
So it's sad that your average tourist who's not willing to spend £45 is left in the August - uhm - cold. Especially because I assume traffic in London is less congested during the summer months, so it could be a great opportunity.
By the way, you have to ride Canadian bikes, we have to ride French ones. That's globalization for you...

I the idea in principal but do have a couple of grips.
Wouldn't it be better to first prepare the capital's roads so that cycling in London is safer? Particularly in the West End.
Mapping a proper 'Bikes Only' route system throughout the center of the city should be set-up. Making chosen roads 'bike's only' roads so that the majority of cyclists are separated from traffic. I can think of a lot of driver's who would also appreciate this idea. Some of the smaller roads would be ideal for this. Apart from deliveries to establishments & business's where deliveries have to be at a certain time (say before 7 or between 10-12?) this would make the use of these bikes a far greater success.

I do think it very sad that the bikes were built in Canada and not the UK. That's a disgrace!

V frustrated - was waiting for this to launch - it always said 'you just have to sign up online' - not 'you have to sign up AND WAIT A WEEK FOR A KEY!

Oh well - look forward to checking it out in a week.

To get locations on your Android mobile phone. 1) Go to http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&source=embed&safe=on&msa=33&msid=110377225760210522619.00048b46133a0cea9ec10&abauth=4c52836adVkygekKZPoj2dUqIKaBmkOJwtQ on your PC
2) Add to 'My Maps'
3) Then on your Android Maps app go to 'Add Layer' > More Layers
4) Select London Cycle Hire.
5) Locations are there. All good.

I think some people are missing the point. The bikes are intended for short journeys, free for 30mins. To cycle across London is around 30mins (Trafalgar Sq to Liverpool St), for £1 a day you can take / return as many times as you like in a day, if using them for 30mins at a time it can be FREE, so not sure why some people are saying its expensive, be realistic you have to cover running costs. Why would you be cycling around for 24 hours without getting off the bike.... the fee of £50 is just to encourage people to return the bikes.

There's tons in south London, but just in Zone 1.

The scheme is a great idea, but why are there no stations in South London?