London Bike Hire (Boris / Barclays Bikes) facing problems

http://hembrow.blogspot.com/search/label/borisbikes

The numbers simply don't add up for public bike hire schemes. I have written about London's system several times over the last three years, pointing out, for example, that even if the original optimistic estimates were met (just as I predicted, they have not been met), then the system could cope with just 0.3% of journeys within London: http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2009/03/velib-vel-on-and-other-public-shared.html

I also pointed out two years ago that these bikes are very likely the most expensive in the world. They have cost over 23000 pounds each, and the running cost each year amounts to over 2500 pounds per bike. How is this a sensible use of money ? This enough expense could have gone into improving the cycling infrastructure in London: http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2010/08/most-expensive-bikes-in-world.html

The targets for use have not been met in any way. Actual usage rates are less than a third of the original predictions. Modal shift from car to bike due to London's hire bikes is of the order of just 150 trips per day. This is miniscule in a city of eight million people: http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2010/12/oh-london.html

Sadly, London continues to try to baffle the public by quoting big sounding numbers: http://hembrow.blogspot.com/2011/02/transport-for-london-baffling-people.html


Londoners ! Wake up ! You're being fed a line with this bike hire scheme. It can never achieve what it was supposed to achieve.

If you want to know what really works to encourage cycling, you need to look not at what North American cities with very little cycling are doing, but just across the North Sea at what the Dutch are doing. This is where there is genuinely a high modal share for cycling. Send you representatives on a Study Tour to see how the Dutch support everyone's decision to cycle: http://www.hembrowcyclingholidays.com/studytour.html

Video from BBC London 17 January 2012

http://www.dutchbikebits.com
http://www.hembrowcyclingholidays.com

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• london
• boris
• bikes
• bicycle
• hire

[kever53]

David, can you also explain why DublinBikes are a great succes?

[DavidHembrow]

@kever53 They're not. It's just hype. There remains a low modal share for cycling in Dublin and that system, like all the others, doesn't really have capacity to make a real difference.

[xzaz2]

David this is about money not about cycling...

[kbrumann]

Who needs a docking station? Call-a-Bike can do without them.