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The day London commuters were waiting for is almost here, though one look out the window may dull the celebrations – tomorrow the capitals cycle hire scheme goes ‘casual’.
Since the summer the £140m scheme have been widely viewed as a major success with over 1.8m journeys made in four months through membership. Transport chiefs struggling with technical and logistical nightmares in the maiden month kicked walk up use into the long grass – the New Year was mooted at one point.
On Friday, the 5000 Boris Bikes can be hired by anyone with a credit card for £1 for 30 minutes or more within a 24-hour period. Transport for London helpers will be stationed at 30 locations talking new users through the hire process.
Tomorrow will be the last serious challenge for the project. Critics who said the money should be ploughed into the Tube and that bikes would be stolen and vandalised have been proved utterly wrong. Just 10 bikes have gone missing – and two of those have been returned, over 100,000 people have a membership key and 20,000 journeys are made every day.
Demand is high and there are serious capacity issues at train stations, queues and arguments are not uncommon at Bank, Liverpool Street and Waterloo stations. 6000 bikes were promised but problems with councils and utilities in placing pavement docking stations means only 346 of the planned 400 loading bays are operational.
Kulveer Ranger, the mayor's transport advisor says the introduction of an unknown amount of casuals will help rather than hinder matters.
Talking to the Guardian: "Currently, because only members can use the bikes, they tend to be commuters, going from mainline stations to their places of work, where they are often not used much during the day. Visitors to London will not be travelling so much during rush hour but they will be riding between museums, shops and sights in the centre, redistributing bikes as they go.”
Cyclists are upset at the lack of bikes south of the river which stretch just to Oval, most are stationed in central London – Kensington Olympia to the West, Camden Town in the north and Whitechapel in the east. And it is in the east that the first spasm of growth is expected in time for the 2012 Olympics. Capacity will be boosted to 8,000 from 14,400 docking stations covering 40 miles of the capital – but on a day like today, that is just a warm thought.
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