TfL’s new bicycle hire scheme for London launched today, endorsed by Mayor Boris, proclaiming:
Londoners have awoken to a new dawn for the bicycle in the capital … racks have been filled with thousands of gleaming machines that will transform our streets … My crusade for the capital to become the greatest cycling city in the world has taken a gigantic pedal-powered push forwards.
No pressure on the scheme, then.
Our local bike rack – sorry, Barclays bike rack – had one bike on it yesterday, 12 bikes this morning and 6 today. More than 12,450 keys have been handed out to Londoners enabling them to unlock bikes left at 315 docking points across the city. The cost of using the cycles varies from £1 for an hour to £50 for 24 hours. The bikes have no locks, which is said by TfL to be to deter people keeping them for long periods. I’d have thought 50 quid was disincentive enough.
Barclays has apparently paid £25m to sponsor the scheme and the Barclays cycle superhighway, a network of 12 cycle lanes, which is much more than some existing cycle lanes painted Barclays blue. Sounds like a good deal for them. And research has shown that (blue) is a good colour which stands out, says a TfL spokeswoman.
Some people are upset that Barclays is too prominent as a sponsor and has encroached too much on to the civic/public domain. Cyclists as a group are not naturally big corporation lovers and there has of course been some creative ‘re-branding’.
At first sight there does seem to be a 'brand mash' of TfL, Oyster, Barclays, Boris (all blue), so it is hard to see who is doing what.
It will be interesting to follow the uptake and emerging views of the scheme.
I certainly hope it will be a great success and that lots more people will cycle in London as a result - even if comes to riding bikes 60 foot long. Not just on big, Barclays branded bikes. Bravo, Boris. Next up, Boris and the bendy bike?