6 August 2010
More than 43,000 bicycle journeys have taken place in London in the first week of the new Barclays Cycle Hire scheme.
The project, operated by Serco on behalf of Transport for London, is based on schemes in European cities such as Barcelona and Paris. More than 32,000 Londoners have signed up to use the service since its launch on July 30, the Mayor’s Office said today.
Mayor BorisJohnson said he was ‘incredibly proud’ of the positive manner in which Londoners had embraced the scheme. ‘They continue to sign up in droves and it is clear their appetite for the capital’s cycling revolution is far from sated.’
David Brown, TfL’s managing director of surface transport, added: ‘It’s been a great first week for our Barclays Cycle Hire scheme. We are using this first month of operation to learn more about how Londoners engage with the scheme, including patterns of use and how we can best support customers.’
Brown said the biggest problem to date was with some users not putting the bikes back properly at the end of their trip.
The bikes are available only to those who sign up to the scheme at a cost of £5 for a week or £45 for a year. Journeys that take less than 30 minutes are free, while those of less than one hour cost £1.
The Mayor and TfL hope the scheme will build on the 117% growth in cycle journeys in the capital since 2000.
