On Jul 25, 10:00*pm, David Walters wrote:

On Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:14:49 +0100, Mizter T wrote:
When I was around town yesterday (on my bike no less) I noticed that a few
of the pay stations are already turned on and active - an example being the
one on Bernard Street opposite Russell Square tube station.

About 2 weeks ago I found one on Union Street in Southwark that thought
it had bikes for hire, according to it's neighbours, and was happy to
take my credit card as a casual user. I'm afraid I chickened out of
the transaction as I wasn't sure how I would be able to return the
non-existent bike.

You could have had a double first there - the first person to be
charged for the non-return of a bike, and the first to test out their
dispute resolution process too!

The one I played with briefly at Russell Square seemed to have the
self-awareness that it had no bikes for hire, and neither did any of
its neighbours. Which reminds me - the virtual 'button' that did catch
my eye was the 'this docking station is full, need more time to return
bike elsewhere' button (though it was rather better worded than that!)
- on pressing it, the pay station wanted either my membership key or
the payment card I'd used. But if this really works as it should then
that's great - one won't be penalised for going over the half-hour or
hour mark if the destination docking station is full.

I s'pose one needs to factor in the potential for the people in front
to be conducting some painfully slow transaction at the pay station,
though if it's already full of bikes then perhaps that would be a less
busy time anyway, and many (if not all?) of the pay stations seem to
have two 'faces' (on opposite sides of each other).

In article , David Walters
writes

Or at least I think that is what happens....

It all sounds mega confusing to me, and even though I cycle very
regularly and have done for years, I'm not sure I'd ever hire one. I
have two bikes, one I use to get to work in the West End (it folds so I
can store it indoors there) and light shopping, and another for trips to
the swimming pool and if I want to explore London.

When some of the news reports last week carried links to the bike system
site, I took a look at the map to see where the docking stations were in
the West End and also nearer me. I was surprised to find not a single
one showed up. I take it this has since changed?

--
congokid
Eating out in London? Read my tips...
http://congokid.com

On Mon, 26 Jul 2010, congokid wrote:

In article , David Walters
writes

Or at least I think that is what happens....

It all sounds mega confusing to me, and even though I cycle very regularly
and have done for years, I'm not sure I'd ever hire one. I have two bikes,
one I use to get to work in the West End (it folds so I can store it indoors
there) and light shopping, and another for trips to the swimming pool and if
I want to explore London.

Yes, but it's not *for* you. Or me. Or for anyone who commutes, in fact.

It's not for us, because we have adequate bikes, so we have no need to
hire a four-tonne clunker from Boris.

It's not for commuters who live in inner London, because there are no
stations outside Z1 (not much outside, at least), and you're not allowed
to take the bikes home overnight. It's not for commuters who live further
out, because the stations are set up to avoid flows to or from major rail
termini.

I have yet to work out who it *is* for.

tom

--
Vive la chimie, en particulier, et la connaissance en general. --
Herve This

On Jul 26, 1:18*pm, Tom Anderson wrote:

On Mon, 26 Jul 2010, congokid wrote:

In article , David Walters
writes

Or at least I think that is what happens....

It all sounds mega confusing to me, and even though I cycle very regularly
and have done for years, I'm not sure I'd ever hire one. I have two bikes,
one I use to get to work in the West End (it folds so I can store it indoors
there) and light shopping, and another for trips to the swimming pool and if
I want to explore London.

Yes, but it's not *for* you. Or me. Or for anyone who commutes, in fact.

It's not for us, because we have adequate bikes, so we have no need to
hire a four-tonne clunker from Boris.

It's not for commuters who live in inner London, because there are no
stations outside Z1 (not much outside, at least), and you're not allowed
to take the bikes home overnight. It's not for commuters who live further
out, because the stations are set up to avoid flows to or from major rail
termini.

I have yet to work out who it *is* for.

I think you're rather lacking in imagination there Tom.

On Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:58:33 +0100, congokid wrote:
It all sounds mega confusing to me,

I think it will become more obvious once the scheme has actually launched.

and even though I cycle very
regularly and have done for years, I'm not sure I'd ever hire one. I
have two bikes, one I use to get to work in the West End (it folds so I
can store it indoors there) and light shopping, and another for trips to
the swimming pool and if I want to explore London.

I have my own bike but I don't always bring it into town and sometimes
I want to get from one side of the centre to the other. At the moment
I might walk or get the tube or bus depending on how far it is, the
weather and if the tube or bus goes the right way. I'm expecting to
make that kind of journey by hire bike some of the time in the future. I
don't think I'll use it as often as every week but it is another option.

When some of the news reports last week carried links to the bike system
site, I took a look at the map to see where the docking stations were in
the West End and also nearer me. I was surprised to find not a single
one showed up. I take it this has since changed?

The TfL map still doesn't show any locations and they have now updated it
to say it launches on Friday. I wonder if it will show live availability
which doesn't make much sense while the bikes are still in a warehouse
somewhere.

There is an alternative one at http://cyclehireapp.com/locations.html
I think it is based on information from March so it might not be 100%
accurate although I'm sure it will be updated when more information
is available.

In article , David Walters
writes

The TfL map still doesn't show any locations and they have now updated it
to say it launches on Friday. I wonder if it will show live availability
which doesn't make much sense while the bikes are still in a warehouse
somewhere.

After I posted I realised I may have seen a docking station in progress
at Carey Street at the back of the Royal Courts of Justice. Several
weeks ago a small newly paved area appeared, with smaller diamond shaped
slabs inlaid. Among the chalk marks on the pavement I could see the word
'bicycles'.

Then last Friday I noticed that bicycle stands had been added. They
looked like the wheel bender type, but now I suspect they're to
accommodate the new bikes. I could have used something like the bike
scheme several times over the past year to get me from Fleet Street to
Marylebone - that journey ought to be well under 30 minutes - but with
no capacity for carrying luggage, perhaps not.

--
congokid
Eating out in London? Read my tips...
http://congokid.com

On Jul 26, 2:46*pm, congokid wrote:

In article , David Walters
writes

The TfL map still doesn't show any locations and they have now updated it
to say it launches on Friday. I wonder if it will show live availability
which doesn't make much sense while the bikes are still in a warehouse
somewhere.

After I posted I realised I may have seen a docking station in progress
at Carey Street at the back of the Royal Courts of Justice. Several
weeks ago a small newly paved area appeared, with smaller diamond shaped
slabs inlaid. Among the chalk marks on the pavement I could see the word
'bicycles'.

Then last Friday I noticed that bicycle stands had been added. They
looked like the wheel bender type, but now I suspect they're to
accommodate the new bikes. I could have used something like the bike
scheme several times over the past year to get me from Fleet Street to
Marylebone - that journey ought to be well under 30 minutes - but with
no capacity for carrying luggage, perhaps not.

There's a front basket/ rack arrangement of sorts on the bikes.

Must admit that looking at these photos I'm not entirely convinced by
it, but I'll reserve judgement until I've seen and indeed put it to
the test in person.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bristolbikes/4002090743/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclemapsuk/4016638570/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ctc_cyclists/3994986443/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ctc_cyclists/3994985021/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ctc_cyclists/3994985021/

AIUI the bikes themselves are essentially based on the same model
that's used for the Bixi scheme in Montreal, and by the looks of it
the front basket thingie looks similar on their bikes, so I guess it
must kinda work:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15740359@N06/3618598935/

On Mon, 26 Jul 2010, Mizter T wrote:

On Jul 26, 1:18*pm, Tom Anderson wrote:

On Mon, 26 Jul 2010, congokid wrote:

In article , David Walters
writes

Or at least I think that is what happens....

It all sounds mega confusing to me, and even though I cycle very regularly
and have done for years, I'm not sure I'd ever hire one. I have two bikes,
one I use to get to work in the West End (it folds so I can store it indoors
there) and light shopping, and another for trips to the swimming pool and if
I want to explore London.

Yes, but it's not *for* you. Or me. Or for anyone who commutes, in fact.

It's not for us, because we have adequate bikes, so we have no need to
hire a four-tonne clunker from Boris.

It's not for commuters who live in inner London, because there are no
stations outside Z1 (not much outside, at least), and you're not allowed
to take the bikes home overnight. It's not for commuters who live further
out, because the stations are set up to avoid flows to or from major rail
termini.

I have yet to work out who it *is* for.

I think you're rather lacking in imagination there Tom.

Oh! It's for Boris!

tom

--
Remember Sammy Jankis.

In article . li,
(Tom Anderson) wrote:

It's not for commuters who live in inner London, because there are
no stations outside Z1 (not much outside, at least), and you're not
allowed to take the bikes home overnight. It's not for commuters
who live further out, because the stations are set up to avoid
flows to or from major rail termini.

I have yet to work out who it *is* for.

Huh? It seems to provide for main line rail stations from what I've seen
near King's Cross.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Jul 26, 9:43*pm, wrote:

In article . li,
(Tom Anderson) wrote:

It's not for commuters who live in inner London, because there are
no stations outside Z1 (not much outside, at least), and you're not
allowed to take the bikes home overnight. It's not for commuters
who live further out, because the stations are set up to avoid
flows to or from major rail termini.

I have yet to work out who it *is* for.

Huh? It seems to provide for main line rail stations from what I've seen
near King's Cross.

The official line seems to be that a decision was taken that the
mainline termini stations were not going to be directly catered for by
the hire scheme (at least not initially) because the potential demand
would have been too high, and it would have skewed the whole system
towards coping with that demand, or something like that.

But as you say, there are plenty of docking stations within fairly
close proximity to the termini stations, so those armed with a little
inclination and foreknowledge should be able to locate them easily
enough. Whether there'll be any available bikes at these docking
stations is another matter, and I can imagine there might not be
during the morning rush - however at other times it could well be a
different picture.

*If* there is a live status map online that shows availability at
docking stations, and *if* the prospective punter has a net-connected
mobile device, then they'd be able to check whether it was worth them
heading around the corner to the docking station on arrival instead of
getting on the Tube or bus for onward travel.