On Sat, 17 Jul 2010, Paul Corfield wrote:

On Sat, 17 Jul 2010 02:27:45 -0700 (PDT), MIG
wrote:

On 22 June, 14:36, Mizter T wrote:

No bikes yet of course - they'll come later, and the system goes live
on 30 July. I've a more lengthy post gestating in my head about the
CycleHirescheme - must get on with putting fingers to keyboard and
post it soon!

I've noticed some Things in Tavistock Place. The first I'd noticed,
but I probably hadn't been paying attention. No bikes yet.

They aren't covered (and apparently people have been mistaking them
for parking meters).

I have yet to see a parking bay and totem for the scheme with my own
eyes.

There are two near my office - one on Bishopsgate and one on Commercial
Street, i think, with stelae and stands. There's plumbing for one on my
commute, on New North Road where it forks off from the road down to Old
Street, but it's not complete yet. None have bikes.

I still can't my head round the charging model although I've not devoted
a lot of brain power to understanding it.

I see the indefatigable Mr T has explained all downthread. But basically,
the take-home point is that short trips are cheap, and long trips are
disproportionately expensive, with the break between short and long being
at about an hour.

It's going to be very interesting to see how it goes. I'm still not sure
whether I think it is a good idea in principle or just a waste of money
scheme

It could be both.

I'm confident it will not be good value for money in terms of travel. It
will certainly do nothing to help existing cyclists - we already have
bikes! - or potential cyclists who could commute in from the suburbs,
where there won't be any Things. It might enable modal shift from bus and
tube to bike for the terminal legs of commutes that come into London by
surface rail; i have a hard time seeing people switching from tube to
bike if they're already underground when they arrive in town. It will be
useful for tourists, and for people who live and work in zone 1 -
students, perhaps?

from a Mayor who loves cycling.

I wish people would stop saying that. If Boris really loved cycling, there
are all sorts of things he could do to make it safer, easier, and more
popular. Like not deciding to disband the Commercial Vehicle Education
Unit, which was the only police unit which actually enforced safety rules
on lorries. I know there was a minor furore over that - i don't know if
the decision was eventually reversed. Either way, he could also be
spending the money he's spending on absurd blue paint on something else,
providing more cycle parking on streets, pushing for more cycle capacity
on trains serving London, making sure the planning rules about cycle
parking are actually enforced, and so on. Instead, he's just chasing
headlines.

tom

--
And dear lord, its like peaches in a lacy napkin. -- James Dearden