"Neil Williams" wrote:
Been using Boris bikes the past few days, and the terminals are extremely
slow, often timing out multiple times before I manage to extract a bike.

Is there any plan to address this? I have sent for a key fob which should
sort it for me, but the casual hire IT infrastructure seems below par.

Haven't come across the terminals timing out before, though I've got a fob
so I only really get a first-hand feel of the casual hire arrangements when
with others who're taking advantage of it (the 82 pages or whatever it is of
T&Cs that are offered on screen for a wannabe user's appraisal and agreement
often seems to amuse!). I can't recall any super-extended waits, so maybe
this is some sort of current glitch, or the demand has picked up with the
weather (as predicted) and the backend is subsequently struggling.

You should be able to sidestep things somewhat with a key fob, though
perhaps best not to expect perfection - there still seems to be some degree
of sketchiness to the system. One observation is that if the payment
terminal is sick for whatever reason, presenting the key fob to the
individual docking point generally still seems to work in terms of getting
hold of a bike.