Boris Bike Fees

D_Dickenson

The rent a bike scheme looks good except the Ryanair style fee system where if you don't do things exactly right you could end up with big bill. It seems very cheap if you are doing short journeys regularly but one thing caught my eye:

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Auto-renew
If you select auto-renew, we'll automatically start a new access period for you when:

You use your key after your last access period has ended
Your access period ends while you are using a cycle
This will be for the same access period as before and we'll simply charge it to your account.

If you activate auto-renewal with any one of the keys, the new access fee will be charged against every key and not just the one that is used

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The last bit seems to say that if you have ordered more than one key you get charged for every key every time even if you only use one. I read it as saying:

If you select auto-renew, we'll automatically start a new access period when You use your key after your last access period has ended,
the new access fee will be charged against every key and not just the one that is used.

Can this be right? - doesn't sound very fair.

D_Dickenson

It seems to confirm it in the Friends and Family bit:

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Family and friends
You pay for any charges your family or friends clock up on your account. You will all have the same access period, starting at the same time.

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That's not good. I registered for two keys so to use one bike will be £2 not £1. Make sure you don't get four keys or it will cost £4 for a single hire!

I hope I've made a mistake in my understanding somewhere.

dacouch

I looked at one sites they store the bikes the other day and had a look at the website.

I was wondering how it will work as you can drop the bikes off at any other of their sites. However I imagine some of the sites will be very popular as drop offs so what would happen if you can't find a space to slot the bike in. Would you not be able to swipe it in and / or would it be secure if not you appear to be liable if it then goes missing.

sassy_one

It looks cheap looking on their website however would get costly after 30 minutes, which most people would want it for an hour to two I would think at least.

Would work out cheap for trips under 30 minutes, but over that more than a few times it'll start mounting up fast

Browntoa

I was hoping it would be a cheap way of keeping fit as I work round the corner from 2 sites but looking at the pricing It's no cheaper than jumping on a bus

joolsybools

Browntoa wrote: »

I was hoping it would be a cheap way of keeping fit as I work round the corner from 2 sites but looking at the pricing It's no cheaper than jumping on a bus

TBH you're probably going to be better off buying a bike if you plan to do a regular commute. Unless you pay the £50(ish?) fee for annual membership and only ever use for less than 30 mins a day (free).

joolsybools

dacouch wrote: »

I looked at one sites they store the bikes the other day and had a look at the website.

I was wondering how it will work as you can drop the bikes off at any other of their sites. However I imagine some of the sites will be very popular as drop offs so what would happen if you can't find a space to slot the bike in. Would you not be able to swipe it in and / or would it be secure if not you appear to be liable if it then goes missing.

Not sure about this but the system in Stockholm has vans going around shifting bikes around so there is a good balance between the stations, maybe they will do that. I think each station will hold 20 bikes max.

Keith

It looks expensive, but consider that I've been riding 3 months and when I started it took me 20 minutes to cover the 2 miles from station to office.

I think there is about 10 bike stands at each station, the problem I see is what happens if all the bikes get ridden towards the middle, you'd then be riding round looking for a space like with the motorbike parking.

D_Dickenson

Jon Snow puts a ‘BorisBike’ to the test

I don't know the weight of an average bike but he says they are quite heavy at 23kg.

Keith

Yeah that is heavy, my folding bike is heavy at 11kg!

joolsybools

Yes they are heavy and look cumbersome.

I had a go on one at last years bike show and at first look I was taking the proverbial along the lines of 'look at the state of that'. However I got on one and did a few laps and it was actually quite ok. Depends what you are used to. If you're use to a road bike then you might be disappointed. But then you should continue riding your road bike or a hybrid (like I will be)! Will be using those for emergencies only

What worries me more is inexperienced cyclists taking to central London roads.