Bicycles latest public transport in London from Friday
July 29th, 2010 - 9:36 pm ICT by IANS
By Venkata Vemuri
London, July 29 (IANS) Bicycles will become London’s latest mode of public transport from Friday.
By early Friday morning, 6,000 bicycles will be loaded into 350 bays - or docking stations - across nine boroughs for use by pre-paid registered members.
The bikes will beign to be loaded into bays in Camden, City of London, Hackney, Islington, Lambeth, Kensington & Chelsea, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Westminster and several Royal Parks from Thursday night.
Over 9,000 people have already registered for London’s bike hire scheme, a pet project of Mayor Boris Johnson.
Each registered person gets a personal electronic key. All the person has to do is go to the docking station, use to key to enter the bay, unlock the bicycle and zip.
Johnson said: “The excitement and enthusiasm for my flagship Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme is proving infectious.”
The project - the most expensive in Europe costing 140 million pounds - will be expanded to include casual use by tourists and visitors by August-end.
An annual subscription costs 45 pounds (plus a one-off 3 pounds charge for an electronic key), compared with 24.50 pounds for Paris’s VeLib bicycle hire scheme, 25.30 pounds for the Villo scheme in Brussels and 25.80 pounds for the Bicing scheme in Barcelona.
But a spokesperson for the project says for short trips of 30 minutes or less, hiring the bicycle will be the cheapest way to travel within the central London area, costing as little as 12 pence per day for those who register for annual membership.
(Venkata Vemuri can be contacted at venkata.v@ians.in)
- London mayor calls for a 'cycling revolution' - Jul 30, 2010
- Mayor of London to present Wills, Kate with bicycle made for two - Apr 25, 2011
- National Health Service looks for 1,000 pounds-a-day consultant - Jun 29, 2010
- Now, lease an electric car in Paris - Oct 02, 2011
- Light-weight bikes may not 'necessarily' reduce commuting time - Dec 10, 2010
- Indian high commission preparing reply on CWG payments controversy - Aug 02, 2010
- Britain plans to stop incapacity benefits - Jul 12, 2010
- Ryanair plans standing seats to cut costs - Jul 01, 2010
- Britain may see 24-hour medicine vending machines - Jun 22, 2010
- Formula One designer comes up with small city car idea - Jun 29, 2010
- British airways tries saving merger deal with Iberia - Jun 23, 2010
- Growing hidden costs of budget airlines - Jun 15, 2010
- Britain seeks Indian market as Cameron comes visiting - Jul 26, 2010
- Bihar's cycle of development - now labourers to get bikes - Aug 19, 2011
- British credit card cheat gets four years in prison - Jun 23, 2010
Tags: bays, boris johnson, boroughs, camden city, central london area, city of london, docking stations, electronic key, islington, lambeth, london hackney, pence, pet project, public transport in london, short trips, southwark, subscription costs, tower hamlets, velib, venkata
