Cycling in London

And since the launch of the capital's cycle programme on 30 July 2010, it's set to grow even bigger.

The idea of is like the programme they have
in Paris and Barcelona, all these ventures are to provide bikes for people to use as an alternative to public transport for short trips
in and around town.

Initially, the scheme will operate in an area equivilent to Zone One, of the tube map, with over 6,000 bikes available at 400 docking stations - that's one station roughly every 300 metres.

The self service scheme will be open to over 14s and operate 24 hours a day. Riders will pay an access fee (£1 per day, £5 a week or £45 for a year and buy a "key" for £3, which unlocks the bikes.

Then, trips under half an hour wil be free, those up to an hour will cost £1 and up to two hours will be £6, with the maximum rental period of 24 hours costing 50. Transport fo London is hoping the scheme will generate 40,000 extra bike trips a day.

It's all part of TFL's £111 million investment in cycling in the capital in 2010. Barclays is sponsoring the scheme for five years, having coughed up 25 million, part of which will also go towards sponsoring 12 cycle superhighways - essentially cycling arteries linking the suburbs to the centre of town.

TFL intends to extend the Cycling in London bike hire scheme beyond Zone One, initially east towards Stratford for London 2012.

Cycling in London will have its teething problems problems aside, only time will tell how this programme will work out - in Paris apparently, over half of the 18,000 Velib bikes had disappeared after 18 months.



TFL said, "We're particularly anxious to discover how our city's penchant for getting absolutely trolleyed every weekend will work out - will Soho at 3am on Friday night resmble a binge drinker's version of the Tour de France? Anything's better than the night bus".

For as little as 12p a day, users will soon be able to use our bikes to cross a huge swathe of our city, and it'll mean that by 2012 we’ll be able to invite the entire world to join London’s cycling revolution."

David Brown, managing director of surface transport at Transport for London (TfL), said: “We always believed that Cycling in London using Barclays Cycle Hire would prove to be hugely popular, but the enthusiasm with which people have embraced the scheme has been remarkable.

We've every confidence that the expanded cycle hire scheme, which will stretch up as far as the edge of the Olympic Park and down to the Isle of Dogs, will be just as enthusiastically embraced by Londoners and visitors alike.”

Most motorist's in London are well aware of cyclist's in the city, so for the price as a tourist, it's worth trying the experience I think.

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