Changes coming this weekend

Casual users will be unable to access Boris bikes for around 24 hours this weekend (14/15 Sep) due to upgrade work to terminals. Annual members will be unaffected.

Terminals will be upgraded this weekend

The software upgrade comes ahead of the scheme's expansion later this year. There will be a number of benefits, including the ability for one person to have multiple keys with different access options, enabling annual members for example to have extra keys available to lend to friends and family when they visit or want to cycle together. In addition, casual use will be made easier, cutting out the irritation of inserting the payment card multiple times.

These changes are in response to customer feedback, and hopefully the short interruption to the service will pave the way for an improved hire experience.

Here is TfL's press release on the changes.

Wandsworth wants more Boris Bikes

As part of the 2013/14 expansion, TfL has announced a major expansion of the scheme southwards and westwards. Only parts of Wandsworth borough are covered however, and campaigners, especially in the south of the borough, are pushing for bikes across the entire borough. They also urge the bikes to be installed at Clapham Junction.

If you have views you can email them to transportation@wandsworth. gov.uk

I wholeheardedly support the Clapham proposal. It seems idiotic to leave it out, when bikes close to stations (think of Waterloo) are among the most popular. In my own response to the plans for the borough, I also identified Battersea Park as a major omission, as leisure cycling would benefit from a station there, and help new users build confidence before they head out onto London's busy streets.

The campaign for bikes in the rest of Wandsworth also has merit, but with so many other boroughs actively campaigning for the bikes, it's a matter of allocation of resources. Southwark, another central London borough, has been woefully neglected so far. In Lambeth, Brixton will remain a Boris bike desert.

All this makes me wonder why the mayor is bringing forward plans for a new road tunnel in east London for cars and lorries. At the cost of millions of pounds, we will get increased congestion and more pollution, when if the money were instead invested in cycling, everyone would benefit from cleaner and greener streets - a real cycling revolution for London. I've responded to TfL's consultation opposing the plans and calling for investment in sustainable transport - maybe you can too.

Cycle safety in London

A recent article about cycle safety close to a new dock in King's Cross (Crinan Street) has got me thinking about cycle safety. I can't track down the article any longer, but it points out just how truly dreadful cycling infrastructure is around King's Cross. It was here of course that student Deep Lee was knocked from her bike and killed, which became the focus of a recent cyle protest.

TfL, it seems to me, are caught in a paradoxical position. They're investing a lot in Boris bikes, and expanding it across London starting soon with the eastern extension. But at the same time, as protests at Bow, King's Cross and Blackfriars show, there is still no political will to make streets safe for cyclists and pedestrians. The issues are well covered in some detail on the Cyclists in the City blog. The biggest barriers to cycling in London are safety fears, but TfL are doing too little to address the issue. How many more deaths will it take before someone wakes up to the idea that human lives are more important than squeezing as much traffic as possible through London's streets?

I got an email today from TfL telling me how I could stay safe on my bike. Some of the same points are reiterated in their most recent press release. I replied that TfL had to take seriously their responsibilities to make us safe - by lowering speed limits, providing separated cycle lanes, and by eliminating the clash between cycling space and car parking. It's not rocket science really.

Boris bikes will only ever really take over the streets of London when those same streets provide a calm and safe environment for people of all ages and abilities to cycle. I'd urge everyone who cares about cycling in London to let TfL know that.

UPDATE - the article about Crinan Street is here