Where next for the bikes?

An article which I did not read at the time discusses the reasons behind the uneven coverage of cycle hire docks in central London and its surrounds.

As docking stations are installed in the latest wave of expansion (partly paid for by the Councils, as the article notes) it is worth asking where future expansion should be planned.

The most obvious central London borough needing docks is Southwark. There are a handful in Bermondsey and Elephant, a couple on the northerly borders of Walworth (Wansey Street is currently closed after the Cuming Museum fire), and a few around Borough and London Bridge. In the current expansion, only three new docking stations will be built in Southwark, to serve the busy London Bridge area. As there is poor rail and tube provision, the best candidates for Boris bikes are probably Camberwell and Dulwich to the south and expanding east through Bermondsey into Rotherhithe and the Surrey Quays to the east. Peckham could also be included. These areas are not too hilly, and adjacent to the current central zone. In neighbouring Lambeth, bikes in Brixton and Loughborough Junction would complement this expansion, possibly as far as King's Hospital Campus on the southern slopes of Denmark Hill. It's not as far-fetched as it may sound, Southwark are already looking into it. However, with fears over funding (the bikes are not, it is often pointed out, self-funding as hoped) such an expansion might be wishful thinking.

If we refer to the Mayor's Vision for Cycling the plans for cycle hire are surprisingly unambitious. p26 mentions a superhub at an unspecified rail station, and expanded docking stations along cycle routes. What this document seems to hint at is that bikes need to be placed where they are going to be used. It is quite obvious that some of the docking stations currently installed, such as in the darkest corners of the Westfield shopping centre, or busy and inaccessible areas in the east of Tower Hamlets, are not the best use of money. A more intense presence of bikes in the central areas (close to stations, in the parks, and along superhighways and the future quietways) surely makes sense.

Another area mooted for expansion is the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Frankly, it was daft not to put in bikes there for the Olympics, as it made the expansion out into Tower Hamlets rather pointless. Future expansion into this area I think will depend on the success of the extended CS2 route, and an urgently needed upgrade of the existing section of CS2 so that Boris bikers can safely move between the Park and central London. Considering the limits on funding, perhaps other areas should have a higher priority.

On a recent trip to Paris I was impressed by the Velib scheme. It is large, covering the whole city, docks are easy to find, numerous and large. Simply counting bikes by eye, it is better used than our own facilities. To rival its success, we need more ambition for our Boris bikes, with a co-ordinated approach which puts bikes where they're needed, and can be used with safety.

Eastern Extension - not over yet

If you have been as excited as I by the new bikes in east London (and to a lesser extent towards Westfield in the west) it seems more is to come. I don't know for certain, but it may be a second wave of docks could go live soon, whether individually or as a block.

New docks I know of are:

Mudchute Station
Kingsway (Aldwych end, 32 docks)
Queen Street (an extension of the existing dock)
Limerston Street, Chelsea (18 docks)
Mile End Road

There is also the mystery of the Victoria and Albert Museum, where the groundwork was done for docks months ago, but nothing has ever appeared since. Might this dock finally be built?

The good weather certainly encourages cycling. I've got a ride on Isle of Dogs organised with friends for Monday, so I hope to report back from there.

UPDATE - I forgot of course College Green (properly known as Abingdon Street Gardens I think) with 21 new docking points.

UPDATE 2 - Bad news that Green Park dock, having been in service only about a month, has been taken out of use again temporarily. And can TfL please fix the dock at Strata, E&C??

Boris Bikes go east (and west) and more to come

Since my last post the new eastern zone has gone live, adding just over 100 docking stations to the total (548 stations are live tonight). Nine of these were in the west, and a handful of central docks went live, so that means that just under 90 docks are so far available in Tower Hamlets.

No big meltdown happened, partly because the new docks aren't getting much use yet. It'll be interesting to see what pattern of use develops, but if central London is a good model, bikes should move in and out of the Canary Wharf area according to the rush hours.

I also understand the saddles of the new bikes have been redesigned so you don't slide forward quite so much. I was on one today, it takes a bit of faith to believe it, but quite possibly. I won't be drawn on bells :)

Of course, the extension / intensification is not complete. The dock at Mudchute is yet to go live. A large dock west of Stepney Green on CS2 is complete but not live. The expansion of Queen Street is not complete. The long-awaited dock at Parliament (at the west edge of College Green) is under construction, and looks to have 20 docking points.

 If anyone was given a map of the docking points, it is unfortunately not to be trusted! A number of docks are wrongly sited (e.g. Cheapside), some which do exist are not shown (both stations on Bishop's Bridge Road), and some which do not exist are marked (anyone seen docks on Houndsditch or Holland Villas Road?). Nil points to TfL for this particular product, and I think it shows that, apart from internet-based resources, it's difficult to get accurate information about dock locations. Even the maps on the terminals are not always accurate.

Happy E-Day

Tonight their are 444 live docks. By tomorrow I hope there will be over 600. No more comment for now, but hope you enjoy tomorrow if you're cycling. I'll be out in the east.

E minus 7

Happy St David's Day, marking of course just one week to go until the eastern extension of cycle hire goes live. And not only east london will benefit, I've recently seen a new dock on Ladbroke Grove, and also on Bishop's Bridge Road in Bayswater.

Maybe it's the good weather, but I'm sure I'm seeing more Boris bikes on the streets these days. The opening of the extension could mark a real 'coming of age' of cycling in London, pushing it from a minority pleasure to the mainstream. LCC and others are organising the biggest bike ride ever seen in London on 28 April, another great day to celebrate and put pressure on politicians for safer roads better designed for cyclists.

A rather odd argument seems to have sprung in a few papers about the fact that councils are contributing to the funding of cycle hire. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think this is exactly what my council should be doing - investing in public transport infrastructure which is safe and sustainable. Tower Hamlets will be putting this to the test next week. Let's hope the sun is shining.

E-Day update

Yes, it's 8 March, according to TfL's press release, and reported by London 24 among others.

So a lot of work to get all those docks in within the next month! My guess is that, like the original scheme, not every dock will be in by 8 March and more will be constructed in the months to come. In the existing area, for example, intensification seems to be slow to get going.

So, look for me on 8 March cycling round the Isle of Dogs!

E-Day

We all know that the eastern extension is under construction. And we're wondering when it'll go live.

Talk on the Boris Bikes Forum is that the mayor's transport advisor Kulveer Ranger has tweeted that there will be an announcement tomorrow morning. Will it be 8 March as has been suggested? We'll know tomorrow I hope!

Boris bikes: Ken speaks

With the mayoral election only months away, Ken Livingstone has spoken out on cycling as part of an interview with the Guardian. On cycling in London, he proposes bringing in the Green Party's Jenny Jones as a special advisor. This is good news - Jenny is someone who clearly 'gets' cycling in a way Boris never will. Ken also suggests Labour AM Val Shawcross will chair TfL, again great news as Val has a proven record on speaking in favour of safety for cyclists, and has also supporetd the Bikes2Brixton campaign.

Ken's comments on Boris bikes are interesting and could do with some clarification. His preferred scheme would have been to bring Paris's Velib scheme to London, and thinks the alternative operator Boris has worked with doesn't give value for money. Basically he wants Boris bikes, but cheaper ones, and possibly thinks the operator might bring the price down if threatened with losing the contract. Ken doesn't comment on Barclays sponsorship.

For me this raises two questions. If Ken becomes mayor, over 600 docking stations and 7000 bikes will already be on the streets: starting again won't really be an option, so how will he renegotiate a better value deal while maintaining the current system? Secondly, I personally think you get what you pay for, and the bikes and docks are quality products. And cost of course is relative, Boris bikes are a bargain compared to, say, Crossrail or the Thameslink upgrade. I'd personally like to challenge Ken to commit to keeping and expanding a high-quality scheme, even if he does renegotiate the price.

Possibly deserving its own thread, but I'll put it here for now, is the new 'Cities fit for cycling' campaign launched by the Times. This is a real landmark campaign - a major newspaper running a high profile campaign to get a better deal on the roads for cyclists. I suggest you sign up today, and write to your MP as the paper suggests - there's plenty more information on the Times website.

As E-day approaches (when the eastern extension will go live) there's more evidence of intensification in the central area. A new dock is under construction on King Edward Street in the City, close to the junction with Angel Street. At Holborn Circus a dock is going in at the top of Fetter Lane, close to the Sainsbury building. And as part of the Westfield extension, a dock is being built at the north end of Holland Road, west side. No news yet when E-day will be ...

Bikes to Wandsworth

Plans are advancing for 80 new docking stations in Wandsworth borough, it is reported.

Meanwhile docks are springing up all over the place in Tower Hamlets ahead of a switch on of the eastern extension probably in March. Docking stations are also under construction westwards through Holland Park towards Westfield, and north into Camden Town. 'Intensification' of the central zone is also promised, but only a modest number of new docks have appeared so far: Oval, Crinan Street and Killick Street are already active, Red Lion Street, Kennington Station and Grays Inn Road are installed but not yet operational - I'd be interested to hear if any others are under construction.

2012 - a new year of Boris biking

Boris biking is not sadly an Olympic sport. Nor indeed will Boris bikes be seen inside the Olympic park, of which Barclays is not a sponsor. But 2012 will be an exciting year for Boris bikers nonetheless.

I haven't updated the blog for a while, though it's been a time of consolidation rather than expansion for the scheme. A few docks (like Leman Street) have got bigger, the Exhibition Road docks are now active, and two new ones have sprung up on Red Lion Street and Grays Inn Road. Contributors to the Boris bikes forum have reported the foundations of docking stations as part of the phase 2 eastern extension being laid, and TfL's most recent press release celebrates the boost for Boris bikes with increased useage on Christmas Day, and the forthcoming extensions, not only to east London but also towards the Westfield shopping centre in Shepherds Bush. 2011's main achievement has to be the improved reliability of the technology, which may still not be 100 percent but is greatly improved over what it was at the turn of 2010/11.

There's no doubt that the big expansion in the spring, together with the return of longer days and warmer weather, will give the scheme a big boost. For me a big question is whether the docks are being placed in the best locations - there are still a lot of central London landmarks and transport interchanges without them (St James's Park and St Pancras Station to mention just two). 2012 will also be the year of the London mayoral election. There are huge questions hanging over Boris Johnson's handling of cycle safety and his seeming preference for traffic flow rather than making space for cycles and pedestrians. But does Ken (as probably the only other possible winner of the election) have the vision to do better?

I'm sad that the Queen has chosen to celebrate her Jubilee with a river procession rather than a Boris bike ride down the Mall, but that aside 2012 is an opportunity to show off London as a cycling city to the world. Let's try to grasp that opportunity.