Londoners 'afraid' to use Barclays hire bikes

8 comments
By Richard Tyler, in London, England | Thursday, Jan 13, 2011 8.00am

A leading transport economist has suggested that slower-than-expected growth of the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme is due to riders' fear of sharing London's streets with motor traffic rather than flaws in the project's infrastructure.

“There's never been a shortage of bikes in London,” Professor Stephen Glaister of Imperial College, London told The Economist. “It’s just that people are afraid to use them.”

The city's bike hire scheme was launched in July, with the goal of 50,000 journeys per day. Surveys carried out during the first six months of the scheme have indicated peak usage climbing to around 26,000 trips.

The significant level of surplus capacity available within the system appears to back up Professor Glaister's suggestion, with The Economist proposing that bike paths like those found in countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands, which separate cyclists from other traffic, may be needed before the majority of Londoners will be convinced to use the bikes.   

The success of the two pilot Cycle Superhighways suggests that many residents are prepared to consider cycling to work or for leisure, as long as it's made safe and easy for them.

With London's hire scheme still in its relative infancy, Transport for London (TfL) told BikeRadar that they expect usage figures to increase during the programme's first full summer of operation this year. "Numbers are naturally higher during summer. The colder, darker months are always going to reduce the volume of users," said TfL senior press officer Jenna Oxley. Figures are also likely to be boosted by the introduction of a casual user system last month.

Take-up of the Barclays hire bikes hasn't been helped by continuing teething problems. In particular, concerns have been raised over the distribution of bikes across the network of 315 docking stations. The Economist pointed out that "after-rail" users – those using bikes to travel from train stations to their final destination – were creating a dearth of bikes at certain docking stations; an issue which had been acknowledged in a 2008 feasibility study.

The stress placed on the system around major stations such as Waterloo, Euston and Kings Cross at peak times is visible in a unique live mapping system operated by the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) at University College, London. Visitors to their website can see which stations are most popular and how many bikes are still available. Click on the image below to visit the site.

The stress placed on the barclays cycle hire system around major stations such as waterloo, euston and kings cross at peak times is visible in unique live maps from the centre for advanced spatial analysis (casa) at university college, london:

However, TfL are confident that the issues within the system will be smoothed out as time goes on. The surfeit of data related to the scheme, such as that provided by CASA, is helping to inform their management of it. "Bikes are redistributed to the busiest docking stations throughout the day," said Oxley. "Obviously the area around train stations creates high demand, so we have teams working hard to distribute bikes for the peak times."

You can follow BikeRadar on Twitter at twitter.com/bikeradar and on Facebook at facebook.com/BikeRadar.

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User Comments

There are 8 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 8 of 8 comments

  • Slow uptake? this has been the most succesful launch of a cycle hire scheme in the world

  • As long as drivers in London are as obnoxious as they are currently, it will be hard to promote cycling. A proper cycle safety education should be made a statuary part of the driving theory test so drivers don't see cyclists as slow moving obstructions but legitimate road users.

  • London London London, give us a break from the London centric stuff !!!!

  • london???? try cycling in roma!!! mental

  • I would say that the snow and winter is a big factor here. If I was a novice or causal bike rider I wouldn't like to ride in the dark and cold on a bike with average lights and without the good clothing on. But in saying that I'm impressed to those who have kept on riding through the winter and bought cycling specific equipment like: helmets, high viz clothing and additional lights. This stuff can be expensive so it will take a while till more people are equipped so the can ride more safely.

    I think TFL should provide Helmet vending machine like the Brisbane cycling scheme does or did (don't know if it is working at the moment with the floods) this would give the user a little added safety and confidence.

  • surely as well people who commit to ride on a regular basis would have their own bikes rather than pay to hire a heavy and uncomfortable bike?

  • The new 124 space hire station at waterloo is empty by about 08:00 with people queing to get bikes soon as the Serco contractors trundle up in their postman pat style truck to replace them. With recent fare rises on tube / bus and bike hire £1.00 a day for access, (provided hire period is less than 30 mins each time). Scheme will go bananas once weather improves

  • Fear of traffic isn't confined to London, but the Mayor's remit obviously is. That's why it's easier to blow £100m on infrastructure than to tackle driver behaviour.

    Until we make cycling part of the driving test, and thus create a generation of bike aware drivers who know what it feels like to ride in traffic and act accordingly, cycling levels will never reach continental levels, regardless of whether the bikes are owned or rented and whether the streets are painted blue.

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