London’s ‘Velib’ to cost quid a day to undock

Transport for London (TfL) has announced that London’s Cycle Hire scheme will be free for the first half an hour of use – after a £1 undocking charge. The pricing structure for the Capital’s latest system of public transport was agreed at a TfL Board meeting on 10th December.
People wanting to use one of the 6,000 new hire cycles will pay a £1 daily or £5 weekly access fee or take out a £45 annual membership to be able to use the scheme. There will be no additional charge provided the bicycle is returned with 30 minutes.
The charging structure means that:

A daily user could use a hire bicycle for multiple trips of under 30 minutes in one day for £1.

After the first free half hour of rental, the London Cycle Hire scheme will cost £1 for a hire period of between 30 minutes and one hour, £4 for up to 90 minutes, and £6 for up to two hours. The hire charges then increase incrementally up to a maximum hire period of 24 hours.

Examples of journeys that can be carried out within thirty minutes, taken from TfL’s cycling Journey Planner, include:

The Regent’s Park to Notting Hill Gate, 25 minutes
London Bridge to Hyde Park, 27 minutes
Tower Hill to Bond Street, 23 minutes

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “It is amazing how far your bike can take you in 30 minutes if you put in a bit of pedal power; and to be able to do so free of charge on one of our fantastic new bikes is simply sensational value for money.”

Members of the scheme, who will pre-register to use the scheme, will get a chip enabled ‘key’, which will allow them to save time by being able to remove a bicycle from any docking point without having to use the terminal.

People who are not members will be able to hire a London Cycle Hire bicycle by turning up at a docking station and using the payment terminal to hire a cycle. Payment for hiring a bicycle will be made by credit card or debit card. Members of the scheme, who will pay the annual user charge, will also have the option of paying by direct debit.

David Brown, Director of Surface Transport at TfL, said: “The Cycle Hire scheme is going to open up cycling to thousands of people who don’t currently have the opportunity to cycle in London. This brand new public transport system for central London will be a low cost and affordable way to explore the Capital, whether for work or leisure, and we’re confident that it will be hugely popular.
“The Mayor and TfL are working to make travelling by bike a safer, more attractive and more accessible option for anyone who works, lives or visits London.”
From summer 2010, people will be able to pick up and drop off hire cycles at around 400 locations across the nine London boroughs and several Royal Parks that make up London’s zone one travel area. An initial 6,000 hire cycles are expected to generate up to 40,000 extra cycle journeys a day in central London.