How the two wheels of a Boris bike make commuting better

12 April 2012
As Tube strikes force commuters to rethink their journeys, the newly launched Boris Bikes are coming into their own. Jasmine Gardner asked Londoners how the scheme is working for them

The look of London at rush hour has changed. Yes, the Tube is still a squash and the traffic is still a jam but it's just more than a month since the Boris Bikes (aka Barclays Cycle Hire) scheme launched at the end of July and the streets of the city are decidedly more Barclays-brand-blue than ever before.

Everywhere you look, a Boris Bike is trundling past — and it's not just commuters who are adopting the idea.

Even in east London at weekends, where the uniform cycle — a fixed-gear bike with a brightly coloured spray job and white wheels — makes the Boris Bike look prehistoric, you will find the blue and grey clunkers wheeling down Columbia Road, flowerpots strapped onto the cumbersome front rack.

The scheme currently allows registered users to pick up, ride and drop back a bicycle from any of the 335 docking stations around the capital for as little as £1 a day or for a £40 yearly access fee.

It hasn't been without its problems. Members have been overcharged for hours of phantom cycling when bikes failed to re-dock properly or as a result of software glitches, money which has had to be refunded. Docking stations have at times failed completely and now delays will mean that casual use — picking up a bike just with a credit card and without registering online — won't be possible until the end of the year.

Nevertheless, the scheme has proved undeniably popular. At the last count, 60,000 people had signed up as members and 15,000 Boris Bike journeys are being made each day.

When we took to the streets this week, the City was filled with commuters clunking in and out of docking points in the morning. The Soho Square docking point is getting so much bike traffic that wardens have had to be employed to register bikes back in and then take them out to make room for more — with 50 or so bikes stacked against the railings when we arrived, waiting to be redistributed around the capital.

So who are the Boris Bikers? Here we meet 11 of them ...

Esther Leslie, 46, lecturer
Docking point: Taviton Street, Bloomsbury.
Cycle path: Daily 10-minute commute between Birkbeck College and King's Cross.
Wheel love? "I've found it really frustrating. Because I go to work after the rush hour the nearest bays to me are generally empty and I end up walking halfway. There's a real problem of bikes just rolling into the centre and not coming out. I won't give up though."

Charles Wild, 31, marketing
Docking point: Sun Street, Liverpool Street.
Cycle path: Short journeys around central London and between Liverpool Street and London Bridge, to which he commutes from Herne Hill.
Wheel love? "I love the fact that you can just get on and get off when you want. I now always carry a helmet around with me — and a bungee rope to secure things better. In Paris you get a proper basket, but the thing we have is not convenient for anything but a bag."

Steffen Schuvnecker, 31
Docking point: Sun Street, Liverpool Street.
Cycle path: Five-minute trips
between Liverpool Street, to which
he commutes from Chingford, and his Smithfield office.
Wheel love? "I try to use them daily but there's a problem in the evening because if you don't finish at 5.30pm the bikes are gone. Last time I checked three stations and there were no bikes. You can't make yourself dependent on it."

Andrea Carotti, 35, Phd student
Docking point: Gloucester Road (Central), South Kensington.
Cycle path: All journeys including to/from Imperial College and yoga classes.
Wheel love? "I use it to go everywhere. My husband and I have used them together at the weekend. I think I was one of the first to register on the website. My longest journey was to St Paul's Cathedral, which was very long and tiring. The bike is a bit slow, but the scheme is very good."

Maria Papadopoulou, 25, Phd Student
Docking point: Palace Gate, Kensington Gardens.
Cycle path: Between her Bayswater home and Imperial College.
Wheel love? "I've been in London for about a year and buying a new bike is too expensive. This is a good, cheap solution. I like it very much. Unfortunately, when I get home after 8pm most of the docking points are full because everyone is back from work."

Saujanya Patel, 31, web developer
Docking point: Bayley Street, Bloomsbury.
Cycle path: Short journeys around the city during lunch break and between the Tube and his Russell Square office.
Wheel love? "Oxford Street has a whole lot of roadworks so you can go quite fast when everything else is quite slow. It saves a little bit of time and it's quite fun. But you can spend a lot of time circling around trying to find a slot to return your bike."

Cameron Gray, 31, portfolio manager
Docking point: Sun Street, Liverpool Street.
Cycle path: Daily commute between Islington and Liverpool Street.
Wheel love? "I've shaved off about 10 minutes from my journey — and it's cheaper. The bikes are good and it's quite easy. I even used one to go on the Mayor of London's Sky Ride on the weekend before last."

Jessica Goble, 23, MA student
Docking point: Taviton Street, Bloomsbury.
Cycle path: Between Marylebone train station, to which she comes from Oxford, and UCL.
Wheel love? "This morning the seat on the bike I had was broken so I was cycling with my knees up around my ears. When you dock the broken bike and press the red button [to notify TfL] your card isn't re-activated for about five minutes, so you have to walk and find another docking station, which is quite annoying."

Soon Han, 46
Docking point: Gloucester Road (Central).
Cycle path: Commuting between Lexham Gardens and Marble Arch, plus when visiting friends on his days off.
Wheel love? "It's an excellent scheme and I'd really encourage other people to join. The actual bike is a bit heavy and a bit slow for me but it doesn't really matter. It will take just 25 minutes for me to visit a friend today."

Martina Celuzza, 21, student
Docking point: Palace Gate, Kensington Gardens.
Cycle path: First-time user, cycled around Hyde Park.
Wheel love? "I think the scheme is a really good idea and it's great that there are so many spots around London to pick up a bike. They're quite heavy but I like that as it makes them easy to control. If I was running late for something it would be great to just pick one up and be able to get there faster."

Luke Cadman, 24, market researcher
Docking point: Finsbury Square, Moorgate.
Cycle path: 15 minutes between his work at Angel and Liverpool Street, to which he commutes from near Stansted.
Wheel love? "Some people complain because they've only got three gears but I think they're fine for London. There are no massive hills on my journey. It's a lot nicer to be able to use a bike rather than being down in the Tube or waiting for a bus."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in