I’ve been a huge fan of the ‘Boris Bikes’ cycle hire scheme in London, but am disheartened to see the huge increase in fees coming next year.
[Barclays Bike on 2011 Naked Bike Ride]
Fees doubled
From Wednesday 2 January 2013, access fees for the Barclays Cycle Hire are doubling across the board – something that will no doubt deter some casual cyclists from renewing their membership.
Here’s how the new charges will look. If you’ve got auto‑renew set up on your account, the new fees will automatically kick in from 1 January 2013.
24 hour access will increase from £1 to £2
Weekly access will increase from £5 to £10
Annual membership will increase from £45 to £90After hiring a bike, the first thirty minutes of use will still be free. All other usage charges and additional charges including late return, non return and bicycle damage will not change.
Here’s the full hire charges from their site:
| Up to 30 minutes | FREE |
| Up to 60 minutes | £1 |
| Up to 90 minutes | £4 |
| Up to 120 minutes | £6 |
| Up to 150 minutes | £1 |
| Up to 180 minutes | £15 |
| Up to 6 hours | £35 |
| Up to 24 hours | £50 |
Other charges
| Late return charge | £150 |
| Non-return charge | £300 |
| Damage charge up to | £300 |
I’ve paid the annual membership for the past two years, but at £90, it’s suddenly not looking so attractive. Surely the whole point of this scheme was to encourage more people to take up cycling, not price them out.
Find out more about the changes here: tfl.gov.uk/cyclehire
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