BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
London-set Barclays Cycle Hire is facing an uphill struggle to acheive its cash targets, according to findings reported in The Daily Telegraph.
In the first three months of the scheme, 95 per cent of journeys took place in under one hour – meaning Transport for London received little revenue for the journeys aside from access fees. The first half hour is free under the hire scheme, with rides up to an hour costing £1 plus the access fee.
Barclays Cycle Hire generated around £323,545 in just under 100 days. The scheme will cost TfL £140 million over six years and predicted the hire initiative would ‘break even’ in three years.
Barclays’ funding for London’s Cycle Hire scheme amounts to £25 million over five years.
The Telegraph report speculates that the long delay to the ‘casual rollout’ – where everyday users would have access to the scheme – affected the figures significantly.
The longest journey on the bikes so far lasted 810 hours – over 33 days long.
