BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Transport for London has issued a statement in which it says it believes near one in five cycle hire users have gone on to buy cycling equipment.
TfL says that 18 per cent of its users have spent money on cycling equipment, with a further four per cent having gone all the way to buy their own bikes. 947 cycle hire users were interviewed in the survey.
TfL’s statement reflects BikeBiz’s own findings (made in 2010) where London retailers gave the scheme the thumbs up.
Customer research rates the scheme highly, with around 80 per cent thinking that the hire scheme has a positive impact on London, while over three quarters would recommend the ‘boris bikes’ to other Londoners. Asked why they rate the hire scheme, most stated that the speed of cycling accross the City was unmatched, while 15 per cent said they used the bikes simply for the enjoyment of cycling.
By the Spring the second phase of the development will be underway, with the hire bikes’ territory expanding to cover the Borough of Tower Hamlets, as well as North Shoreditch in the Borough of Hackney, Camden Town and Westfield White City.
The research also pointed to weaknesses in bike redistribution and improvements to be made at the contact centre, something which TfL will now says it will look to improve.
Around 95 per cent of all journeys made by Barclays Cycle Hire members have been under 30 minutes, which means that the vast majority of people using the scheme aren’t paying any more than their 24-hour £1, seven-day £5 or annual £45 access fees.
Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said: ‘More than nine million journeys have now been made using my flagship Barclays Cycle Hire scheme and I am very pleased that 80 per cent of users say they think it makes a positive contribution to the Capital.
TfL has now produced a ‘Barclays Cycle Hire safety film’ found at: www.youtube.com/user/BarclaysCycle
