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The Mayor’s Barclays Cycle Hire bikes have been ridden the equivalent of cycling to the moon and back 13 times in the first half year of operation.
The 10,000,000km distance has been cycled over 2.5 million journeys. At a conference on urban cycling today (Tuesday February 1st) the Mayor’s transport advisor Kulveer Ranger will confirm the expansion of the hire scheme over a large area of East London will be complete by spring 2012.
By spring of the year of London 2012 Olympics, the hire area will include all of the Borough of Tower Hamlets and North Shoreditch in the Borough of Hackney. Bethnal Green, Canary Wharf, Mile End and Poplar will also see docking stations built in the areas.
Ranger said: “One of the best things about Barclays Cycle Hire has been the number of cyclists who have told me how the bikes have made a positive change to their life, as well as their commute. Users say they feel healthier, fitter and invigorated when they reach their destination. That is all part of the joy of taking to two wheels and one of the reasons why in just six months our blue bikes have made a huge contribution to the cycle revolution the Mayor wants to bring to London."
TfL’s MD of Surface Transport David Brown added: “Barclays Cycle Hire customers are really embracing the scheme. The bikes are now a popular sight across central London, transforming the way people make short trips around the Capital. Thousands of Londoners and visitors are taking full advantage of the scheme each day. 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 access period.”
2,000 more cycles and 4,200 extra docking points will be installed when the expansion is complete, at which stage the scheme will cover 65km square fo the Capital. Around 8,000 hire bikes will be available from 14,400 docking points at hundreds of locations in central and East London.
