The London Cycle Hire program, like most wonderful things in England, is made possible by the fine folks at Barclays bank. God bless ’em.
But just because you have £25 million doesn’t mean that you’re also creative. And so the city’s bike share program was simply named, Barclays Cycle Hire.
Simple. To the point. No questions asked.
The bicycles, as the name suggests, are in fact meant to be hired. But all witty joking aside (it’s late Sunday night), this is actually a really amazing thing that the city of London with the help of Barclays has set up.
I’ll be brief but basically it works like this. With the Olympics right around the corner, the city set up hundreds of stations where the cute blue and gray bikes can be rented out. And what a great idea because seeing a city by bicycle is, and forever will be, the superior way to see a city. Much nicer than being stuck in the tube with all the smellies.
You are first required to pay an “access fee”, which is sort of like signing up to use the program. Options for access fees are as follows:
24 hours – £1
7 days – £5
Annual – £45
Then, based on how long you use the bike an additional fee may apply. Options for the “usage charge” are as follows:
Up to 30 minutes – FREE
Up to 1 hour – £1
Up to 1.5 hours – £4
Up to 2 hours – £6
Up to 2.5 hours – £10
Up to 3 hours – £15
Up to 6 hours – £35
Up to 24 hours – £50
If you use the bike for more than 24 hours, there is a £150 fee. Steep.
If you damage the bike, there is a fee of up to £300. Very steep.
If you lose the bike, there is a flat £300 fee. These bikes cannot be worth £300. Crazy.
So be careful!
But here is the good thing – there is basically nowhere in central London that you cannot reach within 30 minutes on a bike. In fact, the average journey time, weekday or weekend, is under 30 minutes.
So, it is very possible to spend just the £1 on the access fee and mosey around the city all day paying no additional charge (providing you keep using the bikes for less than 30 minutes). Not too shabby, London – good on ya’!
Keep in mind that the cycle hire machines only accept credit/debit cards. No cash. No oyster cards.
And that, my wonderful Master of London readers, is just about everything you need to know about the Barclays Cycle Hire program. But just in case, I have attached the much more informative link to the official web page here, which includes lots of maps and other fun things – http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/14808.aspx
Happy cycling!
MasterofLondon 