Michel_Paris

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/14808.aspx

PatrickLondon

Early days - initially they're only available to people who take out the subscription with a special membership key. Casual day users will have to wait for a while. And why they're using the membership key rather than the Oystercard, the way Vélib can link to the Navigo, I simply don't understand.

Michel_Paris

Ah! Heard Boris on the radio and he sounded so excited.

hetismij

Boris always sounds excited

flanneruk

"why they're using the membership key rather than the Oystercard"

Same reason there are no locks (so you've got to return the bike to a dock). Velib's plagued by theft and Boris, not being French, is opposed to letting ratepayers' money get nicked. The membership key forces ID verification, whereas Oyster doesn't.

Yet another example of late mover advantage. Like the French with trains.

PatrickLondon

>>The membership key forces ID verification, whereas Oyster doesn't.<<

On its own Oyster doesn't: but, by definition, it's a two-stage scheme (a) registration with a credit card, whether for the membership key option or (soon) for the one-day option and (b) payment for the actual hires. So (b) has to be associated to the ID verification required for (a); the question is how it's done, and why it's necessary for a new mechanism (which is no more or less secure than Oyster) to be added.

It's precisely the fact that there's an association to a credit card that makes it hard to understand how there can be such high levels of loss in Paris. The only possible explanations are (a) credit card fraud, (b) too many people not locking their bike in properly on return, (c) not a high enough deposit charge.

emily71

It must have been a slow newsday when the Guardian dedicated a liveblog to the rollout. Though it was interesting to read helmet/no helmet fights and advertising rants about the blue color and Barcley on the bike.

It seems quite a few gaffes(not enough gates and stations at the end of a journey) but most everyone who rode enjoyed it. Perhaps not for commuting, but a nice ride around the parks, etc.

Can't wait to try them when I go back. The tourists that rode them in Paris seemed to enjoy them.

PalenQ

CBC Canada just reported on this - seems it is a copy of a Montreal scheme - CBC claimes and that all the bikes - which Boris Johnson chimed were 'Rolls Royces of bicycles' were made in Canada.

And after a test ride the CBC correspondent said how dangerous it all seemed -dodging both behemoth red doubledeckers and black cabs (which one London bike messenger said were really'deadly' - hardly what a tourist pondering this romantic sounding but in practice potentially hair-raising thing wants to hear- yeh experienced London bikers like gadfy Boris Johnson are hyping the scheme and are used to it, knowing the ropes but caution should be the rule for the average American tourist as this may sound more romantic than what may materialize.

PatrickLondon

Quite. Like Vélib in Paris, it's really a self-powered taxi for short runs, for people who know roughly where they're going and what they're doing, in narrow streets and complex one-way systems. If you're used to broad avenues and clearly demarcated cycle lanes, it'll take some adjustment.