Boris Bikes - Casual Use

cougie

I dont live or work in London but do visit for leisure a few times a year. I see the casual use of the bikes scheme isnt yet up and running. Anyone know if it will be for December ? Or is it worth me signing up online ?

Thanks.

team south east

I've seen alot of laggered (drunk) riders at night on them. Pretty dangerous if you ask me but hey who am I to tell people how they should live their life.

kurako

No idea when it'lll be hooked up. The pricing is structured so you pay an 'access fee' plus extra for the length of time you use it (although the first half hour is covered by the access fee). You can do daily access which charges £1 as and when you use the bikes. That's about as close to casual use as you'll need. You're unlikely to want to ride one of those beasts for more than 30 mins at a time in any case.

ooermissus

I think casual use is still expected to be launched in Dec.

As Kurako says, though, the membership deal is a good one - you're basically paying £3 (for the key) so you can just pick up a bike with no faffing around.

BTW, the scheme desperately needs casual users to be introduced, as current dominance by after-rail commuters is completely unsustainable and is causing massive problems.

hfidgen

TBH for the small registration fee I'd just sign up if you fancy using them. When the sun is shining they are much preferable to a cramped rush hour tube or smelly bus.

Big fan.

andrewc3142

I signed up and use them for travelling around central London to meetings, etc. Much more convenient than using my own bike (which I use to commute), no worries about it being stolen, flat pedals for work shoes, etc. The bikes themselves are fine for what they're meant to do.

Even for a casual user, probably better to sign up for membership - at £45 a year it doesn't take many visits to London to pay for itself given the cost of casual tube use. Not to mention the horribleness of actually using the underground.

Main problem is they don't seem to be as good as at the start of the scheme in shifting bikes around. Mid-morning, no bikes near the stations and nowhere to dock them in the City/West End seems to be more common recently.

ooermissus

andrewc3142 wrote:

Even for a casual user, probably better to sign up for membership - at £45 a year it doesn't take many visits to London to pay for itself given the cost of casual tube use.

Signing up doesn't mean you have to pay an annual fee - you can set it so it automatically charged you for a £1 for a day's use every time you put your key in and take out a bike.

So only go annual if you expect to use it 46 or more times in a year - otherwise go for daily.

cougie

Thanks chaps - I've gone for the £1 option.

Do I need to tick the autorenew box on my form ? It didnt seem to let me do this initially when i set it up but I think I can do it from my account options ?

ooermissus

Autorenew means that, every time you plug your key in, you will automatically be charged for another 24 hours use - so yes, you probably do want that option - makes using the system pretty seamless.

If you have a smartphone, I strongly recommend finding an app for iPhone or Android - the biggest challenge with the scheme at present is finding docking stations that are not empty when you need a bike, or full when you want to drop one off.

Other than that, it works excellently - especially for people doing lots of short hops around the city in a day.

hatbeard

I just tried to sign up for a key 'just in case' i ever want to use it and the ruddy buggers don't take maestro.

:roll:

cougie

Still havent seen my key yet....

But never mind cos I just did the credit card option at the weekend - must have hired 6 bikes or so over the 2 days - didnt go over 25 mins with any of them so it cost me a grand total of £2 for 2 days hire. Fantastic bikes - lots of fun and very practical to get round the city. I shall be back !

Danny1962

I did a casual hire last week for the first time… normally if I go into London it’s late afternoon and I can load my bike onto the train with me, but this time it was morning rush hour and bike on train wasn’t an option.

It works fine. No preplanning required, other than knowing where the best bays are for the locations you’re starting and finishing. Just pitch up at the terminal with your debit card, buy your access there (24 hours works for me, cos I only rarely go into town without a bike). Then whenever you want to hire during that period simply put your card into the terminal and ask it for a release code. Take the bike, ride it, return it within half an hour every time and all you’ll pay is £1 for the whole day.

It really is that simple.

They do seem to have got their act together regarding availability at mainline terminals. I got one from the rack near Kings Cross and the staff kept feeding it with bikes – there’s a depot really close by.

The bikes are sturdy things and not built for racing… but are utterly perfect for the job. I was impressed by the whole set up and I will definitely be doing it again. Also, me and Wifey are planning to do it for a fun outing one day.

suffolk rider

Unfortunately, it wasn't simple for me last month. Stupidly, I had left the keys to my bike at home so thought I would try a Boris bike to get to work. I tried 3 debit cards, but the machine wouldn't accept any of them. A week later I found they had still charged me £1: OK, not the end of the world, and I hope yuo don't have a problem like that!