Electric-powered bikes are to be added to the fleet of “Boris bikes” from next month in a bid to encourage more Londoners to cycle.

A total of 500 e-Boris bikes will be introduced from September 12, alongside another expansion of the hire scheme – and the first increase in charges in almost a decade.

From next month, it will cost £1.65 to hire one of the 14,000 conventional bikes for 30 minutes under a new “pay per ride” system – mirroring the cost of a bus fare – or £3.30 for an e-bike.

The “power assist” motor on the battery-powered bikes will cut out at 15.5mph – the standard UK limit for e-bikes – but higher speeds will be possible when riding downhill.

The e-bikes can be docked at any of the 800 docking stations across central London. When the battery charge falls to 20 per cent, maintenance staff receive an alert and the e-bikes cannot be released from their docking station until a fully-charged replacement battery is installed.
The introduction of e-bikes is part of a three-year, £18.75m extension of Santander’s sponsorship that was announced last year.

City Hall said e-bikes would make cycling easier for people who struggle with their fitness, age or the length of their journey.

Mayor Sadiq Khan, who tested one of the e-bikes last year, said: “I’m determined to continue building a cleaner, greener London for everyone and this includes making cycling as accessible as possible.

“The new Santander Cycles e-bikes will play an important role in helping to break down some of the barriers that stop people from getting on a bike, including fitness, age and length of journey.”

The cost of annual membership of the scheme will increase by a third, from £90 to £120. A new £20 monthly pass is being introduced.

Monthly or annual members will not pay for rides up to 60 minutes – double the current 30-minute limit - but will be charged a £1 “top-up” for each e-bike trip.

Use of the e-bikes will initially be restricted to people who have registered with the scheme, which costs £3.

The current £2 daily “access charge” for non-members – with additional charges levied on journeys that exceed 30 minutes - will be scrapped.

The increase in charges – the first since 2013 - highlights Transport for London’s need to reduce the cost of the scheme to ease its financial crisis.

The scheme, which was launched by then mayor Boris Johnson in 2010, has seen record usage, with more than 1.3m hires last month. More than a million different people used the bikes last year.

TfL said that new docking stations, funded by Southwark council, would open in Southwark later this year. These will be in Burgess Park Albany Road, South Bermondsey station, Clements Road, Harris Academy, Brandon Street, Crimscott Street and The Blue.

The scheme will be temporarily closed between 10pm on Friday September 9 and 6am on Monday September 12 to allow systems to be upgraded in preparation for the changes.

David Eddington, TfL’s head of cycle hire, said: “Santander Cycles is a vital part of London’s transport system and is more popular than ever, with the scheme seeing 11 record breaking months in a row.”

Cllr Catherine Rose, a Southwark cabinet member, said: “The more people who switch from their cars to a bike, especially for short local trips, the better our air quality will be.”

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/boris-bikes-ebike-electric-santander-cycle-september-hire-charge-increase-b1018207.html

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

> Electric-powered bikes are to be added to the fleet of “Boris bikes” from
> next month in a bid to encourage more Londoners to cycle.

> A total of 500 e-Boris bikes will be introduced from September 12,
> alongside another expansion of the hire scheme – and the first increase
> in charges in almost a decade.

> https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/boris-bikes-ebike-electric-santander-cycle-september-hire-charge-increase-b1018207.html

No mention of the cost of funding this exercise in virtue-signalling.

The Manchester bike scheme cost £436 per journey travelled, at the
100,000km mark. It would have been cheaper to hire a fleet of stretch
limousines.

--
Spike

QUOTE: Cllr Catherine Rose, a Southwark cabinet member, said: “The more people who switch from their cars to a bike, especially for short local trips, the better our air quality will be.” ENDS

By Jove - somebody's got it!

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

> QUOTE: Cllr Catherine Rose, a Southwark cabinet member, said: “The more
> people who switch from their cars to a bike, especially for short local
> trips, the better our air quality will be.” ENDS

> By Jove - somebody's got it!

Only partially, as it means poorer air quality for others, of course.

--
Spike

QUOTE: David Eddington, TfL’s head of cycle hire, said: “Santander Cycles is a vital part of London’s transport system and is more popular than ever, with the scheme seeing 11 record breaking months in a row.” ENDS

No doubt due to the "record breaking" cost of fossil fuel over the same period.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

> QUOTE: David Eddington, TfL’s head of cycle hire, said: “Santander Cycles
> is a vital part of London’s transport system and is more popular than
> ever, with the scheme seeing 11 record breaking months in a row.” ENDS

> No doubt due to the "record breaking" cost of fossil fuel over the same period.
Driving to London again any time soon?

--
Spike

QUOTE: A total of 500 e-Boris bikes will be introduced from September 12, alongside another expansion of the hire scheme – and the first increase in charges in almost a decade. ENDS

If only hire cars could boast the same - their prices are through the roof!

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

> QUOTE: A total of 500 e-Boris bikes will be introduced from September 12,
> alongside another expansion of the hire scheme – and the first increase
> in charges in almost a decade. ENDS

> If only hire cars could boast the same - their prices are through the roof!

Hire cars aren’t subsidised by the taxpayer, unlike these bicycles.

--
Spike

QUOTE: From next month, it will cost £1.65 to hire one of the 14,000 conventional bikes for 30 minutes under a new “pay per ride” system – mirroring the cost of a bus fare – or £3.30 for an e-bike. ENDS

Might try one when we go on the rejoin march on 10SEP22.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

> QUOTE: From next month, it will cost £1.65 to hire one of the 14,000
> conventional bikes for 30 minutes under a new “pay per ride” system –
> mirroring the cost of a bus fare – or £3.30 for an e-bike. ENDS

> Might try one when we go on the rejoin march on 10SEP22.

Busses are heavily subsidised by the taxpayer as well as the bicycles on
this scheme.

--
Spike

QUOTE: The “power assist” motor on the battery-powered bikes will cut out at 15.5mph – the standard UK limit for e-bikes – but higher speeds will be possible when riding downhill. ENDS

Not to worry - speed limits do not apply to cyclists. :-)

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

> QUOTE: The “power assist” motor on the battery-powered bikes will cut out
> at 15.5mph – the standard UK limit for e-bikes – but higher speeds will
> be possible when riding downhill. ENDS

> Not to worry - speed limits do not apply to cyclists. :-)

Enjoy this time while you can. Soon cyclists will be caught on speed
cameras, vigilante cameras, dash cams, and it will be….

GAME OVER

SUCK IT UP

--
Spike

QUOTE: The e-bikes can be docked at any of the 800 docking stations across central London. When the battery charge falls to 20 per cent, maintenance staff receive an alert and the e-bikes cannot be released from their docking station until a fully-charged replacement battery is installed.
The introduction of e-bikes is part of a three-year, £18.75m extension of Santander’s sponsorship that was announced last year. ENDS

What an incredibly sensible system - more please.

swldx...@gmail.com <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

> QUOTE: The e-bikes can be docked at any of the 800 docking stations
> across central London. When the battery charge falls to 20 per cent,
> maintenance staff receive an alert and the e-bikes cannot be released
> from their docking station until a fully-charged replacement battery is installed.
> The introduction of e-bikes is part of a three-year, £18.75m extension of
> Santander’s sponsorship that was announced last year. ENDS

> What an incredibly sensible system - more please.

Our local council, in order to ‘save the environment, planet, humankind and
the rest’ abandoned their two-stroke strimmers and went over to battery
ones, issuing four batteries per strimmer. In use they lasted less than a
total of two hours, so they then had to be lorried back to the depot to be
recharged. There were four rechargers for 80 batteries…..there was a bit of
a queue. The strimmer gangs were being lorried back and forth on their
diesel trucks to their sites, far more often than if they had retained the
original strimmers. The environment was *worse* for the ‘save the planet’
initiative…

Can anyone see any parallels with the bicycle battery system??

--
Spike

QUOTE: City Hall said e-bikes would make cycling easier for people who struggle with their fitness. ENDS

In other words, your average lardy arsed driver. :-)