Richmond park given a rebuke on parties

The park is a very special place indeed, but it seems not everyone is in agreement on what that means.

The Friends of Richmond Park like it quiet. Very quiet. This time, they were not ranting about cyclists but had a gripe about a party held by Range Rover at the Royal Lower Ballet school. I actually quite agree this was way over the top we should leave deers and runners alone in the dark...  Good that they got their way. Mind you, they hold late night weddings at Pembroke Lodge -the extension disfigured it it to increase the capacity, not something the Friends care about apparently?

Royal Ballet School Range Rover Launch - YouTube

On the LBRUT's catholic obsession

There's been much coverage about the London Borough of Richmond plan to open a catholic secondary school.  It would be all well IF there was not a shortage of secondary school places in the borough, IF the council was not spending £8m to buy the site and hand it free to the diocese and IF catholics did not make just 10% of the borough's population.

Why this plan then? See my comment on Twickerati: Lord disappointed by acolyte

The council spending £8m to create a faith-school that will provide endoctrinationquality education for catholic pupils, 70% coming OUT of the borough.

Where's the democracy in there?

By the way, why did Lord True not disclose his interests (see above, his wife is catholic and heads up the SIR HAROLD HOOD'S CHARITABLE TRUST, whose aim is quite vaguely "To benefit such Roman Catholic Charitable purposes as the Trustees shall in their absolute discretion from time to time think fit".
This trust has £30m in the bank...

See also:

• RISC web site
• RISC facebook group
  
• RTT: Catholic school debate will go to the High Court
• RTT: Clifden Road site cost Richmond Council £8.45m
• RTT:Campaigners push ahead with Catholic school challenge
• RTT:Catholic school consultation starts tomorrow
• RTT:Catholic school and sixth form plans get Richmond Council approval
• RTT:Peppercorn rate proposal for Catholic school

How often do plane stowaways fall from the sky?

The Beeb wakes up after under-reporting past cases with this article: BBC News - How often do plane stowaways fall from the sky? Interestingly enough, they don't answer the question.  I've done the maths though: it's one every four years. Just on Richmond borough.

List of reported stowaways reported on Heathrow-bound planes
Year	Provenance	Airline	Number	Condition	Impact/Retrival	Source
2010	Austria	Dubai royal family private jet	1	Alive	LHR	link
1996	India		2	Dead	Sainsbury's building site?	link
2012	South Africa	BA	1	Dead	LHR	link
2001	Bahrein	BA	1	Dead	Homebase car park, Richmond	link
2012			1	Dead	Portman avenue, East Sheen	link
2002	Ghana	Ghana Airways	2	Dead	LHR	link
2002	Ghana	BA		Dead		link
2000			1	Dead	Broadstone farm, Rudwick, Sussex?	link
2002	Uganda	DAS Air Cargo	1	Dead	LHR	link
2007					LHR

See my previous post on the subject:

• Stowaway death is a chilling reminder that the Heathrow runways point directly over London and 2 millions Londoners

Stowaway death is a chilling reminder that the Heathrow runways point directly over London and 2 millions Londoners

A stowaway fell on a Sheen road on Sunday:
UPDATE: 'I heard a monstrous bang', says woman after body found in street (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

In 2001, a man fell from a British Airways Boeing 777 which was heading towards Heathrow and landed in a Homebase car park in Richmond.

Heathrow is in the wrong place, it's only a question of time before someone (or worse, a plane) falls on a house:
http://richmondtransits.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/heathrow-is-not-safe-chilling-crash-map.html

How to milk a captive market? Tap commuters

Rail commuters probably wonder what made them look so much like the golden eggs goose when reading pieces such as this one:
Rail fare rises: UK commuter train tickets 10 times the price of European equivalents | This is Money

Aren't they "carbon friendly" and part of the essential workforce of the nation after all?
The truth is that subsidy levels are decreasing, which means a commuter in the UK will pay about 70% of the costs -at least that's a stated government goal.

The problem though, is that years of under-investment and also deregulations have made this essential service costly to run.

If only the service was ten times better than on the continent...

Another accident at North Sheen level crossing

Another proof that a level crossing has no place in a dense urban setting.

A vehicle smashed a barrier at the level crossing on Manor road. The barrier was lying on the pavement tonight (on the right on the picture) and all traffic was interrupted -including for pedestrians as there's no footbridge to the South side of Manor road (see posts below).

At the time of writing, three police patrol cars and a Network Rail engineer were on site.

This is the second incident in a week, as I saw the police at the same place on Monday apparently carrying checks for motorists running through the crossing lights...

See my previous posts on the subject:

• North Sheen Footbridge update
• At last: the North Sheen footbridge is coming... alas, this is not what you expected!
• Richmond Transits: Join the Facebook group "Stuck at North Sheen ...
• Richmond Transits: Airtrack and North Sheen Crossing
• Richmond Transits: Monday Mayhem at North Sheen level crossing
• Richmond Transits: Update on the North Sheen station footbridge
• Richmond Transits: Here's the new camera at North Sheen level crossing
• Richmond Transits: Update on the update on the North Sheen station ...
• Richmond Transits: Susan Kramer's progress on North Sheen Station ...
• Richmond Transits: Another train tragedy in waiting at North
• Richmond Transits: Still waiting at the level crossing...
• Traffic pandemonium: just a sign of things to come?
• More on Manor road and Heathrow
• Richmond Transits: Level crossing tragedy in Barnes
• Richmond Transits: Update on the North Sheen station footbridge

Liborate the Boris Bikes?

Saw this picture on a BarclaysCycle bike (@barclayscycle) and it reminded me of this conversation on the BorisBike Forums (@twitter.com/borisbikes).

Read also:

• Barclaycard, you're failing to provide a good customer experience to commuters
• My questions to Barclays Cycle Hire managers 
• When will TfL realise they need more BorisBikes at Waterloo?
• Why pay for the gym when you've got the Boris Bikes
• Waterloo: more Boris Bikes but still no sign of life for the Eurostar old platforms
• The Boris bike vs. the French vélib -unfair comparison?

•  

   

Cyclist fatalities increase in London -I squarely blame TfL for not providing adequate infrastructure

Cyclists in the City just came up with this Boris-seeking missile:  Outrageous: 33% more pedestrians killed, 60% more cyclists killed and 21% more cyclists seriously injured. Boris Johnson - your traffic smoothing policy is killing people.

Personally, I'm not sure Boris or Ken made much improvements -or to put it correctly, they slowly gave in to pressure but both failed to redesign the city to put bikes first. Because you see, this is what the Dutch have done, something that even the LCC don't really recognise.

In essence, the infrastructure is still grossly inadequate -something I've blogged about previously. In a nutshell, I think TfL has absolutely no idea whatsoever on what a "cycle track" is. I don't think any of their engineers actually cycles. Can't be. Or that would be an all time height for ineptitude.

And those sad numbers? As far as I am concerned, the fact there's been a huge increase in cycling can not play a contributing factor. Many of those cyclists are not that proficient either, nor are the drivers.

Related posts:

• Kennington People on Bikes: Why didn't we use the cycle path?
• Sustainable transportation in Richmond?
• Cycling in London: it's about time to do something!
• Has cycling reached a critical mass in London?
• Good to see cyclists campaigning against road planning
• Cyclists living in fear
• Cyclists to be given the right to ride the wrong way
• TfL still has little ideas about cycling lanes...
• Cycle superhighways: an expensive joke?
• When are we going to see this in London?
• Reversing the burden of the proof would encourage cycling
• Some hope for London cyclists?
  

Works in Waterloo: an improvement or just a cash making scheme?

The Evening standard continues with their objective questionable journalistic, er, standards and regurgitates yet another press pack, this time from Network Rail for a change:
Waterloo station turns trendy as Carluccio's, Corney and Barrow, and Thomas Pink open up on new concourse - Transport - News - Evening Standard

Just to put things in perspective:
1. On congestion, Network Rail have made it worse by making the underground concourses longer and shut outside of peak hours

2. The Eurostar platform has been mothballed for the last 5 year... with four EMPTY platforms -quite a disgrace.

3. Finally, are they going to pull down that hideous screen/wall between the concourse and the plaforms? There's no reason Waterloo can't be as beautiful as the Gare du Nord in Paris.

To me it seems the only goal of this revamp is to provide more retail space, in other words it's a cash generating scheme that adds no benefits to the commuters.


Previous posts on Water-loo station: 

• Waterloo plans mean no end of misery for commuters
• Waterloo: more Boris Bikes but still no sign of life for the Eurostar old platforms
• Waterloo plans mean no end of misery for commuters
• Londonist: What Next For Waterloo? 
• The Boris bike vs. the French vélib -unfair comparison?
• What if those who govern us had a long term view about strategic infrastructures?
• When will TfL realise they need more BorisBikes at Waterloo?

Lobbies and lazy journalism

Here's a great example of lobbies taking over column inches, in this case on a subject that's close to my heart:
David Cameron told: Act now to save Heathrow Airport - Transport - News - Evening Standard

Prime example of lazy "journalism", writing up a quick piece straight off the press pack from BAA. Any proper newspaper article would have tried to show both sides of the story, with counterpoints.

I hope Jonathan and Lucy enjoyed a really nice lunch paid for by Ferrovial (BAA's Spanish owner) and a few nice gifts too.

Just a reminder to set the record straight, London has FIVE international airport (actually, now SEVEN if you count Manston and Southend), totalling seven runways (not including the unused backup one at Gatwick), most being under-used. Heathrow is a WWII planning mistake, its flight path goes over 2m people. Those five airports handle over 130 millions passengers on their six runways, about 150% of the traffic in Paris (LHR + CDG).

It's about time we stop comparing LHR to other European cities and instead do what they've done: build a new airport with enough room for expansion. If it needs to be in the Thames estuary, so be it. 

Previous posts on the same subject:

• Some Heathrow news...
• Essential reading: 2M Group on Heathrow Expansion
• Monday -my letter to the MP's against Heathrow Expansion
• Glad I managed to land... (and Heathrow expansion lies)
• BA can spam you but you can't spam BA!
• BAA caught lying... again.
• Stanstead and City granted expansion: what does it mean for Heathrow?
• And yet another broken promise by DfT and BAA...
• Is Heathrow really out of capacity?
• More on Heathrow
• Is sustainability sacrificed on the Heathrow altar?
• Transported logic
• Heathrow is not safe: chilling crash map
• Happy new year and more foul play from the DfT on Heathrow Expansion
• BAA wakes up to the sound of locomotives?
• Stating the obvious: Heathrow expansion will pollute more
• Heathrow is just dangerous where it is
• Hoon's farce as Heathrow expansion is announced
• Economic case for Heathrow expansion 'flawed'
• Finally, high speed train gets national coverage
• Just a reminder: London has FIVE airports, all competing against Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Paris
• More on Manor road and Heathrow
• Environmental perversity...
• Why is the governement pushing to increase number of night flights?
• Heathrow is dangerous and should not be expanded, here's why
• T5 opens, shows BAA-Government hypocrisy and collusion
• Lyon-Paris vs. Manchester-London (from Euroblog by Jon Worth)
• Airplanes noise common sense?
• Politics and GreenWash
• I dreamt about doing this!!!!

Barclaycard, you're failing to provide a good customer experience to commuters

This is a follow-up from my previous post: Dear BarclayCard...

My beef with BarclayCard (BARC:LN, @barclaycard) isn't over, I'm actually quite annoyed now.

My advice to Barclays? If your brand name is associated to transportation services, you should ensure a good customer experience. Failing to do so impacts negatively your brand.

Here's a quick summary:

-          I own a BarclayCard Visa that comes with an OysterCard built-in. Barclays sent me a new card and the Oyster stopped working. Resolving this is quite an annoyance. In the Twitterverse we'd say #fail.

-          I also use Barclays Cyclehire, in fact another TfL service, sponsored by the same bonus-happy bank. I use it everyday but it turns out they can slap you a £150 fine just because their processes are also a #fail. That's more than an annoyance

Failure number one: Barclays, when you send me a new card, just make sure it works

-          I've got a Barclaycard VISA, coming with no less than four payment mechanisms: a magnetic strip, a chip (and PIN), a contactless payment chip (RFID) and an Oyster card.

-          It expired, so they sent me a new one.

-          Because I suspected their processes would be sub-optimal, I called them up to ensure the Oyster would be transferred across to the new card. They assured me it was or would be but I still did not trust them. You see, when I wanted to move from a BarclayCard Platinum to that BarclayCard Oyster, they got me to re-apply just like for a new card. I wasn't impressed, after being a client for over 10 years. So, I did not destroy the old card straight away, just in case…

-          As I feared, the Oyster card did not work.

-          I sent an email to complain and ask Barclays to fix this. They tried to call me when I was at work and after several tries I ended up to speaking to a Barclaycard call-centre agent (actually very nice and patient) who could not solve my problem and had to transfer me to TfL.

-          In between those calls, I tried to register my new Oyster card on the TfL website (turns out the number is on the back of the Barclaycard) but that did not work either. See, Barclaycard registered my card already but did not give me the password.

-          When I finally got to speak with TfL agents, they were equally patient, well trained and polite. They  transferred the balance from the old virtual (because it's on my Barclaycard) Oyster card to the new one. But then to complete it, I have to predict where I'll touch in next as they me to tap my Oyster card on a specific tube station within 8 days. I don't usually commute by tube, so it's hard to know where and when I'll next start a tube journey.

-          The next process failure I have experienced, still speaking with TfL is that once they transfer the balance of an Oyster card and until you've tapped it on a reader at the designated station, you can't transfer the 'auto top-up'. Which I had to do because my old Barclaycard wasn't valid anymore, remember?

Failure number two: Barclays, the Borisbikes give you a bad name

-          I should make clear that just like I am well aware that TfL and Barclays are two distinct companies, I know Barclays only sponsors the London bike rental scheme, which is in fact sub-contracted to Serco –the guys who run the prison vans and other stuff.

-          This is not to complain there's never enough bikes or point that it's ridiculous to require buying a separate key while they could use an Oyster card to unlock your bikes. Actually, given what's above, one could think not using Oyster would be a good thing…

-          It's not. Here's what happened to me. To use bikes, you need to buy a key for £3. You can then set it up and once you unlock your bike you pay £1 for a 24h access period. The actual rental is free for 30 mn. Fair enough.

-          I've used it 3-5 times a week for almost a year, with only hassles when I can't find a bike (the un-predictability isn't great if you have a morning meeting) or can't return them (which means missing your train).

-          Trouble starts if you use your bike after the 'access period' has ended. The problem is that the access period isn't renewed automatically if you're on the bike, resulting in a £150 fine! If you're like me, you're thinking who's going to want to lug those heavy beasts for over 24 hours? But if for instance your train is late on day 1 (I hear it can happen sometimes) and you pick a bike up at say 0830. If on day two you pick a bike up at for instance 0829, cycle to your destination and dock it at 0834, you're done. Bang, they've slapped you a £150 fine.

-          This happened to me. For 40 seconds.

-          Of course it doesn't make sense, but try to explain common sense to TfL.

Bottom line: Barclays should ensure that customer experience is good for services they lend their name to. Failing to do this damages their reputation –exactly the point of this blog post.

Some conclusions for Barclays:

-          Don’t expect your customers to do the leg work: I'm a customer and if break it, I expect you to fix it

-          Make sure you communicate all the information you need (including passwords) on all the products you have on a given card

Some advice to TfL:

-          The obligation to touch in at a given tube station to complete an action is impractical

-          The quality of service for the Boris Bikes is not great but you should at least fix the processes that are plainly wrong

Dear BarclayCard...

I like two in ones. Go-fast estate cars. Choc-biscuits. Fridge-freezers.  The idea of a Swiss knife usually works: unless you're after something heavy duty, it does the everyday jobs well -like corking a wine bottle and spreading chese on a ciabatta. So I thought if the concept works for picnics, it might help reducing the number of cards I've got to carry and went for a Barclaycard that does Visa and Oyster. 
Turns out two-in-ones are good for tools but combo's don't really work in the financial world, just like for food -just like a surf'n'turf never does justice to either.
See for yourself my email to Barclays. What do you think?


Dear Barclaycard,

A while back I moved from a Platinum card to a Barclaycard-Oyster. I thought the process was pretty clunky when you got me to re-apply for a new card, having been a customer for about 10 years but never mind.

You sent me a brand new card a few months ago and I thought I'd better check if my Oyster card would be transferred. The call centre agent told me "yes". Turns out it's the wrong answer.

Could you please fix this?

PS: I don't really care who's right or wrong, that TfL is not Barclays, etc. The card says Barclays, so you really ought to pull yourselves together and resolve this.

Thanks in advance,

LW>

North Sheen Footbridge update

Local politicians are busy visiting us before next week's elections, including the chap who's designed a new version. They seem to be all quite happy about finally getting a resolution, thought they quickly admit it's only a fix to part of the issue.

I'm not sure why they think we should settle for something half-baked?

Here's my comment on Zac Goldsmith's website, since Katharine Harborne doesn't seem to believe in getting direct feedback on hers.

We should not let Network Rail get away with this band-aid solution as it solves only a part of the problem.

1. It doesn't solve the car congestion issue. A level crossing simply has no place in a densely populated area in 2012.

2. It doesn't help with the station access for less able and parents with children. Or commuters living on the South of the railway line.

3. It doesn't improve the miserable station that North Sheen is, with for instance cycle parking.

Bottom line: Network Rail broke it 17 years ago, they should fix it by moving the signalling equipment they installed where the old footpath was.

See my previous posts on the subject:

• At last: the North Sheen footbridge is coming... alas, this is not what you expected!
• Richmond Transits: Join the Facebook group "Stuck at North Sheen ...
• Richmond Transits: Airtrack and North Sheen Crossing
• Richmond Transits: Monday Mayhem at North Sheen level crossing
• Richmond Transits: Update on the North Sheen station footbridge
• Richmond Transits: Here's the new camera at North Sheen level crossing
• Richmond Transits: Update on the update on the North Sheen station ...
• Richmond Transits: Susan Kramer's progress on North Sheen Station ...
• Richmond Transits: Another train tragedy in waiting at North
• Richmond Transits: Still waiting at the level crossing...
• Traffic pandemonium: just a sign of things to come?
• More on Manor road and Heathrow
• Richmond Transits: Level crossing tragedy in Barnes
• Richmond Transits: Update on the North Sheen station footbridge
• Richmond Transits: Preliminary plans for North Sheen footbridge rebuffed
• Richmond Transits: Campaing for suppressing level crossings
• Richmond Transits: Richmond and Twickenham Times: Commuters see red over level crossing
• Richmond Transits: Susan Kramer's progress on North Sheen Station footbridge
• Richmond Transits: Time to remind Susan Kramer about the North Sheen Station footbridge

Kennington People on Bikes: Why didn't we use the cycle path?

Here's a good blog post by Kennington People on Bikes: Why didn't we use the cycle path?
Their picture  is worth a thousand words and says a lot about the TfL "engineers" who design the cycling paths.

There's also a link to the http://www.londonersonbikes.org.uk/ website whose pedge I urge you to sign!

 Related posts:

• Sustainable transportation in Richmond?
• Cycling in London: it's about time to do something!
• Has cycling reached a critical mass in London?
• Good to see cyclists campaigning against road planning
• Cyclists living in fear
• Cyclists to be given the right to ride the wrong way
• TfL still has little ideas about cycling lanes...
• Cycle superhighways: an expensive joke?
• When are we going to see this in London?
• Reversing the burden of the proof would encourage cycling
• Some hope for London cyclists? 

At long last, Dutch-style cycle parking and repair shed in Richmond?

The Richmond and Twickenham Times reports today that Richmond station gets (is to someday) new cycle hub. 

Transport Minister Norman Baker has announced Richmond station as one of four London locations set to undergo a cycle refurbishment this year.

The hub will be manned by staff, who are able to help fix broken bicycles, and will also be a place to hire and store bikes and have them cleaned.

Refurbishment of the station's cycle facilities are part of a £30m package of developments aimed at helping connect communities, reduce carbon emissions, and get people active.

No date is set, but it's encouraging to see some progress. Now, they should really get to work to fix those dangerous roundabouts on the Lower Richmond road...

Pictures:

• secure cycle parking at Leiden train station from Cycling without a helmet
  
• bike repaid workshop in Groningen train station from Rona Justine (both in The Netherlands)

Related post:

• Sustainable transportation in Richmond?
• Cycling in London: it's about time to do something!
• Has cycling reached a critical mass in London?
• Good to see cyclists campaigning against road planning
• My questions to Barclays Cycle Hire managers
• Cyclists living in fear
• Cyclists to be given the right to ride the wrong way
• Waterloo: more Boris Bikes but still no sign of life for the Eurostar old platforms
• TfL still has little ideas about cycling lanes...
• Cycle superhighways: an expensive joke?
• When are we going to see this in London?
• Reversing the burden of the proof would encourage cyclingss
• Kingston worst for bike thefts
• Some hope for London cyclists?

The lost orchards of North Sheen and Richmond Council's cunning plan to impose a new tax?

It seems the Richmond Planning department nowadays is quite liberally (and not very democratically) letting through semi-high-rise in North Sheen, with little consideration for the neighbours and terraced houses fabric that presently constitutes North Sheen. There seem to be no limits to empty offices on Lower Richmond road apparently).  As usual, concerns expressed during public consultations (like the lack of parking spaces in the new developments) were ignored.

North Sheen wasn't always like this, it was actually full of orchards (see Orchard road) as the maps below from the London Orchard Project show.

More reading:

• Planning application for the redevelopment of the Shakespeare pub, where the council totally ignored objections received on the parking aspects
• Planning application for "The Works", showing 77 new flats and 3,000 m2 office space and…. 85 parking spaces only.
• Planning application for the former Dairy Crest distribution centre, for 45 flats and 2,000 m2 of office space
• Planning application for the redevelopment of the former petrol station on 293 Lower Richmond road, 52 flats and only 35 spaces

See the trend?  I should add that North Sheen is the only ward that still hasn't got a controlled parking zone (CPZ), and is bordered  by Richmond, East Sheen and Kew –where parking is regulated indeed.  Of course, a CPZ is not free for residents: once established, the council can increase it pretty much at will, and it's very hard to prove that the CPZ permits fees only cover the administration costs.

After a few checks, it's quite obvious that the (previous Lib Dem) council had a policy of restricting car spaces, presumably to impose a CPZ tax to unsuspecting residents.

What's that got to do with orchards? During the public consultation, when the change of use was questioned, residents expressed anger that (at least some of) the land could not be changed back to agricultural or green space.

Since the play area located in the block formed by Bicester road, Lambert avenue and Manor road, there are no play areas for instance South of Lower Richmond Road.

Greed, a Capital sin for the Borough -but seldom punished...

Has cycling reached a critical mass in London?

London Cycling Campaign has blogged about how safe bike lanes and junctions will persuade us to cycle more. It commissioned a survey, which suggests over half a million Londoners already cycle at least once a week.

They're also running a petition Go Dutch which calls on the mayoral election candidates to commit to more people-friendly streets and continental-standard cycle facilities in the capital.

51% of Londoners said the next Mayor can take action to encourage them to cycle more, with 78% of those people naming safe and convenient bikes lanes all over London or safer junctions and roundabouts as their top priority.

See their principles here: www.lcc.org.uk/pages/key-principles.

Previous posts on cycling:

• Good to see cyclists campaigning against road planning
• My questions to Barclays Cycle Hire managers
• Cyclists living in fear
• Cyclists to be given the right to ride the wrong way
• Waterloo: more Boris Bikes but still no sign of life for the Eurostar old platforms
• TfL still has little ideas about cycling lanes...
• Cycle superhighways: an expensive joke?
• When are we going to see this in London?
• Reversing the burden of the proof would encourage cyclingss
• Kingston worst for bike thefts
• Some hope for London cyclists?
• Cycling in London: it's about time to do something!

Good to see cyclists campaigning against road planning

I've long said that TfL has got absolutely no clue on incorporating cycling into the urban fabric, or in other words they're absolutely rubbish and useless when it comes to Cycle Lanes.

That's why I welcome this: Be the change; why your help is needed on Blackrfriars Bridge (i b i k e l o n d o n
More details on London Cycling Campaign.

My questions to Barclays Cycle Hire managers

Thanks for your email,

It comes right in time. Together with other users, we were stuck at Waterloo yesterday around 1900 as all neighbouring stations were full. No staff was at hand to help of course.

I really do like the Boris Bikes, but unpredictability makes it hard rely on.

Just this week, for instance:

• no more bikes at Waterloo on Tuesday shortly after 0800 (it's usually empty after 0830 anyway), missed my train and wasted 30 mn
  

• picked up a bike from Red Lion Square on that same day and tried to return it in Covent Garden, circled for 15mn to find a docking point

Here are some suggestions to improve the service.

• Add more capacity in Waterloo. I mean way more, as London is clearly under-served compared to Paris: http://richmondtransits.blogspot.com/2010/09/boris-bike-vs-french-velib-unfair.html
  
• Busy stations need more staff to replenish and empty slots in the mornings and evenings
• The maps on the service points are next to useless: the detailed one should list station names (as it's hard to figure out which station indicated by the computer is which on the map) and the map of the larger area should indicate Boris Bikes stations.
  
• Also, they should always point to the North as normal maps.
  

Could you let me know what you're planning to do to address those points?

Regards,

Ludovic Windsor

---

From: Transport for London <Transport_for_London@info.tfl.gov.uk>
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 10:26 AM
Subject: Information for Barclays Cycle Hire members

If you are having problems viewing this email, you can view an online version To ensure our email updates are delivered to your inbox, please add Transport_for_London@info.tfl.gov.uk to your email address book Dear Mr Windsor, As a member of Barclays Cycle Hire, I thought you might be interested in taking part in an online "Meet the Managers" forum we will be running on Tuesday 18 October, from 19:00 to 20:30. The forum will provide you with the opportunity to contact both myself and other senior managers with any questions or suggestions you may have about the scheme, for example, regarding its operation or future plans. The scheme has now passed its first anniversary and we would welcome your input. To join in the live forum, please visit tfl.gov.uk/meetthemanagers Alternatively, if you will not be available to join us, we would be happy to receive your questions in advance. Simply email your questions to us at bchmeetthemanagers@tfl.gov.uk Yours sincerely, James Mead Head of Operations, Barclays Cycle Hire Transport for London These are our customer service updates about Barclays Cycle Hire. To unsubscribe, please click here Copyright in the contents of this email and its attachments belongs to Transport for London. Any unauthorised usage will infringe that copyright.

Wondering what rabbits would write on signs before their homes...