Boris Bikes, if you can find them?

Damning piece in the Evening Standard on @BarclaysCycle @borisbikes http://pic.twitter.com/nFwclGy9
See this discussion on the BorisBike Forum as well.


Read also:

• Boris Bikes, if you can find them?
• Response from TfL re. Barclays Cycle Hire update PRICE DOUBLING
• To TfL re. Barclays Cycle Hire update PRICE DOUBLING
• Liborate the Boris Bikes?
• 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?

 

Response from TfL re. Barclays Cycle Hire update PRICE DOUBLING

Hi,

It's all well and good except for regular users who I suspect make most of your revenues?

For instance, this morning there wasn't 2x more bikes at the Waterloo

docking stations.

Cheers,

LW>

On 31/12/2012, BarclaysCycleHire barclayscyclehire@tfl.gov.uk wrote:
> Dear Mr Windsor
>
>Thank you for your email regarding the tariff changes for Barclays Cycle
>Hire in 2013.
>
>The scheme is regularly monitored and continually reviewed to identify any
>opportunities for improving users' experience.
>
>We are undertaking important system software upgrades and website
>improvements in 2013 to meet this goal. These include, for example:
>
>Enabling casual users to hire cycles with a single swipe of their payment
>card. This will greatly simplify (and thereby speed up) the process of
>hiring a bike on street
>
>Members will be able to hire bikes as casual users using their registered
>payment card. This will benefit members who may have forgotten to bring
>their key or who would like to casually hire cycles for friends and family
>to accompany them
>
>Changes to the BCH website to improve the user experience, including
>enhanced docking station status information, online account management and
>an improved BCH journey planner.
>
>The on-street experience will also be improved through a number of changes
>at docking stations, including:
>
>Enhancements to the terminal touch screen interface to provide better
>information about nearby docking stations and improved foreign-language
>information about using the scheme, as well as enabling the single-swipe
>payment process noted above
>
>Improvements and updates to the terminal panels themselves, with new and
>updated maps, nearest docking station information, and clearer information
>about tariffs and charges
>
>We will continue to focus on improved bike redistribution and cycle repair
>strategies to ensure that bikes and free docking points are as available to
>users as possible, and that cycles with reported faults are repaired swiftly
>and returned to the scheme. Ongoing maintenance of docking stations will
>also continue to be a priority.
>In addition to these system-wide improvements, the planning and roll-out of
>the Cycle Hire Expansion and Intensification (CHEI) programme into south
>west London is another key focus for us in the coming months. The Mayor has
>always viewed cycle hire as an expanding programme and has asked TfL to look
>at ways to expand and improve the scheme in a sustainable way into the
>future.
>
>Additional revenue generated from the increase in the tariff will be put
>towards the above developments as well as other improvement opportunities
>that may arise, and we are confident that the scheme will continue to grow
>and develop.
>
>Barclays Cycle Hire has been a fantastic success, introducing millions of
>people to the joys of cycling in the capital. Indeed we saw record highs of
>over 47,000 hires in one day, and 3 months of over a million hires during
>the summer.
>
>Kind regards
>
>Tristan John
>Barclays Cycle Hire

To TfL re. Barclays Cycle Hire update PRICE DOUBLING

Hello,

I would like to know what the rationale is behind DOUBLING those fares and what plans you have to improve your service levels?

Cheers,

LW>

---

From: Transport for London <Transport_for_London@info.tfl.gov.uk>
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 10:42 AM
Subject: Barclays Cycle Hire update

If you are having problems viewing this email, you can view a mobile version or 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. Home Live travel news Getting around Road users Dear Mr Leforestier, We recently announced that the tariff for Barclays Cycle Hire is changing from Wednesday 2 January 2013: 24 hour access will increase from £1 to £2 Weekly access will increase from £5 to £10 Annual membership will increase from £45 to £90 After hiring a bike, the first thirty minutes of use will still be free. All other usage charges and additional charges including late return, non return and bicycle damage will not change. As you have Auto Renew set up on your account, you will automatically be charged the new access fee when you next hire a bike on or after 2 January. Access periods purchased before 2 January are unaffected, even if they run beyond this date. If you have multiple keys on your account, the same access fee will be charged for each key. The access fee increases are the first since the scheme was introduced and will be used to make improvements to the future operation of the scheme. Visit our website to read about our expansion plans. To find out more about the tariff changes, please click here Yours sincerely, Nick Aldworth General Manager, Barclays Cycle Hire Transport for London These are our customer service updates about Barclays Cycle Hire. To unsubscribe, please click here Travel News How services are running and planned weekend works Journey Planner Get public transport, walking and cycling routes Maps Plan ahead with maps for Tube, Bus, DLR and more Follow us Get live service updates and the latest traffic news at tfl.gov.uk/socialmedia Copyright in the contents of this email and its attachments belongs to Transport for London. Any unauthorised usage will infringe that copyright. © Transport for London

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?

•  

   

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

Tube to cost £5 to fund Olympic, West London commuters bear the pain for no benefits

While salaries are on hold (except if you're a tube driver and can hold the government to ransom to get a grand's bonus), public transport costs continue to increase much faster than inflation.

Some of this is due to the Olympics bill.

As a West Londoner, I deeply resent this as we don't even enjoy the benfits of the games since all events are in the East.
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

When will TfL realise they need more BorisBikes at Waterloo?

Now the Summer's gone -and everyone's back-, it's cruelly obvious Transport for London need to add more capacity to its Barclays Cycle Hire scheme.

The scheme is over-subscribed in several locations, including in Waterloo where at peak time (after 0815) one can't hire a bike nor drop it off after 1815.

The staff at hand -two guys and a trailer- can't cope with the quick-forming lines, often 20 deep.

At a time when the motorist is robbed more than ever, when train tickets have increased for years above inflation (as incomes stagnated), it is time to better resource alternative transportation schemes. They are both 'green' and low cost, as well as popular.

King regards,


Ludovic Windsor

Why pay for the gym when you've got the Boris Bikes?

A new application for the Boris Bikes.

See also my previous posts on this cycle hire scheme:

Waterloo: more Boris Bikes but still no sign of life for the Eurostar old platforms

The Boris bike vs. the French vélib -unfair comparison?

At last, TfL goes mobile

Transport for London has finally realised that people need travel information the most, well, when they're travelling.

Armed with this great finding, they've released a mobile version of their website -a great initiative.

Just a suggestion though: why don't they use geolocation to figure out where one to speed up the journey planner or find the closest and next bus about?

Dear email subscriber, I am writing to let you know that you can now access TfL travel information on your mobile by browsing the TfL website direct from an internet enabled phone. The website will automatically recognise the model of your phone and tailor the screen view accordingly. Journey Planner and live travel news can now be used directly via your mobile. In addition, you can check for planned weekend improvement works and find traffic updates on London's roads. For more information, visit tfl.gov.uk via your mobile. Yours sincerely, Vernon Everitt Managing Director, Marketing and Communications       Copyright in the contents of this email and its attachments belongs to Transport for London. Any unauthorised usage will infringe that copyright.

Cyclists living in fear

Seen on the BBC Helmet cameras capture bad driving: a cyclist is wearing a camera to record evidence of dangerous driving -in this case a quite graphic example of a van driver cutting off a cyclist and then abusing him.


IMHO, a consequence of lax policing (speed cameras don't do much for cyclists safety) and bad cycle lanes design.

See related posts:

• Sustainable transportation in Richmond?
• 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!

cycle, cyclelane, cycling, DfT, London, richmondtransits.blog, TfL, transportation, UK,

Waterloo: more Boris Bikes but still no sign of life for the Eurostar old platforms

Two good posts this week on Londonist.

• The first one is on the continuing mystery of the old Eurostar platforms and why they cost £4.1 to keep in mothball state -quite a good example for a pathetic failure on behalf of people in charge of the nation's rail infrastructure. It's especially enraging when you're waiting on the approach to the station in a commuter train for a platform...  I've blogged before about this, see links below.
  
• And it looks like TfL has heard about my winging on Boris Bike stations being located far away from stations: Huge New Cycle Hire Station For Waterloo.  Shame common sense did not prevail in the first place, I still wonder why they looked at Montreal rather than Paris for municipal cycle hire best practices...
  

See my previous posts on those subjects:

• Waterloo plans mean no end of misery for commuters
• Londonist: What Next For Waterloo?
• The Boris bike vs. the French vélib -unfair comparison?s

borisbike, cycle, DfT, London, richmondtransits.blog, transportation, travel, UK, velib, London, rail, railways, richmondtransits.blog, TfL, transportation, tube, waterloocity, trains, rail

Join the Facebook group "Stuck at North Sheen level crossing"

Just join:
Facebook | Stuck at North Sheen Level Crossing
See my previous posts on the level crossings and the footbridge...

Do also check this BBC News footage, partly filmed at North Sheen:

As far as I am concerned, it's all too easy for Network Rail to accuse people to be careless when a level crossing is down for up to 15 mn at the time and is located in a densely populated area.

North Sheen level crossing belongs to a long bygone area and the line should be running in a covered trench at this place, leaving space for a commuters bicycle park and a more modern station for instance.

North Sheen, Level Crossing, richmondtransits.blog, north, sheen, level, crossing, facebook

Integrated transport anyone?

One of the most frustrating aspects of the transport system in London, apart from its high-cost (busses went from 70p to an eye watering £2 in just a few years) and unreliablility, is the lack of integration. There are many examples -just look at a tube map to see where rail stations don't connect with the tube, like in Putney for instance: that one is quite frustrating as both lines actually intersect but instead of building an interchange above the train line, commuters have get out of the station and walk 200 feet. Or, why is the Waterloo & City line not extended to Moorgate and then through using National Rail tracks? And South?

Some things are improving though: from yesterday, the Oyster card is accepted on National Rail (except to Heathrow, etc). At last you may say...

There's some more scope for improvement though. For instance, this Evening Standard column suggests using the Thames a proper highway.

In under three years, and for an initial outlay of just £30 million, we can create a new, waterborne Tube line, with a frequent service of high-speed boats at 20 piers from Putney to Woolwich. That is about a quarter of the time, and less than a hundredth of the money, that a similar project would need on land.

Would Boris dare?

London, transportation, rail, railways, Waterlooandcity, tube, thames, richmondtransits.blog, TfL

Excessive excuse!

Today, we learn that the WATERLOO & CITY LINE is "Suspended due to excessive dust on platforms". Must be the daftest excuse we've heard for a long time...

The Drain has just been shut for 6 months for a complete refurbishment but broke down the next day after service had resummed...

Excessive incompetence?

Tags: tube richmondtransits.blog transportation TfL London