Bike & Go future

[northwichcat]

Bike & Go has been discussed before but not recently enough for the previous thread to be open:
http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=91012

I've noticed they've appointed a new business manger who comes from The Netherlands (see below.) The scheme being run by Merseyrail Electrics 2002 Limited (Abellio/Serco) and is currently available at Merseyrail, Northern and Anglia stations and is starting to be rolled out slowly in Scotland. Question is will Northern stations continue to offer the scheme after 1st April?

Leading bike hire scheme Bike & Go has been given a boost by the appointment of Dutch Business Manager, Linda van der Haar.

Linda joins Bike & Go from its highly successful Netherlands arm OV-Fiets to oversee operations at the scheme and make it even easier for customers to hire bikes from participating train stations.

An experienced industry stalwart, Linda, who project managed OV-Fiets’ presence at the London Olympics, hopes to demonstrate the many benefits of using a combination of bike and train to travel.

Commenting on her appointment, Linda said: “I’m delighted to join Bike & Go, and want to encourage even more people to take advantage of the scheme.

“I’m looking forward to building long-term relationships with business and leisure customers alike across the city, and showing them just how it easy it is to travel using our integrated travel offering.“

Simon Olorenshaw, Bike & Go director, said: “We’re constantly looking at ways to make Bike & Go even easier for customers to use, and Linda’s extensive sector experience in the Netherlands will prove invaluable as we continue to improve our customer experience.“

Since launching in 2013, Bike & Go has expanded to offer bike hire facilities from over 60 participating train stations across the North West, North East and Yorkshire, East and South East of England, and Scotland, with more locations due to be added this year.

The scheme was recently praised by a UK division of the travel giant TripAdvisor when it was included in a list of the top seven bicycle hire companies drawn up by its subsidiary rental company Holiday Lettings.

To hire a Bike & Go bike, users simply need to register their card details online, which they can do via smart phones, tablets, or at home, and pay the annual £10 subscription fee. They will then receive a user number via email which will allow immediate bike hire at just £3.80 for 24 hours whilst they wait for their Bike & Go membership card.

https://bdaily.co.uk/environment/21-03-2016/dutch-manager-joins-bike-go/

 

[gordonthemoron]

does anyone ever use the bikes at Knutsford? I did once consider using them to get to Radbroke but the A50 is too dangerous

 

[northwichcat]

does anyone ever use the bikes at Knutsford? I did once consider using them to get to Radbroke but the A50 is too dangerous

There always seems to be 9 or 10 there when I use the station but the Bike & Go website now has live availability and it says there are only 7 currently available at this instance: http://www.bikeandgo.co.uk/locations/north-west-and-merseyside/ Busy day or maybe some bikes have been damaged or stolen?

 

[TheEdge]

does anyone ever use the bikes at Knutsford? I did once consider using them to get to Radbroke but the A50 is too dangerous

The ones in the Anglia region (at least Norfolk) that look like they are never ever used. I've only ever seen a few used out of Norwich and I'm convinced the ones at Lowestoft have never ever ever been used.

 

[dk1]

The ones in the Anglia region (at least Norfolk) that look like they are never ever used. I've only ever seen a few used out of Norwich and I'm convinced the ones at Lowestoft have never ever ever been used.

Have you ever known such a pathetic waste of a franchise commitment?

 

[grumblingalong]

Have you ever known such a pathetic waste of a franchise commitment?

The ones at Stowmarket got cleaned the other day, most use they've had since they were installed.

 

[MancMetro]

It's a shame because it's a nice idea and pretty well executed on the whole.

Most people who are inclined to cycle will already have their own bike. Many other people won't cycle as they perceive it to be too dangerous. So Bike & Go is targetting the section of people who upon seeing the bikes may be tempted to go for a leisure ride. I guess this section of people may be smaller than they thought.

To encourage more of these spontaneous trips it would be better if there were no registration and annual subscription, and instead there was a flat fee per hire e.g. £5. However, I guess they can't allow it to operate like that, as it may result in bike thefts.

 

[jopsuk]

There's no reason they couldn't do no annual fee. After all, the TfL Bike Hire scheme allows spontaneous hiring. The system places a £300 charge against the payment card and the card itself could be used to track someone that didn't return a bike.

 

[306024]

Two bikes hired in three years is the best return I've heard around these parts, unless someone can better that. Presumably someone goes round to keep the tyres pumped up.

Today's useless fact is the bike park outside Amsterdam Central has capacity for 2,500 bikes, and looked overflowing today. Perhaps a better commitment from Abellio would be Dutch Apple Cake in the buffet

 

[jopsuk]

The 40-tonne elephant in the room is that no matter what bike hire facilities you put in, no matter wha bike parking you put in, if the urban environment is as hostile to cycling as most British towns and cities then people won't cycle. Now, the railways can't change this, beyond publicly supporting councils that do try to change. But, eg, is it any wonder people don't use it in Stowmarket?

Colchester looks worse. Manningtree spits you out here.

Schemes like Bike & Go are nice-to-haves in places where cycling is easy and normal (eg: the whole of the Netherlands) but you might not be able to or might not want to take a bike by train (again, the whole of the Netherlands, where peak time bikes are banned from trains and off-peak it costs €6/day). They're dust magnets here, as our towns and cities, whilst being awful to drive around, are car-centric in design and approach

 

[Hophead]

I'd suggest that a major reason for the low take-up is that most people simply have no idea that such a scheme even exists. How well is it advertised?

 

[endecotp]

Yes, (a) an annual fee is crazy, and (b) how do I even know it exists?, and (c) will I die?
Ideal scenario: i buy my train ticket from a machine, and one of the options is "plus bike"; I pay the small extra, and use the bike. End of.

 

[northwichcat]

Like I've said before two major problems with the scheme are:
1. You have to return a bike to the same place you borrowed it from.
2. You have to join the scheme before borrowing a bike. This makes it useless for someone who might catch the train to work on an odd day e.g. when their car is in service and might need a bike for the last leg, or for tourists.

 

[3141]

I'd suggest that a major reason for the low take-up is that most people simply have no idea that such a scheme even exists. How well is it advertised?

Another reason might be that not many people want to use a bike anyway. I wouldn't. When I go to London there are plenty of bikes available, and there may be cycle routes to some of the places I'd be going to. I haven't investigated because I'm not going to use a bike.

 

[MedwayValiant]

The 40-tonne elephant in the room is that no matter what bike hire facilities you put in, no matter wha bike parking you put in, if the urban environment is as hostile to cycling as most British towns and cities then people won't cycle. Now, the railways can't change this, beyond publicly supporting councils that do try to change.[

The obvious city for this kind of scheme is Cambridge - it's flat, there's a long tradition of cycling, and the station is a long walk from the middle of town.

I dare you've seen the thousands of bikes that are at times parked at Cambridge station. Does their presence mean that the city is already saturated with bikes and so there's no point hiring them out at the station? If you like, it's already Britain's Amsterdam, but it's unique.

Or is it the one station where this sort of scheme would be well used?

 

[jopsuk]

It's hundreds, not quite thousands yet, at Cambridge. Before redevelopment the bike park outside the station door had ~800 official spaces and ~1100 bikes. The temp bike parks had ~1200 spaces and filled up, the new multi-story has 2850 spaces.

A london-style scheme with docking stations throughout the city would be better in Cambridge. Not sure what is planned- the old Station Cycles was a more traditional bike hire shop but had poor opening hours (especially Sunday). Not sure if new shop ( now Rutland Cycles) will do hire

 

[NorthernSpirit]

If bike and go was installed in Trowbridge, half of the pushbikes would be floating in the River Biss or the tyres on all the bike would have been slashed by the local yoofs.

(You only have to look at the "Spotted in Trowbridge" page and you'll see where I'm coming from, as there was one recent incident where someones, possibly a woman's, moped was pushed over at night).

 

[Camden]

I've tried it, and the reasons I can see for it not being popular, in order of importance to me:

1. You need to join up beforehand, and get a card through the post. You can't just see the bikes and think "oh I fancy trying that". I saw the bikes and thought "oh I fancy trying that", enquired, got told I needed a membership card by the post. And didn't look at it again for another year when I had an uncharacteristic moment of foresight ahead of a sunny weekend, and eventually signed up for a card. I think it's probably a security thing, but I suspect the number of lost customers here alone would easily outweigh the cost of lost or damaged bikes. Why not just take a debit/credit card swipe, as security??

2. Hiring a bike takes forever. You'd think with having a card it's just a case of tap, and away you go. No, you have to go to a member of staff and hand your card over. They play around with a device that they seem to dread having to use. It takes ages. Eventually you get given a key. You go to the bike and get it out. Oh the seat isn't right, it's pointing up to the sky and I can't adjust it. Back to the desk...

3. You have to take the bike back to the station you hired it from. Not necessarily a big deal as you're meant to have the bike for a day or longer (you pay by the day), but especially if it's a network where there are a few stations offering it, it would be good to be able to bung it back to a different station. The restrictiveness of knowing you have to take it back to that station is off-putting.

4. I don't think the seats are that great. I found they hurt my behind quite a lot, to the point I stopped off at a sports store after just 10 minutes and bought myself a gel seat.

 

[HH]

The fact is that in the Netherlands people bike to the station, park the bike there, and when they get to the other end, will either have a bike there as well, or, if it's somewhere they only visit occasionally, hire a bike.

This whole culture doesn't exist in the UK and it's going to take a lot more than Bike 'n Go to change that.

But just try telling that to Dutchmen and Government officials...

 

[Camden]

I think that schemes can be useful, and can get people using them if they are of the right type. London & Liverpool are currently the only two places doing it about right though (the latter I gather soon to expand their scheme to cover a wider area).

I agree that widespread cycling isn't a thing in the UK at the moment but with the right interventions I don't see why it couldn't become so. Road safety and ability to cycle from A to B in a straightforward fashion is I think one of the key things.

 

[D1009]

I think that schemes can be useful, and can get people using them if they are of the right type. London & Liverpool are currently the only two places doing it about right though (the latter I gather soon to expand their scheme to cover a wider area).

I agree that widespread cycling isn't a thing in the UK at the moment but with the right interventions I don't see why it couldn't become so. Road safety and ability to cycle from A to B in a straightforward fashion is I think one of the key things.

Has anyone used the Glasgow scheme, I believe run by a German company called Nextbike?

 

[al78]

I think that schemes can be useful, and can get people using them if they are of the right type. London & Liverpool are currently the only two places doing it about right though (the latter I gather soon to expand their scheme to cover a wider area).

I agree that widespread cycling isn't a thing in the UK at the moment but with the right interventions I don't see why it couldn't become so. Road safety and ability to cycle from A to B in a straightforward fashion is I think one of the key things.

I can't see cycling becoming much more popular in the UK in the near future at least. There are two main issues, firstly exposure to the weather, people do not like getting wet and cycling in a headwind with driving rain is not pleasant. Secondly, high vulnerability. The road layouts in the UK have been optinmised for motor vehicles for the last 60+ years and as such can be very hostile environments for cyclists (junctions in particular). Cycling is not a dangerous activity but it is an activity with high vulnerability, i.e. the chances of being hit by a car is very low but when it happens the consequences tend to be severe. In Holland, the cycle tracks are well designed and cyclists have priority over motorists at side roads, and the drivers respect this (compared to the UK where someone paints a white line on a pavement, calls it a cycle facility and then erects Cyclists Dismount signs every 100 meters at each side road :roll. That is not going to happen any tiime soon in the might-is-right-get-out-of-my-way UK. The reason cycling is popular in London is that driving is sufficiently unpleasant and parking so expensive that cycling, despite the disadvantages described above, is seen as a practical alternative to getting around.

 

[Geeves]

We had them installed up at Rochdale and had training on the electronic card payment type thing in the booking office (that you apparently gained online). The device was quite complicated to use and the whole process required a study of a guide just to get you through it. None of us ever looked forward to having to sort these bikes out, I for one am glad no one ever came!

Never in 4 years did anyone ever arrive to use them and as time went by the locals had their way with various bits. Soon the seats and the pedals were missing and eventually one had its wheels stolen! So over all for Rochdale at least it was a total waste of time.

 

[Emblematic]

I can't see cycling becoming much more popular in the UK in the near future at least. There are two main issues, firstly exposure to the weather, people do not like getting wet and cycling in a headwind with driving rain is not pleasant. Secondly, high vulnerability. The road layouts in the UK have been optinmised for motor vehicles for the last 60+ years and as such can be very hostile environments for cyclists (junctions in particular). Cycling is not a dangerous activity but it is an activity with high vulnerability, i.e. the chances of being hit by a car is very low but when it happens the consequences tend to be severe. In Holland, the cycle tracks are well designed and cyclists have priority over motorists at side roads, and the drivers respect this (compared to the UK where someone paints a white line on a pavement, calls it a cycle facility and then erects Cyclists Dismount signs every 100 meters at each side road :roll. That is not going to happen any tiime soon in the might-is-right-get-out-of-my-way UK. The reason cycling is popular in London is that driving is sufficiently unpleasant and parking so expensive that cycling, despite the disadvantages described above, is seen as a practical alternative to getting around.

I'd say very few London cyclists have switched from cars, mostly they have found it a more pleasant alternative to slow and overcrowded public transport. Cars have been impractical for most in London for decades. The other difference is that cycling reached a level of popularity where it is now taken seriously as a transport mode, with significant projects and substantial expenditure to improve roads, junctions etc.

 

[scott118]

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Cam...gers-Twitter/story-28692620-detail/story.html

Cambridge station bike park plan triggers fresh backlash from cyclists

 

[kieron]

It's a bit silly of the Abellio person not to at least offer to keep theirs for a bit longer, seeing as they're the ones changing things in a way which disadvantages some customers.

It doesn't appear to have much to do with cycle hire schemes, even in an area where you can't simply put your own bike on the train.

 

[NorthernSpirit]

We had them installed up at Rochdale and had training on the electronic card payment type thing in the booking office (that you apparently gained online). The device was quite complicated to use and the whole process required a study of a guide just to get you through it. None of us ever looked forward to having to sort these bikes out, I for one am glad no one ever came!

Never in 4 years did anyone ever arrive to use them and as time went by the locals had their way with various bits. Soon the seats and the pedals were missing and eventually one had its wheels stolen! So over all for Rochdale at least it was a total waste of time.

I take it that its just the frames of the bikes that all that remain now?

There's a bike and go scheme in Buxton, one of the bikes had a flat tyre whereas another had a bent wheel.

 

[Bungle965]

We had them installed up at Rochdale and had training on the electronic card payment type thing in the booking office (that you apparently gained online). The device was quite complicated to use and the whole process required a study of a guide just to get you through it. None of us ever looked forward to having to sort these bikes out, I for one am glad no one ever came!

Never in 4 years did anyone ever arrive to use them and as time went by the locals had their way with various bits. Soon the seats and the pedals were missing and eventually one had its wheels stolen! So over all for Rochdale at least it was a total waste of time.

Thats a shame i was thinking of starting to use one next year.
Sam

 

[HH]

Thats a shame i was thinking of starting to use one next year.

LOL. Same as everyone else I guess.

 

[mailbyrail]

I used a bike in Germany - easy, go to ticket office, pay money, ride.
Not a superb bike but easy, advertised at the station (I didn't know about 'Bahn+Bike' before I arrived) , no pre-membership, no long term commitment. Everything the British scheme doesn't seem to be.
I do ride my own bike a lot but take my own whenever possible.
I'd forgotten the hire scheme existed and have no idea which stations offer the service. I'm unlikely to pay a membership fee for something I'm quite likely not to use, and based on comments on this thread, couldn't rely on either.