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Determined not to be beaten, I tried a Boris Bike again this evening. I rode all the way from Rosebury Av to the edge of the BB map at Oval and totally enjoyed it. I have never ridden a bike in London before, and have not really ridden since I got a driving license. I might have to buy one to go work on!
It gets worse… Even though my bank clear my security on my card, I cannot sign up for a key, as the Boris Bike system thinks there is something wrong with my card. Grrrr!
There was was an article in this morning’s METRO ‘newspaper’ (the one you get free at tube and train stations) about Boris Bikes. It said that ‘Just 8% of Londoners have used Boris Bikes’ and I think I know why.
Yesterday, I rented my first Boris Bike. It took a while to learn the ‘system’ but I got there in the end. I even had a little bit of a grin on when I wheeled off up the hill in first gear. Right up until the point when a young lady whizzed past me on a real bike. It took me a moment or two to figure out that the gears are on a handlebar twist. I soon caught her up.
This morning, I still had credit and so I tried to rent a bike to reverse my journey. I had to be at my training course at 9.20, I surfaced from Angel tube station at 9.10 and it was only a 5 minute cycle ride. No sweat, I thought. How wrong I was.
I put my card in the machine, retrieved a pass code and typed it into the bike stand. Orange flashing lights…. hmmm…. Ok, maybe I did something wrong. Tried another stand. Orange flashing lights. I went back tot the terminal, put my card in again… couldn’t print a new ticket, so I called the help line. After 5 minutes of automated menu chat, I got through to an operator. She tested the station, said it seemed ok, and suggested that I try the machine again. It printed me a new ticket, which I tried. Orange flashing light. The operator went off to ask for some tech support and at the same time a ‘regular’ user turned up for a bike. I could tell he wasn’t a casual user, like me, as he popped out a key and plugged it straight into the stand. Orange flashing light.
I shouted over that I was trying to get assistance. He told me “This station is always like this, it hardly ever works!” Nice! The operator came back ont he phone and explained there was something wrong with the station and that she could guide me to another location to pick up a bike. I told her not to bother, and that I would walk.
I walked off down to my training course, arrived 20 mins late after passing 2 Boris Bike stands.
For a public transport system to work, it needs to
a) be accessible to the public b) provide an easy way to transport you from one place to another.
As afar as I now know… Boris Bikes just don’t. I will try again this week, but this is no way to start.