London bike hire faring better than Paris scheme for write offs

Two thirds of the Barclays Cycle Hire bikes have been repaired at least once in the first six months of use, according to The Independent.

In response to a Freedom of Information request, Transport for London revealed that around 30 per day are repaired. Most of these repairs were down to ‘wear and tear’, though more than 100 were descrbed as vandalism. The report also said that up to 200 are out of service day to day while not roadworthy.

Motorists got a special mention in TfL’s response too, with a total of six docking stations damaged in road accidents to date. A further six have been vandalised.

Compared with the Paris Velib scheme, the fleet of ‘Boris Bikes’ seem to have weathered the storm incredibly well. In the first 18 months, Parisians had managed to criple the full fleet of 15,000 bikes, largely through vandalism and some perhaps over-zealous use. As shown in the below video, featuring professional BMX rider Dan Lacey, London’s Hire bikes hold up far better than European counterparts.

A TfL spokesman said: "Many of the repairs that take place are minor, such as tightening of brake or gear cables, and do not therefore require bicycles to be out of use for long."

In total, Serco, which is contracted to maintain the fleet, has repaired 3,566 hire bikes to date.