please empty your brain below
I'm not sure I see the point of the boris bike stations at outlying stations. You can't ride them home as it would cost too much to keep it out of the docking station. You wouldn't go to Bow to pick up a bike to ride to central London you'd use the tube. Where would you be riding to?

peewit | Homepage | 16.06.11 - 8:20 a.m. | #

That's a lot of bikes in Bow! Is there a programme for the roll-out? Will be interested to see what usage is like.

And I guess DG will be cycling to work?

EskimoPie | 16.06.11 - 8:21 a.m. | #

DG will not be cycling to work. Not along Cycle Superhighway 2. I'd sooner die.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 16.06.11 - 8:31 a.m. | #

"The footway on which the site is located is approximately between 6.0 and 13 metres wide."

The precision of their measurements astounds me.

Blue Witch | Homepage | 16.06.11 - 9:11 a.m. | #

I always smile when I see people talking about cycling nirvana, come to the Netherlands when you really wish to see real cycling nirvana.

http://moorebicycles.blogspot.com/2009/01/so-many-bikes-so-little-space.html

Michael | 16.06.11 - 9:50 a.m. | #

"docking points outnumber bicycles by 70-80%"" - AHAHAHAAAAA. That is so funny they should take it on a national arena tour. I've given up on Boris Bikes as it's so impossible to find anywhere to dock them when I'm finished.

I am delighted that there will be a docking station outside Bow Road, though. To answer peewit above, I'll be cycling from Bow Road to Tower Hill and picking up the tube from there, although, as DG also notes above, I shan't be using the death-trap that is CS2.

Beth | 16.06.11 - 11:02 a.m. | #

Funny, the road looks plenty wide enough too - don't see why pedestrians should suffer to make space for cyclists (and I speak as someone who is both).

I imagine these racks will be heavily used because the tube station is in zone 2, meaning people can get off the tube before getting into arm-and-a-leg territory and, if they're quick enough, do the rest of their journey there and back almost for free, once they've paid membership of the bike scheme. Vauxhall station is similarly good for that.

disgruntled | Homepage | 16.06.11 - 11:36 a.m. | #

As usual, interesting stuff. Thanks DG.

Looking at that link to the LBTH document, showing proposed new docking sites across the borough, it seems that there will be none at all within the Canary Wharf estate? I'd have expected Barclays to want one outside their skyscraper HQ. Odd - or am I missing something?

Island Resident | 16.06.11 - 11:47 a.m. | #

Me and my 'best mate' went to Paris, the weekend before last. I've never hired a Boris Bike here because I've got my own, but over there we both got "Velib" bikes to get around. A few times we found:
a) empty docking points, so we couldn't get a bike (or switch an existing one) the way we'd been planning
b) docking points that were full, which was just as bad, because it stopped us returning the ones we'd got
c) entire docking stations that were out of order
Sure, there was no problem that we couldn't get over, but I guess I'd like to think that the scheme we have in London is a bit better in terms of attention to the details.
What you've said here today - at least as far as the hire bikes are concerned - suggests that this may well be the case

RogerW | 16.06.11 - 12:20 p.m. | #

Oh. Just seen the post from Beth about never finding anywhere to dock a Boris Bike, when she's finished.
Erm... sorry.

RogerW | 16.06.11 - 12:24 p.m. | #

BTW, I actually rode along Bow Road, yesterday (by motorbike) and made a point of casting a glance towards the Fairfield Road junction you mentioned recently.
You're still pretty sure that the revised traffic lights aren't going to include a phase for pedestrians to be able to cross?

RogerW | 16.06.11 - 12:30 p.m. | #

Island Resident - I believe there will be stands in Canary Wharf but as its a private estate, the consultation process/timescale is different and so the proposed locations weren't included in the document.

I imagine many Bow Road/Church Boris Bikers will be going south to Canary Wharf rather than west to the City. The stand sizes there are impressively large nonetheless.

Ollie | Homepage | 16.06.11 - 12:58 p.m. | #

I had similar Veli'b issues to RogerW when I was there a couple of weeks ago. The grass isn't always greener on the other side.

The Island Gardens docking station intrigues me...

darryl | Homepage | 16.06.11 - 2:38 p.m. | #

Thanks for researching this and the useful link to the council docs.

I'd use them around Bow and to and from the City. I haven't used them much yet because I couldn't cycle in, or home on one, so I've been using the tube and my own bike. It's frustrating walking past racks of them in town knowing that you couldn't just hop on one and come home.

Cycling along the Whitechapel Road or Bethnal Green Road is not a problem. Just use plenty of observation and common sense.

Roman Road resident | 16.06.11 - 4:46 p.m. | #

Roman Road resident - if you are confident cycling along Whitechapel Road then I am envious of you.

I have been cycling daily for a year now (Boris can count me as a success in getting London cycling), but there is still not a chance in hell that I would cycle along Whitechapel/Mile End/Bow Roads.

I drove along there yesterday and even in non-rush-hour it was awful imagining that I was a cyclist. The visibility from cars is awful, from lorries I imagine it's even worse, and my opinion is that there is just not enough room for two lanes of traffic and the CS2 as well.

As a once-in-a-blue-moon motorist, I would be completely behind any plan to swap a full road-lane to be a dedicated cycle lane instead, perhaps physically separated from the road by a little raised platform. But I'm resigned to the fact that is never going to happen in reality.

Elizabeth | 16.06.11 - 5:18 p.m. | #

I will certainly be objecting to the cycle rack planned for outside St.Mary's Court - extra noise 24/7, also compromising security by part-screening the view of the entrances. Why can't they site outside the Bow Business Centre (ex-Town Hall) where the only residents are on the 5th floor? Also we've had weeks on disruption for the cycle lane work, all the pavement dug up and relaid for this. Presumably this will all start again for the docking station?

Kim | 17.06.11 - 3:21 p.m. | #











TridentScan v2.10.0 | Privacy Policy