On 4 Aug, 10:08, Bruce wrote:

Given the time, perhaps people had hired these bikes elsewhere and
gone to the NFT to watch movies?

When I saw the 38 out of 40 slots occupied I thought 'Two bikes
missing', and wondered if they were in use or never there, or stolen?
Of course, this isn't right; you don't want all the slots filled, you
want some full so you can hire a bike, and some empty so you can
return one. So what do you do if you hire a bike, ride it to wherever
you need to go, but when you get there you cannot find an empty slot
in a docking station, what do you do then? I suppose that it's not
that different to driving there, and then not being to find a parking
space,but since I'm used to either walking, or taking a bus, or
occasionally a train, I'm not used to that problem. What I originally
saw a an almost full docking station with lots of bikes available to
hire could soon become a completely full docking station, with no room
to return one.

wrote:


When I saw the 38 out of 40 slots occupied I thought 'Two bikes
missing', and wondered if they were in use or never there, or stolen?
Of course, this isn't right; you don't want all the slots filled, you
want some full so you can hire a bike, and some empty so you can
return one. So what do you do if you hire a bike, ride it to wherever
you need to go, but when you get there you cannot find an empty slot
in a docking station, what do you do then? I suppose that it's not
that different to driving there, and then not being to find a parking
space,but since I'm used to either walking, or taking a bus, or
occasionally a train, I'm not used to that problem. What I originally
saw a an almost full docking station with lots of bikes available to
hire could soon become a completely full docking station, with no room
to return one.

Apparently the payment machines can tell you where the nearest
alternative docking stations are. They're usually just a couple of
blocks away, so you shouldn't have too far to go.

"solar penguin" wrote in message

wrote:


When I saw the 38 out of 40 slots occupied I thought 'Two bikes
missing', and wondered if they were in use or never there, or stolen?
Of course, this isn't right; you don't want all the slots filled, you
want some full so you can hire a bike, and some empty so you can
return one. So what do you do if you hire a bike, ride it to
wherever you need to go, but when you get there you cannot find an
empty slot in a docking station, what do you do then? I suppose
that it's not that different to driving there, and then not being to
find a parking space,but since I'm used to either walking, or taking
a bus, or occasionally a train, I'm not used to that problem. What
I originally saw a an almost full docking station with lots of bikes
available to hire could soon become a completely full docking
station, with no room to return one.

Apparently the payment machines can tell you where the nearest
alternative docking stations are. They're usually just a couple of
blocks away, so you shouldn't have too far to go.

And you get up to 15 minutes (free) extra time if this happens.

On Aug 7, 12:03*pm, "Recliner" wrote:

"solar penguin" wrote:

wrote:

When I saw the 38 out of 40 slots occupied I thought 'Two bikes
missing', and wondered if they were in use or never there, or stolen?
Of course, this isn't right; you don't want all the slots filled, you
want some full so you can hire a bike, and some empty so you can
return one. *So what do you do if you hire a bike, ride it to
wherever you need to go, but when you get there you cannot find an
empty slot in a docking station, what do you do then? *I suppose
that it's not that different to driving there, and then not being to
find a parking space,but since I'm used to either walking, or taking
a bus, or occasionally a train, I'm not used to that problem. *What
I originally saw a an almost full docking station with lots of bikes
available to hire could soon become a completely full docking
station, with no room to return one.

Apparently the payment machines can tell you where the nearest
alternative docking stations are. *They're usually just a couple of
blocks away, so you shouldn't have too far to go.

And you get up to 15 minutes (free) extra time if this happens.

I think the 15 minute allowance applies across the board (i.e. there
aren't location specific allowances). Of course one does need to do a
transaction at the full up docking station in order to request the
extra time allowance.

When I eventually get my membership key, then I look forward to
testing it out first hand.

"Mizter T" wrote in message
...

I think the 15 minute allowance applies across the board (i.e. there
aren't location specific allowances). Of course one does need to do a
transaction at the full up docking station in order to request the
extra time allowance.

Be odd if towards the end of the day when most stands are getting full the
system gradually sends you back to the original starting point - will a
refund be made automatically?

:-)

Paul

On Aug 7, 12:26*pm, "Paul Scott"
wrote:

"Mizter T" wrote:
I think the 15 minute allowance applies across the board (i.e. there
aren't location specific allowances). Of course one does need to do a
transaction at the full up docking station in order to request the
extra time allowance.

Be odd if towards the end of the day when most stands are getting full the
system gradually sends you back to the original starting point - will a
refund be made automatically?

:-)

Ha! Though to spoil your fun, I don't think one gets multiple 15
minute allowances to find somewhere else to dock the bike, it's just
the one (15 minute allowance that is).

In message , at 12:03:42 on
Sat, 7 Aug 2010, Recliner remarked:
Apparently the payment machines can tell you where the nearest
alternative docking stations are. They're usually just a couple of
blocks away, so you shouldn't have too far to go.

And you get up to 15 minutes (free) extra time if this happens.

I think that's the first time I heard a figure put on it. Does that 15
minutes daisy-chain? What if the alternate one is full by the time you
get there, another 15 minutes added?
--
Roland Perry

On Aug 8, 7:24*am, Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 12:03:42 on
Sat, 7 Aug 2010, Recliner remarked:

Apparently the payment machines can tell you where the nearest
alternative docking stations are. *They're usually just a couple of
blocks away, so you shouldn't have too far to go.

And you get up to 15 minutes (free) extra time if this happens.

I think that's the first time I heard a figure put on it. Does that 15
minutes daisy-chain? What if the alternate one is full by the time you
get there, another 15 minutes added?

I don't think so, but don't know for sure.

From the "How it works" webpage:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/15021.aspx

---quote---
If the docking station's full when you return your cycle, check the
terminal to see where there are free docking points. You can get up to
15 minutes extra time if you need to cycle to another station.
---/quote---