Greetings.

I remember that when the Cycle Hire scheme was first launched, people were
saying that you could escape the usage fees for long trips by docking your
bicycle every half hour for five minutes. (See for example
http://blog.evanscycles.com/commuter...e-hire-scheme-
review/.) Where exactly does this "five minutes" figure come from? I
can't find a reference to it on the TfL website. The "Costs" page for the
scheme at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/14811.aspx simply says
"If all your journeys are under 30 minutes, all you pay is your access
fee"; it doesn't indicate that your journeys need to be five minutes apart.
But this is contradicted by the folding leaflet/map I received with my
access key, which states in the "Usage charge" section, "Hint: You can ride
all day for £1 if you make multiple journeys of under 30 minutes each."

So which is it? Is chaining 30-minute journeys free, or is it £1 per day?
And do you have to wait 5 minutes between journeys, or don't you?

Regards,
Tristan

--
_
_V.-o Tristan Miller Space is limited
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(7_\\ http://www.nothingisreal.com/ To finish what you

On Fri, 08 Oct 2010 15:48:57 +0100, Tristan Miller wrote:
I remember that when the Cycle Hire scheme was first launched, people were
saying that you could escape the usage fees for long trips by docking your
bicycle every half hour for five minutes. (See for example
http://blog.evanscycles.com/commuter...e-hire-scheme-
review/.) Where exactly does this "five minutes" figure come from?

T&Cs section 7.5 at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/termsandconditions/15869.aspx

"A 5 minute time interval is required between the end of one journey
and the commencement of another journey. If you (or an Additional User)
attempt to undock a Cycle from a Docking Point within the 5 minute time
interval, this will be treated as a continuation of the previous journey
and the Period of Use and Usage Charge shall be calculated accordingly."

On Oct 8, 3:48*pm, Tristan Miller
wrote:

So which is it? *Is chaining 30-minute journeys free, or is it £1 per day? *
And do you have to wait 5 minutes between journeys, or don't you?

It's not free, per se, it just won't charge you over and above your
access fee. If you're on the Daily plan, then the first time you
insert your access key in a 24 hour period, your account will be
charged £1. Provided none of your individual hires in the next 24
hours last longer than 30 minutes, you won't pay any more than that
initial £1.

As David's quoted from the T&Cs, if you reach 30 minutes and return a
hire, you'll need to wait five minutes before taking out another bike.
I'm not sure if this is enforced by the system (ie it won't let you
take a bike), or if you just have to use self-restraint.

On Oct 8, 4:52*pm, martin wrote:

As David's quoted from the T&Cs, if you reach 30 minutes and return a
hire, you'll need to wait five minutes before taking out another bike.
I'm not sure if this is enforced by the system (ie it won't let you
take a bike), or if you just have to use self-restraint.

This is definitely enforced by the system. For the five minutes after
you return a bike, you will get a red light and won't be able to
undock another one. Once the five minutes is up you can take another
one (or the same one if it's still there) and you're away. If the dock
is full when you attempt to dock it you can add another 'free' 15
minutes at the terminal.

There's a very popular forum for anyone wanting to discuss the London
cycle hire scheme at:

http://www.borisbikes.co.uk/