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@dulwichrider
I have tried to use the bikes around 10-15 times in the last couple of weeks. At various times of day and night, largely from the City and West End.
I am coming to the conclusion that for people like myself - trying to replace 20-30 mins walks / short hops on tubes in busy parts of town - it doesn't work at present - the system is too small and full of bugs.
Of my attempted rides on the bike, less than half have been successful. The most common problem is a lack of bikes. Yesterday this was unsurprising (the strike and all) but even then the bikes must have been somewhere. Have we got to have much greater knowledge of the flow of bikes to make the present system work? The app and internet couldn't tell me. (And no, bikes weren't being deposited around the City / Liverpool St!). I have had the same problem with a lack of bikes in Holborn, Soho and Clerkenwell, at various times.
This means that I cannot plan to use a bike to get from A to B. I have tried to approach it like this, but it has failed (and I've missed appointments etc because of it). Instead, as an unreliable service, it's a bonus /add-on for a bit of a laugh if you're lucky, rather than a form of transport.
As I have been saying for years, a better use of the 150 million quid would have been on reliable and safe bike parking hubs for commuters.