Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on the news that construction work has now started on the south west expansion of the bike hire scheme, said:
“It is great news that by Christmas the bike hire scheme will be operating in new areas in Wandsworth, Hammersmith and Fulham, Lambeth and Kensington and Chelsea.
“However in addition to the scheme needing to expand even further, especially in south London, it needs to desperately improve its performance as well. Above all else we need to tackle the problem that too many docking stations are either completely full, or even worse completely empty, sometimes for hours each day.
“The hiring of the bikes must also be made far easier, especially for people that just wish to use the scheme on an occasional basis. A good start would be introducing contactless payment for casual users.
“The expansion and improved performance of the bike hire scheme must go hand in hand.”