Boris Bike use doubles as Londoners react to Tube strike

By 5pm on Thursday, Boris Bikes had been hired at 101 per cent of the rate seen on Wednesday, reports The Independent. There had been 42,996 hires on Thursday compared to 21,439 the previous day and Transport for London (TfL) had reacted by putting on additional temporary hubs to cope with demand.

A TfL spokeswoman told the London Evening Standard: “We have allocated space to allow users to bring their bikes to us when they're finished with them if they are unable to find an available docking station.”

Extra cycle hubs were put in place in a range of locations, including Houghton Street near the Strand, Finsbury Square, Butler Place, Waterloo, Stonecutter Street and Belgrove Street.

One user, Matt Evans, told the BBC: "I first took one of these at the last Tube strike and now I use them all the time. I think this is good, it makes people think about exploring London above ground."

TfL Rail services and the Overground were running, but both networks were stretched to full capacity and while 200 extra buses were put on, large queues were common.

Against a backdrop of huge demand for taxis, Uber was accused of exploiting customers after tripling its fares during the strike. The Guardian reports how the taxi booking app often increases charges when demand is high due to its ‘dynamic pricing’ system.

A spokesman said: “During times of peak demand – when demand massively outstrips supply – fares increase temporarily to incentivise more drivers to work on the platform. As soon as the demand drops or supply increases, the price comes back down.”

Before the strike, we put together our cycle commuting top tips – but even now it’s over, a bike remains perhaps the best way to beat the traffic. Quieter, cheaper and in many cases quicker, commuting by bike can also be fun, so take a look if this week’s events have persuaded you to take the plunge.