More than 100,000 journeys made on London's hire bikes in first fortnight

Two weeks after its launch on 30 July, London’s Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme has already broken the 100,000-journey barrier as Mayor Boris Johnson hailed the success of the initiative, which he said had been enthusiastically welcomed by people living and working in the capital.

So far, 44,000 people - just over 1 in 200 of London's 7.5 million population, suggesting the initiative has ample room to grow -  have signed up to join the scheme, which is currently only open to people who have signed up through the Transport for London (TfL) website, but will be thrown open to the wider public shortly. On the busiest days, up to 14,000 trips have been made on the navy blue “Boris Bikes.”

Mr Johnson said: “Despite the soggy weather, tens of thousands of Londoners have been choosing Cycle Hire to get about – giving an emphatic thumbs up to the scheme. The Capital’s streets are now chiming to the sound of bicycle bells, and twinkling with the LED lights of our fantastic bikes.”

He continued: “These are the early days of the scheme, and we are still learning and improving the system. I appreciate Londoners’ patience and would ask everyone to bear with us. However it is now clear that, with 100,000 journeys already made, there is an indefatigable enthusiasm for cycling that is making Barclays Cycle Hire one of the city’s success stories.”

TfL added that a further 16 docking stations have been added since the scheme was launched, taking the total number in operation to 331.