Reading bike hire scheme's future in chaos

I remember the justification for those fragments of cycle lane being that they warned drivers that a bike might appear.

About Readibike, while it feels churlish to complain about money being spent on cycling, to me it also comes across as a vanity project. Putting in hire bikes must have seemed the easy option by comparison with putting in road layout changes to make cycling more appealing. That would involve occasionally inconveniencing drivers and the council is clearly petrified about doing that.

As an ex-resident of Reading (for nearly 50 years!), I had to check on Google StreetView to see if that amazing cycle lane still existed across the junction with Gower Street and the Oxford road. I was "pleased" to see it appears to still be there, a little faded, but still in existence.

I think this exemplifies Reading's commitment to cycling infrstructure.

Frankly this is nothing but a council vanity project and I, for one, wouldn't be unhappy to see it disappear. It is rare to see a Readybike in use: Szegerely's figures sound about right. In the interests of full disclosure I shall admit that I once used a Readybike, it's not an experience I wish to repeat. The bikes might be alright at low speed on a cyclepath, but in Reading's hostile road environment the lack of manoeverability and effective braking make them unsafe. I ride on one of these would be enough to convince a novice cyclist to get back in his car.

A better use of the money would be to improve the transport environment for cyclists, but in view of Reading Council's track record on this I'm not holding out any great hope.

The council recently presented figures that showed each bike does an average of 50 miles per month (1st 2 years of use, till 06/16) over 11 journeys per bike per month. That's 1 journey every 3 days roughly per bike, averaging 4.5 miles.
So, with £1.2M setup costs, plus 3 years running costs at £130Kpa, thats £1.6M to date spent. Thats £225 per bike per month running cost over 3 years. Or £20 per journey. Or £4.50 per mile. 
And the business case: £1 price per hour (assuming 1 journey). Net loss: £225 - £11 = £214 per bike per month  (3 years). You don't need a professor to tell you that won't work. That's about 250 families paying council tax every month to cover it.

Gets worse. Sponsorship cost ("list price" before negotiation) is £3400 per 10 bikes per year. That means at most this deal is worth £6800 towards the annual running cost of £130K+. So just another £125K+ to go.
 

So the the council secured a £25 million sustainable transport fund and are now claiming they don't have the money?!