TfL orders Serco to sort out Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme problems

Transport for London (TfL) is reported to have sent Serco, operator of the capital’s Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme, a ‘critical improvement plan’ after thousands of members were sent incorrect bills, with many users also finding that they were unable to take bicycles from some of the city’s 400 docking points.

London’s Metro newspaper quoted a TfL spokesman as saying: “The service it [Serco] has provided for our Barclays Cycle Hire users has not reached the consistently high standards we expect,” and added, “we expect to see immediate improvements.”

A spokesman for Serco admitted to Metro that “some aspects of the service still need to be improved,” adding, “the scheme has been a great success and has been hugely popular with Londoners and visitors.”

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that London is to get another bike hire scheme, this one operated by the car hire company Hertz, which will be renting electric bikes for £20 a day from its Marble Arch office.

Supplied by Ultra Motor which has partnered with Hertz to provide the scheme, the car hire business says “these electric two wheelers give you the choice to pedal or cruise under power through its high-power on demand acceleration setting.”

The e-bikes are supplied with a lock, optional helmet, and a copy of the AA Leisure Guide to London including details of a variety of cycling itineraries around the city.