Boris Bikes for Sheffield. Would they work?

[foxy lady]

Yes, and they could charge when they were back in the rack.

 

But they'd also be worth probably £1000 each, instead of £100.

 

But much of the cost is covered by sponsorship, and with bikes being hired out an average of 10 times each per week how long are we talking to reach break even?

 

"Mayor Boris Johnson has revealed that he is in talks with high street banking giant Santander about them replacing Barclays as the sponsor of his bike hire scheme.

 

The Mayor inadvertently disclosed the discussions at a West End fundraising ball for a children’s literacy charity earlier this week.

 

Giving an off-the-cuff speech at the Beanstalk Ball at the May Fair hotel Mr Johnson said “even today we are talking to Santander” about taking over the Boris bikes sponsorship.

 

His comments came as Transport for London officially launched the search for a replacement for Barclays. The bank will end its £5 million a year backing next summer, after five years. TfL wants its successor to pay £5.5 million annually over seven years in return for naming rights and the right to use corporate colours and branding on more than 10,000 cycles. The sponsor’s brand will also go on vehicles, docking points, pay terminals and staff uniforms."

 

£5.5million sponsorship for 10,000 bikes works out at £550/bike.

[Cyclone]

That's not the issue I was alluding to. It was the one of theft.

 

Although a cost of 10 times what London and Liverpool have to pay for the bikes would surely require an awful lot more sponsorship and either high usage or a higher price! (And it's competing with the DayRider on the bus or the tram)...

 

Oh, and electric bikes are going to need more spending for upkeep and maintenance than a regular bike.

 

Presumably that sponsorship covers the maintenance, regular replacement of parts (and probably whole bikes) and the infrastructure needed to run the scheme...

 

Sheffield has 1/10th of the population of London, approx, so maybe we could ask for £500k in sponsorship, which would get us 500 bikes, if all the money were spent on bikes on non on the other costs.

[Uptowngirl]

That's not the issue I was alluding to. It was the one of theft.

 

Although a cost of 10 times what London and Liverpool have to pay for the bikes would surely require an awful lot more sponsorship and either high usage or a higher price! (And it's competing with the DayRider on the bus or the tram)...

 

Oh, and electric bikes are going to need more spending for upkeep and maintenance than a regular bike.

 

Presumably that sponsorship covers the maintenance, regular replacement of parts (and probably whole bikes) and the infrastructure needed to run the scheme...

 

Sheffield has 1/10th of the population of London, approx, so maybe we could ask for £500k in sponsorship, which would get us 500 bikes, if all the money were spent on bikes on non on the other costs.

 

Just round the corner from here they hire bikes for use on the Monsal Trail. They charge £17/day to hire a normal pedal bike and £25/day to hire an electric. There's not really much place to go on them other than Bakewell to Buxton and back but there's never a shortage of takers. They don't seem to need sponsorship for their bikes, just the vision to try an idea and invest in it.

 

I've not heard that bike theft is an issue. Perhaps Sheffield folk become honest when they come out into Derbyshire.

[foxy lady]

Although a cost of 10 times what London and Liverpool have to pay for the bikes would surely require an awful lot more sponsorship and either high usage or a higher price!

 

But as you invented the figures and then presented them as fact it isn't really relevant.

 

I have no idea of the price of an electric version of a Boris Bike and neither have you. But as most of the scheme's costs would be putting in the docking points the difference in price would be pretty small (see I can make up figures too) and an electric bike could attract a premium on the hire charge anyhow.

 

It seems that Edinburgh is contemplating just such a scheme.

 

http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/edinburgh-mulls-electric-bike-hire-scheme-1-2946013

[Mecky]

I don't mind cyclists too much providing they know what they're doing and shift along at a fair old rate. Sadly this doesn't seem to be the case with most syclist commuters I've seen

[perplexed]

I don't mind cyclists too much providing they know what they're doing and shift along at a fair old rate. Sadly this doesn't seem to be the case with most syclist commuters I've seen

 

I spend much of my time passing stationary cars in queues when I ride into the city...

[biotechpete]

10 places.. OK lets have a go.

 

1 Outside railway station/ Pond Street.

2 Meadowhall

3 Graves Park up by animal place.

3 Endcliffe park by tennis centre

4 Outside town hall.

5 Outside Hallam University on Howard Street.

6. Division Street

7 Neepsend 5 Wiers walk.

8 Fitzalan Square

9 Moor Market

10 Millhouses Park..Tesco area.

 

I think you would need more. People like to drop off at different points from where they pick up, so the more hubs you have the better a scheme works.

 

But only six of those are city centre locations, the point being the use of boris bikes is primarily for fairly short irregular journeys which cannot easily be served by public transport. How often are those other journeys like say meadow hall to town hall likely to be used?

[Cyclone]

Just round the corner from here they hire bikes for use on the Monsal Trail. They charge £17/day to hire a normal pedal bike and £25/day to hire an electric. There's not really much place to go on them other than Bakewell to Buxton and back but there's never a shortage of takers. They don't seem to need sponsorship for their bikes, just the vision to try an idea and invest in it.

 

I've not heard that bike theft is an issue. Perhaps Sheffield folk become honest when they come out into Derbyshire.

 

It's a different business model, renting a bike out to tourists.

 

I suspect it wouldn't be profitable if they highest they could charge would £2.50

 

---------- Post added 29-07-2014 at 21:58 ----------

 

But as you invented the figures and then presented them as fact it isn't really relevant.

Oh, I'm sorry, I thought we were just batting an idea around.

 

I didn't invent the price of electric bikes though, I google it and picked the cheapest model available.

 

I have no idea of the price of an electric version of a Boris Bike and neither have you.

Perhaps you're unable to speculate, but I'm not.

I can tell you how much the cheapest commercial electric assist bike costs, and it's very similar in design to the BB. So I can speculate with some reasonable accuracy about how much the eBB would cost.

But as most of the scheme's costs would be putting in the docking points the difference in price would be pretty small (see I can make up figures too) and an electric bike could attract a premium on the hire charge anyhow.

Making figures up to see if the idea fly's is a good idea... Try to make up sensible numbers and you get a good indication of whether it's a good idea or not.

 

It seems that Edinburgh is contemplating just such a scheme.

 

http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/edinburgh-mulls-electric-bike-hire-scheme-1-2946013

 

It has a hill or two. But from memory I think it's still a lot flatter than Sheffield unless you're going to the castle.

 

---------- Post added 29-07-2014 at 21:59 ----------

 

I don't mind cyclists too much providing they know what they're doing and shift along at a fair old rate. Sadly this doesn't seem to be the case with most syclist commuters I've seen

 

What is your commuting route on which you see these commuting cyclists?

[foxy lady]

Oh, I'm sorry, I thought we were just batting an idea around.

 

I didn't invent the price of electric bikes though, I google it and picked the cheapest model available.

Perhaps you're unable to speculate, but I'm not.

I can tell you how much the cheapest commercial electric assist bike costs, and it's very similar in design to the BB. So I can speculate with some reasonable accuracy about how much the eBB would cost.

Making figures up to see if the idea fly's is a good idea... Try to make up sensible numbers and you get a good indication of whether it's a good idea or not.

 

Well only if you use the same criteria for both types of bike. I see a suitable Raleigh bike for the standard. Not at the £100 you drempt up but at around £380. I also saw a suitable Raleigh electric at around £750. So hardly the 10 times dearer that your figures try to imply. Then there is the infrastructure which is the major cost. I can't see how the two would be much different.

So if you are going to band around figures it is perhaps best to band around figures that have some meaning rather than some highly innaccurate clap trap that won't actually contribute to a discussion.

[Cyclone]

You think BB cost £380... Okay. Post us a link so we can compare the reality with this Raleigh bike.

 

I think if you check the maths that I actually used a figure of 5* as much.

 

You basically seem to be saying, you'd rather not have someone disagree with you. Particularly if they speculate about some costs and try to explain why they disagree.

 

If you just want a love in, where everyone agrees, I'd suggest you go to the pub and tell your friends about the bike idea.

If you want a discussion, which I was trying to have with you, then feel free, but rather than being rude, introduce your own numbers and show why you think it will work.