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eMoney News

London bike hire scheme to use contactless smart cards from summer launch
6 Apr 2010

Boris Johnson's bike hire scheme will launch on July 30th, making use of contactless smart card technology.

It was due to launch in May, but delays have pushed back the start date until midsummer.

Four hundred docking stations spread across London are to house six thousand bikes available to hire.

Customers must pay £3 to register with the scheme and then have a choice of pricing options.

Access charges range from £1 for a day to £5 a week to £45 a year.

Users will receive a smart card, not an Oyster card but similar in the technology it uses, to release the bikes.

The first half an hour of travel is free but charges rise quite quickly thereafter.

Prices rise rapidly in order to keep the bikes in constant circulation across the city, something that will be needed if TfL's Tfl's aims of 40,000 extra cycle journeys a day are to be met.

London mayor Boris Johnson said: "What we are creating is not just a cycle hire scheme, but a new form of public transport of the greenest and healthiest of kinds.

"It will become the cornerstone of the cycling revolution in the capital."

Contactless smart cards will allow users to quickly and efficiently unlock the bikes and should help to prevent vandalism as each bike's use can be accurately tracked.