A bike hire scheme is being launched in London today and so far more than 11,000 people have signed up for the 5,000 bicycles which will be available at special docking stations. Transport for London admitted it was expecting "teething problems". But it insisted that although members outnumbered bikes, people would not face a shortage. [Who's going to maintain 5000 bicycles? That's an awful lot of puncture repair kits.]
Boris photographed with some of his bikes
Already, more than 12,450 keys have been handed out to Londoners enabling them to unlock bikes left at 330 docking points across the city. The keys cost £3 and the cost of using the cycles varies from £1 for an hour to £50 for 24 hours. Docking stations will be available in Camden, City of London, Hackney, Islington, Lambeth, Kensington and Chelsea, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Westminster and several of the Royal Parks. Boris Johnson officially launches the scheme at 0800 BST in Jubilee Park on the South Bank. With a target of 6,000 cycles and 400 docking stations by the end of this year, London's cycle hire scheme will cost £140 million over 6 years.
