TfL withholds payment to London cycle hire operator

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While London’s Barclays cycle hire scheme continues to attract more and more users, particularly in terms of casual use, all is not well behind the scenes.

Serco, which runs the scheme for the Transport of London (TfL), has had a payment of £5m withheld for not meeting yearly targets set in its contract to operate the system.

High standards

TfL told media outlets that Serco had not been reaching “consistently high standards” with the performance the scheme and a critical improvement plan was being issued to Serco in order to improve aspects of the it.

There has been anecdotal evidence for sometime that users have been overcharged when taking out a bike due to technical problems. Users have highlighted a high number of faulty bikes with some members and casual users unable to release bicycles due to mechanical failure but still being charged. There has also been problems with the call centre that deals with payment and technical queries. These are all parts of the Serco operation.

Daily usuage

TfL figures suggest that on average 22,000 people use the cycle hire scheme daily in London, sharing the 5,000 or cycle hire bikes that are available.

Serco’s has a contract to run the London scheme over six years in a deal worth £140m to the firm.