Total Barclays/Santander bike hires:2011 7.1M2012 9.5M2013 8.0M2014 10.0M2015 9.9M2016 10.3M2017 10.4MQuite a few people have asked me to get 'Boris Bikes' in Hounslow but they have a substantial cost to the council whereas the Mobike doesn't cost anything.As I said, this is a test to see if it works: it has been tested in Ealing in recent months. very few comments on EalingW5.com though these tend to be negative, but I found this:"Usage:- Just under 2500 people have downloaded the app. - Just under 550 have paid the deposit and are using Mobikes. - There were 682 trips on Mobikes in the second week up from just over 300 in the first week.- The longest journeys include St Pauls, Oxford Street and Kings Cross."Parking and Parking Locations:- The Council did receive a complaint from a business concerned about a parking location next to it. This was responded to and no further correspondence has been received. - On day one the Head Teacher of Twyford School removed all the bikes from the parking location near the school. Mobike have spoken with them, retrieved the bikes and there have been no further issues/concerns at this location.- Bikes taken out of the Acton area are being picked up quite quickly and returned. - Mobike are aware that some of the vinyl tape is coming up because it were put down in the rain (prior to launch). They want to replace all of them, but need a dry period to do it."Complaints and Public Comments:- The Council have still only received the one complaint and have only received a very low volume of enquiries/comments through the LBE call centre. - The Mobike call centre is also very quiet compared to Manchester. The biggest number of calls relate to bikes left on their own as opposed to people putting them in the parking areas, i.e. “your stolen bike has been left here”."Anti-social behaviour:- No bikes in Acton have been stolen or had the locks smashed. They currently have 99% of bikes operable. The most common problem is the mudguards being broken.- A few bikes were taken onto (or into) private property, but Mobike have recovered the bikes."At this stage council officers are very pleased with the way the scheme has started and with the performance of the Mobike operations team."That comment was back in October so the scheme was very new then. I have received one direct complaint - about too many bikes in one location - and I think they will reduce the number there.
Guy Lambert ● 2750d