Transport for London doesn’t offer the best of service. I’m sure most people who live or work in the capital have lost count of the number of times they have been have been late for an engagement or told their service is not running. This is mainly because the complex task of keeping the city moving is controlled by politcians who indulge in grand, top-down schemes. This creates a culture of misdirection and mismanagement.
The scheme recently launched by TfL to provide 6,000 new ‘hire bikes’ to the capital looked optimistic at first. A fairly simple, yet effective way to relieve congestion on the roads, free-up public transport and cut carbon emissions. Only the public sector could find a way to turn this straight-forward idea into a farce. And they have - spectacularly.
They have now announced that none of the bikes will not be given padlocks and anybody supplying their own padlock will be fined £150. A deposit will be paid before a bike can be hired, and will naturally be unredeemable if the bike is stolen. So effectively TfL is denying the cyclists the right to protect their money. If people cannot lock their hired bikes, they are simply not going to use the scheme.
