London ride share schemes
Posted: 27 Sep 2023, 1:07pm
I had a go on 'Forest', formerly Human Forest. https://www.humanforest.co.uk/
The ebikes are everywhere in Central London and a bit beyond.
They provide this map:
It works as follows:
* you have a 'minute bank', which you can build by buying minutes, watching ads, referring friends, and redeeming promotion codes (e.g., 'London' for 20 minutes free).
* referral friend minutes do not expire
* promotion codes expires after 7 days
* parking in a designated bay awards 1 minute, which expires after 5 days
* watching ads awards 1 minute, to 3 ads daily, which expire after 7 days
* you can buy minute bundles, which expire after 1x24, 3x24, 7x24, or 30x24 hours, depending on the bundle purchased.
* you get 10 minutes a day without eating into your minute bank
* once you run out of minutes, minutes cost 29p/minute. Students, NHS, emergency workers, age 60+ can reduce this to 23p/minute by sending in ID.
There is a 90p daily 'service fee', which you don't pay if you have a bundle. There is also a £1-per-ride parking fee (reduced to 25p in Camden), which again you don't pay if you have a bundle
Currently the bundles are:
* £3 for 30 minutes valid for 24 hours with unlimited hires = £3/day
* £6 for 60 minutes valid for 3 days (1 day = 24 hours) with unlimited hires = £2/day
* £15 for 200 minutes valid for 7 days with unlimited hires = £2.14/day
* £25 for 480 minutes, valid for 30 days with unlimited hires = £0.83/day
Since you get 10 minutes free, plus you can watch 3 ads easily to get 3 minutes (if you plan ahead you can build up to 7 days worth = 21 minutes), for one short journey in a day you can just pay the £1.90 (75p in Camden). On the other hand, the daily bundle does last 24 hours so can be used in the evening of one day and then the day time of the next, if this is convenient, giving a total of 2 x 10 daily free minutes + the 30 minutes bundle.
Currently the monthly plan costs £60 for 420 minutes per week. This is quite expensive, because they are pushing it as cycle2work, in order to maximise their profits at the expense of the taxpayer. If you don't want to commit to this, the £25 for 30 days/480 minutes, is likely to be cheaper for regular commuting from rail stations when considering the 10 daily free minutes.
The bikes seem ok, I have seen people claim the seat post doesn't go up enough, but they are scarcely bikes - the motor kicks in with the slightest pressure on the pedals, so more like an emoped than anything else, so doesn't need to be that ergonomic.
It is essentially cheaper, faster and more convenient than using public transport, although that depends - for example, a train journey to a London terminus followed by bike is likely to be cheaper than combined travelcard, whereas for those commuting by underground journey that might not be the case.
The app needs some work in that there is no GPS functionality to help you find a bike or to reach your destination, and they haven't partnered with Google maps, which only give information on Tier, Dott, and Lime.
So:
* Forest £1 + 19p/minute (but 10-13 minutes free daily)
* Lime £1 + 27p/minute (no free daily minutes) or electric scooters £1+17p/minute (no free minutes)
Lime have the following pass options:
* £6 for 60 minutes for 3 days unlimited
* £11 for 120 minutes for 5 days
* £20 for 250 minutes for 7 days
AND
* £9 per month for 'LimePrime', which removes the £1 fee, but still leaves you paying 27p/minute, so is essentially useless.
It is more expensive than Forest, so i suppose the thing going for it is it seems to go a bit further west; on the negative side £11 for 120 minutes in 5 days is much worse than £8 for 170 minutes in 5 days.....
The classic 'Boris Bikes' aka Santander are left in the dust, as they require you to use docking stations, which can easily add 15 minutes to a journey. However, you can ride one for
* £1.65 for each 30 minutes one off on a non-ebike
* £3.30 for each 30 minutes one off on an ebike
* £20 per month or £120/year for unlimited 60-minute rides on non-ebikes, plus £1/hire if the bike is an e-bike
If you are happy with docking stations and no motor, the monthly/annual subscription works out much cheaper than the electric bike options.
Dott have ended their ebikes and are only offering escooters.
Tier charge:
* £1 + 23p/minute
OR
* £5/month for unlimited unlocks (£1 for first month)
* £6 for unlimited unlocks + 60 minutes for 24 hours
* £10 for 5 unlocks + 50 minutes for 7 days
They are also not allowed to be parked in Camden or the City of London, making them useless for many people, on top of being expensive.
I expect the above information to change in the future; it is accurate as of today, but probably things will be very different in 5 years. At present I would suggest that at around £30/month based on a 46-week working year, the Forest ebikes are a very good deal and make more sense for commuters than folding bikes or trying to leave a bike in crime-ridden London. If one commutes from home to work on ones own bike then using your own bike may come out ahead. Also they really aren't great for long journeys or high speeds - they will essentially do 15mph all day long without effort, and though I didn't really try, I perceive them as electric Boris bikes - clunkers with motors without any aerodynamics - so an exotic electrically aided road bike would be a lot faster, although expensive...
The ebikes are everywhere in Central London and a bit beyond.
They provide this map:
It works as follows:
* you have a 'minute bank', which you can build by buying minutes, watching ads, referring friends, and redeeming promotion codes (e.g., 'London' for 20 minutes free).
* referral friend minutes do not expire
* promotion codes expires after 7 days
* parking in a designated bay awards 1 minute, which expires after 5 days
* watching ads awards 1 minute, to 3 ads daily, which expire after 7 days
* you can buy minute bundles, which expire after 1x24, 3x24, 7x24, or 30x24 hours, depending on the bundle purchased.
* you get 10 minutes a day without eating into your minute bank
* once you run out of minutes, minutes cost 29p/minute. Students, NHS, emergency workers, age 60+ can reduce this to 23p/minute by sending in ID.
There is a 90p daily 'service fee', which you don't pay if you have a bundle. There is also a £1-per-ride parking fee (reduced to 25p in Camden), which again you don't pay if you have a bundle
Currently the bundles are:
* £3 for 30 minutes valid for 24 hours with unlimited hires = £3/day
* £6 for 60 minutes valid for 3 days (1 day = 24 hours) with unlimited hires = £2/day
* £15 for 200 minutes valid for 7 days with unlimited hires = £2.14/day
* £25 for 480 minutes, valid for 30 days with unlimited hires = £0.83/day
Since you get 10 minutes free, plus you can watch 3 ads easily to get 3 minutes (if you plan ahead you can build up to 7 days worth = 21 minutes), for one short journey in a day you can just pay the £1.90 (75p in Camden). On the other hand, the daily bundle does last 24 hours so can be used in the evening of one day and then the day time of the next, if this is convenient, giving a total of 2 x 10 daily free minutes + the 30 minutes bundle.
Currently the monthly plan costs £60 for 420 minutes per week. This is quite expensive, because they are pushing it as cycle2work, in order to maximise their profits at the expense of the taxpayer. If you don't want to commit to this, the £25 for 30 days/480 minutes, is likely to be cheaper for regular commuting from rail stations when considering the 10 daily free minutes.
The bikes seem ok, I have seen people claim the seat post doesn't go up enough, but they are scarcely bikes - the motor kicks in with the slightest pressure on the pedals, so more like an emoped than anything else, so doesn't need to be that ergonomic.
It is essentially cheaper, faster and more convenient than using public transport, although that depends - for example, a train journey to a London terminus followed by bike is likely to be cheaper than combined travelcard, whereas for those commuting by underground journey that might not be the case.
The app needs some work in that there is no GPS functionality to help you find a bike or to reach your destination, and they haven't partnered with Google maps, which only give information on Tier, Dott, and Lime.
So:
* Forest £1 + 19p/minute (but 10-13 minutes free daily)
* Lime £1 + 27p/minute (no free daily minutes) or electric scooters £1+17p/minute (no free minutes)
Lime have the following pass options:
* £6 for 60 minutes for 3 days unlimited
* £11 for 120 minutes for 5 days
* £20 for 250 minutes for 7 days
AND
* £9 per month for 'LimePrime', which removes the £1 fee, but still leaves you paying 27p/minute, so is essentially useless.
It is more expensive than Forest, so i suppose the thing going for it is it seems to go a bit further west; on the negative side £11 for 120 minutes in 5 days is much worse than £8 for 170 minutes in 5 days.....
The classic 'Boris Bikes' aka Santander are left in the dust, as they require you to use docking stations, which can easily add 15 minutes to a journey. However, you can ride one for
* £1.65 for each 30 minutes one off on a non-ebike
* £3.30 for each 30 minutes one off on an ebike
* £20 per month or £120/year for unlimited 60-minute rides on non-ebikes, plus £1/hire if the bike is an e-bike
If you are happy with docking stations and no motor, the monthly/annual subscription works out much cheaper than the electric bike options.
Dott have ended their ebikes and are only offering escooters.
Tier charge:
* £1 + 23p/minute
OR
* £5/month for unlimited unlocks (£1 for first month)
* £6 for unlimited unlocks + 60 minutes for 24 hours
* £10 for 5 unlocks + 50 minutes for 7 days
They are also not allowed to be parked in Camden or the City of London, making them useless for many people, on top of being expensive.
I expect the above information to change in the future; it is accurate as of today, but probably things will be very different in 5 years. At present I would suggest that at around £30/month based on a 46-week working year, the Forest ebikes are a very good deal and make more sense for commuters than folding bikes or trying to leave a bike in crime-ridden London. If one commutes from home to work on ones own bike then using your own bike may come out ahead. Also they really aren't great for long journeys or high speeds - they will essentially do 15mph all day long without effort, and though I didn't really try, I perceive them as electric Boris bikes - clunkers with motors without any aerodynamics - so an exotic electrically aided road bike would be a lot faster, although expensive...