The ‘Boris Bikes’ scheme that was launched in 2010 was viewed as a popular and innovative solution to help people get around London in a more environmentally friendly way. However, the economics of the scheme did not add up, as the revenues that came from advertising did not generate enough to cover the costs, and so the cost per bike amounted to £3,000 a year.
The cycle-hire market has now been revolutionised by a simple technological innovation that means that instead of the bike needing to be locked and unlocked in a physical location, the locking mechanism has gone into the actual bike itself. GPS sensors help potential riders locate available bikes on a smartphone app, which they can then book and unlock by either scanning a QR code or using radio frequency identification. This means that bikes can be picked up and left wherever they are taken to. The energy used to run the technology on the bike comes from a not-so new innovation, the dynamo.
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