page_title: List of bicycle-sharing systems
section_title: England
hierarchical_section_title: List of bicycle-sharing systems / Europe / United Kingdom / England
caption_attribution_description: English: Image of London Barclays Cycle Hire bicycle taken by myself
context_page_description: This is a list of bicycle-sharing systems, both docked and dockless. As of December 2016, roughly 1000 cities worldwide have a bike-sharing program.
context_section_description: In 1993, a Green Bike Scheme bike sharing programme was initiated in Cambridge, United Kingdom, using a fleet of some 300 bicycles. The overwhelming majority of the fleet were stolen or missing within a year of the programme's introduction, and the Green Bike Scheme was abandoned.
  In an attempt to overcome losses from theft, the next innovation adopted by bike sharing programmes was the use of so-called 'smart technology'. One of the first 'smart bike' programmes was the Grippa™ bike storage rack system used in Portsmouth's Bikeabout scheme. The Bikeabout scheme was launched in October 1995 by the University of Portsmouth, UK as part of its Green Transport Plan in an effort to cut car travel by staff and students between campus sites. Funded in part by the EU's ENTRANCE programme, the Bikeabout scheme was a "smart card" fully automated system. For a small fee, users were issued 'smart cards' with magnetic stripes to be swiped through an electronic card reader at a covered 'bike store' kiosk, unlocking the bike from its storage rack. CCTV camera surveillance was installed at all bike stations in an effort to limit vandalism. Upon arriving at the destination station, the smart card was used to open a cycle rack and record the bike's safe return. A charge was automatically registered on the user's card if the bike was returned with damage or if the time exceeded the three-hour maximum. Implemented with an original budget of approximately £200,000, the Portsmouth Bikeabout scheme was never very successful in terms of rider usage, in part due to the limited number of bike kiosks and hours of operation. Seasonal weather restrictions and concerns over unjustified charges for bike damage also imposed barriers to usage. The Bikeabout program was discontinued by the University in 1998 in favour of expanded minibus service; the total costs of the Bikeabout programme were never disclosed.  Following the discontinuation of the University of Portsmouth's Bikeabout programme in 1998 (it had been launched in 1996), the introduction of new bicycle share systems proceeded more slowly in the United Kingdom than in the rest of Europe.
  With initial sponsorship from Barclays and later Santander, Transport for London launched a cycle hire scheme in London, where hire under 30 minutes is free from special bicycle stands across the city, after a daily, monthly or annual charge has been paid.
  Outside of London, the largest is the hire-a-bike operation in Blackpool, operated by Hourbike, with 60 stations and 500 bikes in the scheme. This scheme uses both RFID membership cards and instant point-of-sale memberships to cater for both residential users and the very many visitors that go to the resort every year. Hourbike also has schemes in Lincoln, Reading, Liverpool, Nottingham and Southport in England as well as Dumfries, Scotland.
  In 2017, ofo, a Beijing-based bike share company, announced plans to provide shared bike services to several British cities. In 2018, the company withdrew service to several British towns and reduced service area coverage to others as part of a global restructuring plan.
  In May 2017, Bristol became the first European city to have a hire-a-bike system operated by YoBike.
  Some bike-sharing schemes use mobile phone apps to reserve or sign out bikes.  In the UK, OYBike delivered small-scale operations at 2 universities, 3 business parks, 3 London boroughs, and a private hotel chain in London until 2011.  Like Munich's Call-a-Bike, OYBike used mobile phone technology to log use and charge for hires and can set up hire points in as little as 10 minutes.
  Brompton Bike Hire has 40 docks across 25 major locations in the UK, starting at £2.50 for 24 hours and is using the same hardware as BIXI Montréal, members can rent a folding Brompton bike. The locations of the docks include London, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Reading, Southampton and Oxford.
  in 2007, (another source gives early 2008) London mayor Ken Livingstone promised that an extensive bicycle sharing system modelled on the Paris Vélib' system would be introduced in L
caption: Barclays Cycle Hire, London, UK started in 2010
exif: {"Image Make": "Apple", "Image Model": "iPhone 3G", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "3.1.3", "Image DateTime": "2010:07:26 18:28:55", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "192", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[51, 757/25, 0]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "W", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[0, 169/25, 0]", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[18, 28, 268/5]", "Image GPSInfo": "434", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:07:26 18:28:55", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:07:26 18:28:55", "EXIF ApertureValue": "4281/1441", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Average", "EXIF Flash": "No flash function", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "800", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "600", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto"}