Minale Tattersfield designs London bike hire scheme

Minale Tattersfield is designing the London bicycle hire scheme being spearheaded by Mayor of London Boris Johnson.

Transport for London appointed Minale Tattersfield to work on branding and 3D designs for the bikes, docking points and information terminals in September 2008.

The group is working with TfL’s in-house design, engineering and communications teams. It has just produced the first visual renders of how the scheme will look once it launches in 2010. A TfL source claims that the visuals are ‘just about exactly as the scheme will look’.

The terminals will feature TfL branding, although it is still uncertain whether the scheme’s eventual operator will be able to add its branding to the street furniture and bikes.

‘We went through a series of branding models, in some of which the scheme had its own branding,’ reveals a source close to the project. ‘But ultimately it was decided this is very much a TfL initiative.’

About three months ago, TfL decided that the design should also be influenced by Applied Information Group’s Legible London wayfinding scheme, which is being piloted in the capital.

‘It is now linking into the Legible London wayfinding project, particularly using the colour scheme, so that there is visual link-up between the pedestrian and bike hire schemes,’ says the source.

AIG is not working on the bike hire scheme, however.

As with the Legible London project, there will be some flexibility built into the designs to allow it to appeal to planning departments of different London boroughs.

‘There are more sensitive locations, such as Westminster, or outside the Victoria & Albert Museum, for example,’ says the source. ‘But the overall scheme will be fairly uniform.’ Nine London boroughs, including Westminster, Camden, Southwark, Lambeth, Islington, Tower Hamlets and

Hackney, are looking at taking the bike hire scheme.

Minale Tattersfield declined to comment.

On their bikes…

• There will be about 400 docking points across London

• Each docking point will include multiples of eight stations, from 16 to 40 depending on the size of the land plot

• There will be one terminal for every group of docking stations

• The terminals will be three-sided, featuring maps and digital screens with information on local shops and points of interest

• Nine London boroughs are in discussions on the scheme

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  • Mr Orange November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Was in Paris last weekend thinking this would be great to do in London.

  • Richard Wallett November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Great idea in Paris. But better make sure the bikes are triple locked – as London has the worst rate of bicycle theft in the UK. Talk to the independent bike shops for the best advice on the best combination of security – it might not be the most expensive lock, but a combination of different locks, which puts the thieve off. Good luck.

  • Shin November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

    Similar bike rental system from Paris – Velib was also being adopted by Milan, Oslo, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Berlin and etc etc… I have been wondering when will London accept the proposal and execute it. It makes sense when TfL wants to design the scheme in-house because of London’s transportation system and traffic pattern, of course the bike theft issue as mentioned by Richard, I am sur it will be a major prob for maintenance. According to wiki, at least 3000 bikes was stolen in Paris after Velib was launched in the first year. But good thing is we have CCTV all around? (does is help?)

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