It's amazing the misconception of "A London bike costs ?50 a day to hire!" At 20p per 21.1 seconds or ?34 per hour for sitting around going nowhere... "A London taxi costs ?550 a day to hire!" It's just as ludicrous. You wouldn't hire a taxi for a day. You take it from A to B, then let it go. When you want to go from B to A, you get another one, then let it go. Exactly the same with the bike scheme. It's free if you use it to go from A to B in under half an hour. Don't keep it running on the meter - let it go, let someone else have it, and get another one when you're ready for your next journey.