Barclays recoups £1.5m of Boris Bike sponsorship after targets missed
Transport for London has been forced to hand back £1.57m of a £50m sponsorship by Barclays into their cycle hire scheme after incurring penalties for poor performance.
A Freedom of Information request by MayorWatch found that the deductions were made from the January 2013 instalment of the funding package; including £0.57m for poor service and £1m for lower than expected usage.
TfL insiste that the cycle scheme has met all performance targets since April 2012, indicating that the problems relate to the schemes launch phase.
The scheme is managed by Serco who were themselves hit by a £2.6m penalty from TfL over the number of empty docking stations present on the network.
Commenting on the case London Assembly Member Darren Johnson said: “Londoners have been taken for a ride with Barclays sponsorship of cycle hire and superhighways. Rather than getting an upfront £50m Barclays cheque towards cycling, Londoners are getting less than the Mayor repeatedly claimed and we are getting it on a drip feed.
“Barclays have got their name splashed all over town. Yet the Mayor has ensured that the local authorities who have also put public money into the scheme get none of the recognition.”