The threat was made on Wednesday by Leon Daniels, Managing Director for Surface Transport at Transport for London.
Earlier this week the Evening Standard ran a story asking whether the wheels coming off the Boris bike commute?.
The paper used FOI requests to show the extent of the scheme’s poor performance and revealed how members often find docking stations empty, making it impossible for them to hire a bike.
In a letter published in today’s edition of the paper, Mr Daniels said Serco “works hard to redistribute the bikes” but admitted “an average of 83 stations are empty for more than six hours each day.”
He added that “Londoners deserve better” from the scheme and warned “Serco must raise its game or face significant financial penalties.”
A series of FOI requests made by this site have revealed how London’s boroughs are being asked to fund some of the scheme’s £225m construction and operational costs.
Despite the Mayor’s headline £50m sponsorship deal with Barclays, the bank has so far paid just £13.43m towards the scheme.
Scheme members have now been hit by higher access fees as TfL seeks to plug its finances.
