Brompton’s Bike Hire

This week Brompton Bike Hire, sister company of iconic British folding bicycle manufacturer Brompton Bicycles launched its new Brompton Dock at leading transport expo Traffex 2015. It's a fantastic project and we're really proud to have played a big role in bringing it to life.

The fully automated docking stations, which store Brompton bikes for you to hire, will soon become a familiar sight at railway stations across the UK. The unit itself has been designed by the acclaimed international design and innovation consultancy seymourpowell. While we were brought onto the project to provide the software that runs the units, as well as the supporting applications such as the website and app.

Working closely with a number of leading companies that included seymourpowell and Brompton Bikes, we were tasked with reviewing the Brompton dock system and revising the infrastructure of the project from the ground up.

Absolute were chosen because of the specific range of skills and experience needed for the project. Everything had to be built bespoke, so we used Laravel to develop the website and Phonegap for the app, which allowed for cross-platform deployment.

The Brompton Bike Hire scheme has been created to address the need for an accessible cycle hire scheme that is both affordable and easy to run. This is achieved by automating most of the transaction process. The website and app allow you to reserve a Brompton, which you then pick up from a dock by keying in a unique code that you’re sent. Then, once you’re finished with the bike, you simply take it back to any docking station, request a new code and stow it in an available dock.