Melbourne bike hire scheme starts

Fed up with Melbourne's tardy, bursting at the seams trains? Then get on your bike - or someone else's.

The city's first public bicycle hire scheme begins today in the CBD, with 100 bikes available for hire from 10 stations along the Swanston Street/St Kilda Road corridor as part of a strategy to ease Melbourne's transport gridlock.

By mid-year the five million dollar scheme will be expanded to 600 bicycles across 50 bike stations.

Subscriptions cost $50 a year, $8 a week or $2.50 a day, with the first half hour hire free and charges accruing half hourly after that.