In the first three months of the scheme, 95 percent of journeys did not exceed half an hour, earning TfL access fees but no usage fees. The scheme generated £323,545 in revenue for usage in the first 96 days. Only 72,700 of the first 1.4 million journeys earned any revenue, with 44 percent of income coming from users charged the £150 (US $252) "late return" fees. With an average £3,370 income per day from journeys, the scheme needed to grow substantially over the following five years to meet its cost. In this early period there was a steady growth in the number of bike journeys. It was expected that when casual use was introduced it would become the bigger revenue generator. Access fees were doubled in January 2013, which was expected to bring in an extra £4-6m annually. User satisfaction level dropped after the increase. In May 2012 (before access charges doubled in 2013), TfL estimated that the scheme would cost taxpayers £225m by 2015/16, almost 5 times the maximum due from Barclays. TfL funded a net £3.6 million to the scheme in the 2016/17 period during which ~10 million bikes were hired, this equates to 16.9% of the scheme's operating costs being funded by subsidy this is on par with TfL's operating costs as a whole, which are 16.1% funded by subsidy (including the congestion charge as subsidy). The scheme debuted with great fanfare, with over 90,000 users registering one million cycle rides being taken in the first ten weeks of operation. The millionth journey rider was awarded free annual membership to the scheme for five years for him and three friends. In particular, the scheme was criticised for allowing riders to have unlimited use by docking the bike every thirty minutes at a station (the first 30 minutes' use are free) resulting in a dependence upon late fees and penalties to make up revenues. Other users complained of computer issues, erroneous charges, and problems with docking stations. The system requires the cyclist to find docking stations close to the points of departure and destination, lacking one of the key advantages of the bicycle in an urban setting. The system also does not enable transport to the suburbs; as TfL says, it is "best for short journeys". Some users also found the bikes too heavy and unwieldy, at . In June 2011, TfL issued a 'critical improvement plan' to the contractor, Serco, demanding immediate improvements in service, and in a comment to the press a TfL spokesman stated that "the service it (Serco) has provided for our Barclays Cycle Hire users has not reached the consistently high standards we expect," adding "We expect to see immediate improvements."