As a keen and regular cyclist, the recent launch of the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme has caught my attention. Cycle docking stations have been popping up all over the Capital for the last few weeks, seemingly with minimum fuss and minimum disruption (an achievement for TFL alone)! Launch day came and went last week, with numerous journalists, MPs and Olympians offering their verdict on the scheme – from the quality of the bikes (apparently very heavy at 23kg each), the ease and simplicity to register, to the number of docking stations scattered around town – upwards of 8,000 docking points at around 330 docking stations are currently operational.
The launch made a splash with Lord Mayor Boris, King of London Cycling out in force (without a helmet) singing the praises of the initiative, which I have to agree is a fantastic concept and long overdue.
Cycling is a fantastic way to get around, especially in London. OK, so there are still too many cars on the seemingly very narrow roads, but as long as you keep your wits about you, don’t jump traffic lights and follow the rules your Cycling Proficiency instructor drilled into you all those years ago, you’ll be fine.
Schemes such as this one and also the Government’s Bike to Work Scheme, which has recently provided me with a spinky spanky new bike for half the retail cost, have made cycling more accessible to the masses. Not only is it fantastic for the environment, but it also keeps us moving, which is all the more beneficial given that we are said to be the fattest nation in Europe – something we should definitely not be proud of.
Over the last four days whilst out and about, I have seen an increasingly large number of people on these new Barclays bikes, which are hard to miss with the excessive Barclays branding splashed all over them. Apparently 12,000 people have signed up to the scheme with 6,000 keys having been activated, from tourists taking a leisurely peddle through a park to businessmen nipping from A to B in their suits. The first half an hour’s hire is free, followed by incremental charges thereafter, so it’s a great way to get to a meeting or make your journey into work that little bit quicker (and better for you). Reports so far confirmed that the most popular docking station so far is the one located outside the Blue Fin building on Southwark Street, on the South Bank.
However, I do have concerns. The lack of helmets is evident and in some cases lack of bike experience is verging on the dangerous. I know helmets are not a good look – and this coming from someone who has a constant battle with ‘helmet hair’ – however, I not only watched (but nearly got taken out) by a couple over the weekend, who were wobbling around at a junction, turned right without indicating and almost wiped out half a dozen of us as we crossed (the green man was on our side) and to top it all off (excuse the pun) were helmet-less. It begs the question of the potential fallout when the first injury or even, I hate to say it, the first death is caused on one of these bikes – one can only hope that Barclays and TFL have an effective crisis comms plan at the ready.
So, despite having my shiny new bike, I have joined the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme. Registration was quick and easy, although not quite as instantaneous as I had hoped (it takes four days to receive your ‘bike key’ in the post) – so, not great if you were hoping to get started tomorrow. I am hoping to be able to test it out soon and maybe even try out a Barclays Cycle Superhighway or two, but from what I have heard I will need to do a bit more training as getting started and up to speed is not easy!
The verdict is out and I will report back…
By Emily Waring on August 3rd, 2010
Tags: Cycling, Environment, London 2012, PR, Sponsorship
Find us on Google maps
As a keen cyclist and a fan of the Vélib bike-hire scheme in Paris (which followed in the ‘bikes for cheap short-hires’ footsteps of Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo, Barcelona, Brussels and Lyon), I’ve also been watching the new Barclays bikes on the streets with much interest this week. Initial teething problems for a project of this scale are to be expected and I hope the UK press (and general public) give the scheme time to truly bed itself in before they take a pop at Mayor Boris Johnson.
Also hats off to Barclays, rumoured to have stumped up £25million, for getting behind the project. Great marketing for them having their logo plastered over 6,000 bikes on the streets of the capital and nice timing two years ahead of the whole world de-camping to the city for the next Olympic Games. Smart move. Sure Lloyds TSB, official tier 1 sponsors of London 2012 were less amused.
I just hope the more light fingered members of our community opt against nabbing all the bikes. A spate of vandalism and theft last February forced the main sponsor of the Vélib cycle hire scheme, JCDecaux, to ask for help towards the cost of replacing damaged bicycles. Of the 20,000 bicycles that were introduced to the streets of Paris in July 2007, 7,800 vanished – over 100 bikes each week. An additional 11,000 had been vandalised. In Cambridge, when a similar project was piloted in 1993, all 300 bikes were stolen on the first day. Now that has got to have been one heck of a bad day in the office for the person in charge of that particular project.
Like Emily, I think the lack of helmets is a serious worry as is the inevitable rise of hapless cyclists riding on the pavements, jumping red lights and going the wrong way down the city’s many one-way streets. Be interesting to see how this is remedied by TFL before serious accidents (or deaths) start to steal the headlines.
Doom & gloom aside, it is a fantastic concept and it’s especially great to see people (fatties or otherwise) more active. Riding a bike is the best way to get around this remarkable city. True fact. Whether it is possible to transform the culture of a city to truly embrace bicycles, time will tell. Certainly be great if the blue bikes did become as commonplace on the streets of London as the black cabs and red buses.
Great blog Emily, really enjoyed it. Hats off to the powers that be for this innovation – but ‘hats’ or rather ‘helmets off’ looks to be the Achilles’ Heel of this one doesn’t it? This was reinforced for me when I read about James Cracknell’s cycling accident the other day, and his life only being saved by his hi-tech helmet. Steph brilliant knowledge on the other schemes and I loved your insight about blue bikes, black cabs, red buses.
I think the ‘helmet debate’ has only just started, but I have a feeling it is going to escalate…and quickly.
Reader comments were posted in the Metro this morning from both sides. Most interestingly it was stated that cyclists wearing helmets take more risks than those who don’t, as they consider themselves ‘safe’.
It was also mentioned that motorists treat helmet and non-helmet wearers very differently – non-helmet wearers are given more space by passing vehicles as they are considered more vulnerable than those with helmets…
I suppose the decision lies with each individual and the price you put on your life – but surely a helmet can only be a benefit??
Helmet-gate will run & run for sure, this is bound to be causing Boris and his team a headache especially as cycle helmets are not currently mandatory in the UK.
As for ‘da rules, bring back compulsory Cycling Proficiency Awards – or Bikeability which apparently is the Cycling Proficiency Test for the 21st century. Fear of traffic is one of the main reasons why people don’t cycle. No doubt in my mind that anyone who jumps on a bike in London really needs to be given the skills and confidence to ride their bikes on today’s roads.