Test-drive the new London Cycle Hire bicycle
Submitted by Transport for London on 5 July, 2010 - 21:59
Barclays Cycle Hire will be a public bicycle sharing scheme for short journeys in and around central London. You'll be able to pick up a bicycle, use it as you like, then drop it off, ready for the next person - reducing the growing gap between public transport capacity and demand. Eco-Rally visitors can test ride the prototype bike, prior to launch on 30 July 2010.
Barclays Cycle Hire is set to be good for London, good for Londoners and good for the environment. The main reasons why more people don't cycle into and around central London are the risk of theft and the risk of perceived risk of collisions with other road-users. The Cycle Hire scheme, neatly takes care of both these issues. Over the last decade, bicycles and cycle lanes have become far more prevalent on London's roads. The more cyclists there are, the more drivers are reminded to look out for them, and cycling accidents will decrease even more with the introduction of all these bikes and docking stations. There are no locks on the bikes, but with cycle hire stations every 300m in zone 1, there'll always be one your destination (see map). Transport for London are also encouraging developers to create smartphone apps, solving another cycling problem - confusing cycle routes and hidden signage.
Based on the success of tried & tested schemes around the world, Barclays Cycle Hire is expected to:
- Provide you with a greater choice of transport
- Provide a greener, healthier and sustainable way to travel
- Be easy to use for short trips around central London
- Be available 24 hours a day, every day of the year
- Reduce congestion on the Tube and buses
- Hopefully encourage you to switch from driving to cycling.
There's an app for that
Mobile phone 'app' developers are being called upon to create new ways to keep users informed about London's new Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme. Transport for London has relaxed its terms and conditions to encourage software developers to create apps that inform users where hire cycles will be available, smart routes about town or the proximity of docking stations to places of interest and Tube stations.
“This scheme is the cornerstone of the cycle revolution the Mayor is bringing to the Capital and we want to make it as easy for Londoners to use as possible... Barclays Cycle Hire has got everybody talking and app developers are already recognising the opportunities that the scheme offers. They are incredibly creative people and I’m really looking forward to seeing and using the new apps.” - Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor of London’s transport advisor
Interested developers can find the data template of the Cycle Hire location data on TfL's developers area of the website. The department said that only example data is in place at present, but will soon be replaced with the locations of all the operation stations.
Cycle Superhighways
Zone 1 is roughly 10 miles (three times as far as most car journeys in the Capital). Further afield, Barcays Cycle Superhighways are a set of 12 radial routes that will make it safer and easier to commute by bike between outer and inner London on direct and continuous cycle routes. Two pilot routes, Merton to the City and Barking to Tower Gateway, will launch on 19 July with the remaining ten up and running by the end of 2015.
