A new scheme offers Londoners who normally take the 55 bus from Hackney to work in central London the chance to become cycling commuters instead.
Gustavo Montes de Oca, environment and enterprise manager at Hackney City Farm, had the brainwave when he spotted commuters queuing for the number 55 bus on Hackney Road over the road from the farm. He noticed that people would often have to wait while several full buses went past before finding one with any room.
So he set up an ingenious new scheme called Bike Start, which gives commuters everything they need to become regular cyclists. For the cost of their daily bus fare, commuters get a bike, a route planned out for them, and even a cycling buddy to help build their confidence.
After three months they return the bike and the money they’ve spent on hiring it is given back to them in the form of a bike shop voucher, which they can use to help buy a bike of their own.
The six bikes currently on offer were supplied by the London Cycling Campaign through Transport for London’s community cycling fund.
The scheme’s only just launched so it’s early days. It’s generated plenty of interest, but Gustavo is still waiting for his first signed-up customer. He said, “I’ve been on a recruitment drive that involves walking over to the bus stop and speaking to people who have just missed a bus. There’s always a lot of interest when I first speak to them but it seems to fizzle out a bit during the day.”
There's more information about the scheme on the Hackney City Farm site.
It didn't need to be dangerous to the cyclist as the two previous cars proved when they over took....
Cycling infrastructure does not force drivers to break the law, drivers are the reason they break the law, no one else.
Ah but taking pictures of things to defy the man (avoid a fine) is righteous. Taking pictures of people to grass on them to the cops (perhaps...
Never had a Shimano QR fail on me. They just work. And the top end ones look good too....
If you're only looking at the guy in front of you then you're going to crash whatever brakes you have, you need to look beyond them to anticipate...
As a woman, this works great for me! My chain broke once, and a kind guy stopped with a chain breaker and sorted it all out for me. We stopped at a...
Same. I also have gone through a bunch of their tyres, and only the extralight disappointed (torn sidewall) but the standards are fantastic....
thanks for the ideas....
Indeed - but it's no more inconsistent than our current road design - very often UK high streets are "for shopping" and also a busy through route....
If you ask the world's leading economic commentators how many people have been rescued from abject poverty by capitalism the average answer would...