Cardiff confirms further funding for OYBike hire scheme

Cardiff City Council has announced that funding for its OYBike cycle hire scheme will continue for another year at least, courtesy of the Welsh Assembly Government, reports the Guardian.

OYBike opened its first scheme in Hammersmith and Fulham in late 2003 but, having pulled out of London with the advent of the Barclays scheme, now operates in just two British locations, the other being Reading. The company, however, has other schemes in the French towns of Nice, Vannes and Calais.

Managing Director Feroze Rub told road.cc that while Cardiff is the company’s flagship British operation, with French environmental services giant Veolia as OYBike's major shareholder, the Nice scheme is by far their biggest, with around 1500 bikes.

"Our ambition for Cardiff is to find a large sponsor to help fund the scheme in the longer term," said Feroze. "We can see opportunities there and are working on some initiatives with the University to encourage greater use of the scheme among students."

OYBike’s machines are bespoke models which feature shaft drive, hub brakes, non-removable parts including the wheels and seat post, and integrated lights. The hire system works by having users pre-register by phone or on-line, after which they use a swipe card or make a mobile phone call to release a bike from its docking port.

Subscription costs £18 for the year and hire of the bikes is free for the first half hour with sliding charges of up to £5 per day for any hire period over four hours.

The Cardiff scheme is part of a wider initiative to make the capital Wales’ first Sustainable Travel City. With the new funding, the number of OYBikes in the city is increasing from 70 to over 100 which will be available from 17 locations, up from the previous 10.