Saturday 10 March 2012

More Cycle Hire

I am trying very hard not to look like the secret service but
here we are (me left, the Mayor and Marcus Agius on bikes)
at the Roman Road launch of Barclays Cycle Hire 2
On Thursday we launched Phase 2 of the Mayor's Barclay's Cycle Hire scheme across East London.

Another 2,300 bikes are now deployed across Tower Hamlets eastwards with over 100 more docking stations.

For an annual fee of £45 members can use Barclays' bikes for up to 30 mins for free, thereafter with a further small charge. Casual users are also welcome with their credit cards.

On Thursday Mayor Boris Johnson, together with his Director of Environment Kulveer Ranger and Marcus Agius Group Chairman Barclays plc, hired bikes at Westfield White City, cycled to a nearby Underground station. They later emerged at Mile End where again they hired bikes to cycle to Roman Road E1 to meet the assembled media.

This is the cornerstone of the scheme - hiring bikes between well-located docking stations more of which are now being added.

Cycling is an increasing phenomenon in London. In 18 months since the first launch of Barclays' Cycle Hire over 10 million hires have been made. With the increase eastwards we expect very many more.

Cycling is healthy, creates absolutely no emissions, and is very good value for money for users. We welcome the £50m of sponsorship by Barclays plc towards this scheme.

Eagle-eyed observers will see the new Mark II bikes with their upgraded handlebars, saddles, bells and rear mudguards all numbered above 20000.


The Mayor is rightly pleased with this new expansion of the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme which has created very many new cyclists from London's population. And they form an important part of our transport system as their ever-increasing number shows.

The successful delivery of Phase 2 is a tribute to the amazing team at TfL who, under General Manager Nick Aldworth, has delivered another, second, fantastic scheme, on time, on budget together with colleagues from Serco who are running the daily operations and have delivered the infrastructure.


Well done everyone


.....

No comments:

Post a Comment