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Hire scheme will encourage more people to get on a bike
• AS Camden’s Cycling Champion Councillor I’m delighted that the only motion discussed by full council on November 3 (and adopted unanimously by all parties) endorsed enthusiastically the prospective introduction in inner-London of a cycle hire scheme with approximately 300-400 docking stations, about 40 of which are expected to be in Camden, south of the Euston Road.
Camden has, since inception, been the leader on this scheme, started under Ken Livingstone and now embraced by cycling-mayor Boris Johnson.
The excellent new 82-page feasibility report from Transport for London was prepared by the Clear Zone Partnership based in Camden.
It anticipates initially 6,000 bikes with about 55,000 bike rentals a day, starting as early as 2010.
I share with Camden Cycling Campaign a conviction that this imaginative initiative should be welcomed for the prospect of introducing many new people to the pleasures of cycling, relieving pressure on public transport and increasing cycling safety by moving towards a critical mass – as has been the case in Paris with its Velib scheme.
Currently about 2 per cent of journeys in town are made by bike and the mayor’s laudable objective is to increase that to 5 per cent by 2025.
It is, however, inevitable that there will be loss of some parking spaces to accommodate some of the docking stations.
In my experience that will face resistance requiring very strong political resolve to resist for the greater good, as was the case with the introduction of controlled parking zones in the teeth of fierce opposition.
I’m pleased, too, to confirm that there will not be a burden on the inner-London boroughs to pay for the scheme nor will there be, as in Paris, any huge new long-term poster contract further blighting our roadsides with ads.
One early plea for my part: let’s please introduce a blanket
20mph limit to the entire inner-London area where the scheme will operate, to increase safety for cyclists.
Cllr Paul Braithwaite
Camden’s Cycling Champion |
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