Boris Bikes for Students?

[Whiskey88]

I recently started university and one thing that struck me is the lack of access current students have to bikes. As an example, a ride was organised between my university's 2 campuses - only the ride leader and I showed up. Speaking with other students, many wanted to take part, but were unable to do so as they did not own or have access to a bike.

This got me thinking: we want our current student generation to be leaders of sustainable transport, right? So what about a campaign to bring Boris Bikes to every Greater London higher education campus?

I see this being of particular benefit to international students, who are not always able to bring their own bikes from overseas with them owing to annoying little things such as luggage allowances.

I've had some small-scale positive feedback so far, but I would like to put it to the wider community: what would be your views on such a venture?

 

[StuartG]

The main problem (so my student daughter reports) in using bikes at Uni - is security. The freshers get cleaned out in a week. AFAIK theft of Boris Bikes has not been a serious problem (does anyone have numbers?). Hence its not so much the bikes themselves but an efficient docking system that makes the daily charge more economic than a periodic bike replacement.

 

[annedonnelly]

The bike hire scheme in Newcastle - Scratch Bikes - was setup up specifically for students and since opened up to the general public. Perhaps you can get some realistic feedback from them.

For example, I wonder if opening it up to the general public was because they weren't being used by students.

 

[Beebo]

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So what about a campaign to bring Boris Bikes to every Greater London higher education campus?

On paper it seems like a good idea but it wouldnt work because Boris bikes are only available in the centre of London, quite a small geographical area. If you are studying outside of that area then a boris bike stand on campus would be useless because you would have nowhere to dock the bike once you hired it. And the company who currently administer the bikes have a hard enough job keeping the docks full in central london without having to worry about the outer regions.

For instance if you were studying at Greenwich Uni your nearest docking station would be Tower Bridge, about 4 miles away, and I doubt many students live in Shad Thames.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

On paper it seems like a good idea but it wouldnt work because Boris bikes are only available in the centre of London, quite a small geographical area. If you are studying outside of that area then a boris bike stand on campus would be useless because you would have nowhere to dock the bike once you hired it. And the company who currently administer the bikes have a hard enough job keeping the docks full in central london without having to worry about the outer regions.

For instance if you were studying at Greenwich Uni your nearest docking station would be Tower Bridge, about 4 miles away, and I doubt many students live in Shad Thames.

Yes, it does need to be within a service area, though for the record, Tower Hamlets is now included. This makes Island Gardens the nearest docking station and BBs are becoming a fairly regular sight in Greenwich. Still not much use for Greenwich Uni.

 

[Beebo]

Yes, it does need to be within a service area, though for the record, Tower Hamlets is now included. This makes Island Gardens the nearest docking station and BBs are becoming a fairly regular sight in Greenwich. Still not much use for Greenwich Uni.

You are correct, I had forgotten about bring bikes through the Greenwich foot tunnel.
A Boris Bike stand would be even more useless somewhere like Kingston Uni or Roehampton.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Though, when I think about it, there's a string of colleges along the south bank and the E London university on the north. Extending the zone would take in London City Airport, the cable car, the Thames path cycle route, and the tourist spots in Greenwich. The Blackwall tunnel and the Woolwich ferry would help getting the bikes redistributed. If @Whiskey88 could garner support from the Greenwich tourism people and the various colleges, a longish narrow eastward extension could, at face value, become a possible site for an extension towards Woolwich.

 

[procel]

1st problem there is that Chris Roberts (leader of Greenwich Council) has been obstructive to any Boris cycling initiative and is still the 1 out of 33 leaders holding out against meeting Andrew Gilligan.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

1st problem there is that Chris Roberts (leader of Greenwich Council) has been obstructive to any Boris cycling initiative and is still the 1 out of 33 leaders holding out against meeting Andrew Gilligan.

That clod is standing down soon. And Gilligan could be a good person to get onside - he lives in Greenwich (which is why Roberts is sulking about his criticisms of the council).

 

[Whiskey88]

Ok, the idea behind having the bikes on campus is more that for those who have to commute between campuses, or people who need to make a quick return run to the shop etc, the option is there. It's not necessarily to encourage travelling to the centre of London straight away, although that could be a longer term goal.

@deptfordmarmoset - East London is actually the university that I'm studying at. There are a few cycling campaigns I that I am working with the sustainability team to initialise. A bigger one for the university itself would be opening up the path that stretches across the very northern edge of the Royal Docks. This starts at the Sir Steve Redgrave Bridge, cuts through campus, then there's a private stretch of (apparently) disused land before it goes through Newham council's site and the site of The London Regatta, under Connaught Bridge (currently a Crossrail site), past the Ramada hotel and through ExCel before reaching the Victoria Dock bridge and current off-road path down to the Emirates Air Line. Opening this up as a cycle route would mean that students and local residents would have a completely segregated route from the top of the docks all the way across to the O2 via the Air Line.

I've been told that the disused land next to the university is going to be developed by 2 overseas business schools, linked to but not part of UEL - which should give a strong chance of having a defined cycle route through the campus and that land through to the council offices at the very least. I appreciate that you're fairly local, so what are your thoughts about that plan's feasibility?

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

Ok, the idea behind having the bikes on campus is more that for those who have to commute between campuses, or people who need to make a quick return run to the shop etc, the option is there. It's not necessarily to encourage travelling to the centre of London straight away, although that could be a longer term goal.

@deptfordmarmoset - East London is actually the university that I'm studying at. There are a few cycling campaigns I that I am working with the sustainability team to initialise. A bigger one for the university itself would be opening up the path that stretches across the very northern edge of the Royal Docks. This starts at the Sir Steve Redgrave Bridge, cuts through campus, then there's a private stretch of (apparently) disused land before it goes through Newham council's site and the site of The London Regatta, under Connaught Bridge (currently a Crossrail site), past the Ramada hotel and through ExCel before reaching the Victoria Dock bridge and current off-road path down to the Emirates Air Line. Opening this up as a cycle route would mean that students and local residents would have a completely segregated route from the top of the docks all the way across to the O2 via the Air Line.

I've been told that the disused land next to the university is going to be developed by 2 overseas business schools, linked to but not part of UEL - which should give a strong chance of having a defined cycle route through the campus and that land through to the council offices at the very least. I appreciate that you're fairly local, so what are your thoughts about that plan's feasibility?

I was shown a route by a Greenwich LCC ride leader (apparently one of the late Barry Mason's routes) that sounds like it was broadly the same. I'd say it was more than feasible.

I know that a BB extension both sides of the river is a way beyond what you were asking about in your OP, but opening up a college corridor might be a bit of joined up thinking for TfL to look at. I mentioned Gilligan because he's local and TfL because it's a cross-borough idea.

 

[Whiskey88]

Well it's got to be worth a shot - who knows, it might even be in place just after I graduate in 3 years...