Boris' cycle hire scheme

[chap]

Helmets

Cycle is as safe as walking in a city, so why do you think you need to wear a silly hat to cycle but not to walk? Common sense is far less common that is often suggested...

I wouldn't say that, nonetheless wearing a cycling helmet is, fortunately, still a choice left to the individual.

 

[StuartG]

I wouldn't say that, nonetheless wearing a cycling helmet is, fortunately, still a choice left to the individual.

Precisely. Some people are happier wearing helmets, others not wearing. The scheme should be non-judgemental and appeal to both markets. Though the former is a little more of a challenge which could delay things if it was pursued too vigorously right now ...

 

[HJ]

The point HS is that helmet wearing is optional. Its a bit difficult to incorporate an option to hire a helmet with the bike. Even as a non-wearer I would support the provision by other means - like tourists being able to borrow them against a deposit from tourist related locations. But there is no point in stalling the scheme until this and other considerations (like non-CC holders) are all in place.

Create a demand first!

No other city cycling scheme has cycle helmets with it, why start now?? If someone really wants to wear a silly hat, they could always bring their own with them...

 

[StuartG]

Because, in case you have not noticed, most cyclists in London choose to wear helmets - unlike the other cities in question.

IMHO you are as guilty of pushing your own prejudices and derailing this thread as the worst of the helmet evangelisers. Please can you leave it out and allow the discussion to revert back to the thread subject. There is no shortage of helmet threads elsewhere.

BTW does anyone know if Boris' abandonment of the Western Extension Abolition due to budget issues apply to this scheme too. Or have Centrica got a tight enough contract he can't wriggle out of?

 

[chap]

London Cycle Scheme with helmets

No other city cycling scheme has cycle helmets with it, why start now?? If someone really wants to wear a silly hat, they could always bring their own with them...

Now now, let's not descend into unpleasantries (especially as a citizen of glorious Edinburgh ).

I would not like for them to make cycle helmets mandatory, however I would like for them to be promoted, i.e. all adverts advertising the scheme to only show cyclists with helmets, and recommendations to be put throughout.

In Paris, there is a lot of room to move around due to wider roads and boulevards Similarly, there a lot of almost pedestrianised streets where cars are few and far between, and very slow when they move through them. I as a pedestrian have noticed this, and generally people feel safe waliking down these passages on the road. Therefore cyclists can natrually, get around everywhere either by the major urban roads of the small side streets. Then we have Sundays were large parts of the city are effectively closed off to Cars.

Consequently, there are a lot of cyclists, and a fair few do not wear helmets.

London on the other hand is more compact, with more twists and turns than you could shake a twisted log at. It would work perfectly as a car-free designation but as Sir Humphrey says, that would be 'Brave'. Althogh once can perhaps look to the audience articipation levels when those SKYrides were about, huge! Unfortunately, there are a lot of challenges in London, traffic is fast, the road design has given precedence to motorvehicles at the expense of pedestrians and cyclists, and there are few joint paths for cyclists to actually use. Given the current trend for HGV's to take out people, and for aggressive drivers to sometimes cause hassle for cyclists, there are plenty of improvements to be made.

As a result, I would prefer that most users wore helmets when the cycle scheme takes off. I can however, imagne that this shall not be the case, as it certainly is not the case at the moment from my observations (outwith normal commuter hours) around Lambeth, Camden, Kensington, and the East.

Although, I can imagine that this debate (to wear or not to wear helmets) can easily take a whole thread, if not forum of its own so back to the main topic at hand (bar replies )

 

[CopperBrompton]

Gawd, can we please not turn this thread into another bleedin' h*lm*t thread!

Back on-topic ...

I've used the Paris scheme, and think it's great. I'm not going to bother taking a bike with me (even my Brompton) on a brief trip, but it's a great alternative to the Metro when hopping across town to a meeting, and also lets me do some cycling in my spare time during a business trip.

I'm sure it will be equally good in London, and to be honest think a lot of the nay-sayers are just Boris-knocking. If Ken had still been in City Hall, the same people would be applauding it.

 

[DJ]

Wether you agree with helmet wearing or not , I hope this spells a start to improving the road conditions for cyclists in London, which in my opinion are crap.

The more cyclists on the road then the more the dominance of the car in our cities will be suppressed.

 

[chap]

Wether you agree with helmet wearing or not , I hope this spells a start to improving the road conditions for cyclists in London, which in my opinion are crap.

The more cyclists on the road then the more the dominance of the car in our cities will be suppressed.

Amen to that!

 

[Origamist]

The LCC are right to piggy-back their campaigning agenda/vision on the bicycle hire scheme, but the wish-list is a bit of a hotch-potch (with a few LCC old favourites thrown in):

1. 20mph speed limit in the Cycle Hire zone
2. Widen bus lanes to aid cyclists
3. Introduce widespread permeability measures: make one-way streets to two-way, allow cycle contraflow, create short-cuts for cyclists
4. Fix gaps in existing cycle routes
5. Uniform cycle signage
6. Riverside routes - complete routes along the Victoria and Albert Embankments
7. Cycle-friendly central London parks - Regents Park, Kensington Gardens, Holland Park and Battersea Park)
8. Remove dangerous gyratories
9. Improve provision for bikes at bus, train and tube stations
10. Improve Thames bridges and their approaches
11. Create urban greenways - link the main parks and garden squares (Berkley, Hanover, Manchester, Russell and others) and reconnect the squares to the urban realm

The BikeGrid charter does go beyond the scope of the central LCN and is worth supporting in principle, as is the call for a strategic response from TFL and the boroughs. It certainly sounds good in theory:

"The proposed BikeGrid is a network of safe, continuous, high-quality cycle routes running north-south and east-west, with one complete central ring."

What that means in practice is another matter (the LCN flattered to deceive).

Any news on the CTC's collision reporting database?

An update on the London BikeGrid here:

http://www.lcc.org.uk/documents/BikeGrid_LondonCyclist_FebMar10.pdf

 

[Jezston]

Just want to add my tuppence as I missed this thread first time around.

Like some have said, I believe the naysayers simply have had no experience of such implementations in other cities. I have family in Paris and have used the Velibs a great deal - and they are fantastic! Ok so the bikes are pretty clunky 3-speed sit up and begs that weigh about a ton, but as a tourist, or someone who doesn't take their bike everywhere and is looking for a quick way from A to B in the city they are GREAT.

The proposed plans by TFL appear to be identical to how they work in Paris, pricing seems about the same too.

A couple of points to address people's concerns - I'd be surprised if many get 'lost' or stolen unless someone finds a way to break the rather hardcore locking system as when you set up an account the machine tries to debit your card for 300 euros and then cancels it - this checks you have the funds so if you do bugger off with the bike, well i'll just take 300 euros off you thanks!

One thing that makes them handy if you don't want to take your bike everywhere is that you can head into town, wander about, decide you want to go somewhere a bit too far to fancy walking so you pop to the nearest velib rack, get one, go there and pop it in the nearest rack to your destination - this also means you don't need to worry about how safe the bike is locked up because once its back in a rack, it's no longer your responsibility.

Only problem I have found around paris is getting to where you want to be and finding the velib rack is full. Fortunately there's always another one not too far away, and if you've got GPS on your phone, or even an iPhone, there are apps or extensions to your mapping software that tells you where they are - which saved my bacon more than once.

Not sure about taking them out to zone 2 though, it starts getting pretty hilly once you get out of the center and I'm not sure many would fancy trying to ride one of those tanks up a hill.

...

Basically, it IS a very good idea indeed so nerr. I just hope the great british public don't decide to start going around smashing them up.

 

[chap]

One simple thing London could do, almost overnight, to drastically improve cycleability is to add more signposts visible to cyclists and pedestrians.

These would point the way to landmarks and important stations, ideally following safe roads with reduced traffic. It is very easy to get lost at the moment, particularly around Kensington, and parts of Islington.

Were there to be several linked signs to the following then life in London would be even better:

Stations

• Kings Cross / St Pancreas Station
• Euston Station
• Charing Cross Station
• Waterloo Station
• Victoria Station
• Paddington Station
• Clapham Junction

Points of Interest

• Big Ben / Houses of Parliament
• Trafalger Square
• Buckingham Palace
• Natural History Museum / V&A
• London Zoo
• London Bridge / Tower of London
• British Museum
• British Library
• Piccaddilly
• Leicester Square

With all the back patting about the 'very British' traits and exports, perhaps we ought ad credibility to the claim by proving it rather than deepening the debt incurred by living off the success of previous innovations. Now would be the time for somebody to deliver that 'iconic British design' and make a unique sign-post mechanism or similar.

Whatever design, so long as it works, we need it done now.