Cyclists benefit from £14m 'hubs'

[srw]

It's a bit cack for those of us needing to travel a distance at both ends of a train journey, for whom the only realistic solution is the government standing up to the train operators and demanding more cycle carriage on trains.

No it's not.

Not the three in London

Anyone happen to know which three stations?

 

[jonny jeez]

You don't cycle through the City. I work here. The number of people on bikes is truly staggering. I happened to pass the garage door of a small office this morning (perhaps 100 people?). There were about 15 bikes in the garage.

Actually I do (now and then) and I design and create interior commercial space for business in the city and West end (I probably did your office)...so I'm at the front end of this issue in many ways.

Cycling is nearly always over-looked (sigh) by employers…. it's popularity is rising far quicker than they understand ...or want to understand and so, many cyclists have to "stack" bikes in the most inappropriate places whilst the office is crammed full of "operational" facilities (ie, stuff that makes money for the firm...I know...I know, staff satisfaction makes money...try telling them that).

This is why i think hubs are a good thing, but they need FULL facilities, including those that companies are often unwilling to supply to their own staff (Showers , lockers, drying facilities).

I would Love to offer my clients an option to subsidise a good hub membership (as apposed to building showers and cycle storage at a massive cost per sq foot, you would be amazed at the total cost of building these within a commercial space, at a commercial rate and rent)...but I just don't know any really good, comfortable hubs.

Interestingly, I undertake demographic surveys (for free!!) of a companies workforce, this helps with the design process but also helps to raise the employers awareness of the staff needs and satisfaction levels......and guess what, cycling is always a top issue that is just not dealt with.

 

[John the Monkey]

No it's not.

Err, yes it is.

Buy two bikes (one for each end of the journey) or buy a folder.

Yeah, cheers.

 

[jonny jeez]

Err, yes it is.

Buy two bikes (one for each end of the journey) or buy a folder.

Yeah, cheers.

The link on srw's post was to the brompton site, so i think you chaps are in agreement.

 

[upsidedown]

No it's not.

With 4 miles at one end and 9 miles the other, and being 6 and a half feet tall, a Brompton is hardly ideal.
Fine for scooting around Shoreditch, not so great for the 60 million people in the country who aren't in London.

 

[jonny jeez]

not so great for the 60 million people in the country who aren't in London.

People dont live in London?

how on earth do they buy ther latte's...

 

[John the Monkey]

The link on srw's post was to the brompton site, so i think you chaps are in agreement.

We're not, I'm being a sarky bugger in that post.

Provision on trains is piss poor (even the Americans do this better, at least in some places). Imo it's a valid gripe given the patterns of workplaces and homes in this country, if our betters are serious about prising people out of their cars, that is.

 

[Origamist]

No it's not.



Anyone happen to know which three stations?

I think Waterloo has been chosen, not sure of the others.

Waterloo, St Pancras and Victoria:

http://www.transportbriefing.co.uk/news/story?id=6245

 

[srw]

With 4 miles at one end and 9 miles the other, and being 6 and a half feet tall, a Brompton is hardly ideal.

It's perfect. Telescopic seat-post and you'll be eating the miles. If you don't fancy the Brompton, there are more Dahons than you can shake a stick at. Not to mention assorted Birdys and Airnimals.

 

[srw]

Provision on trains is piss poor

Provision on trains is piss-poor. But I'd far rather focus on the piss-poor provision on long-distance trains which often run half-empty than on piss-poor provision on jam-packed commuter trains.

 

[John the Monkey]

Provision on trains is piss-poor. But I'd far rather focus on the piss-poor provision on long-distance trains which often run half-empty than on piss-poor provision on jam-packed commuter trains.

Again, if the government is serious about tackling the bulk of car journeys made in this country to and from work, more provision on long distance services (although I'd certainly welcome that in addition, it'd be handy for touring) ain't gonna cut it.

Amtrak run a commuter line (the Capitol Corridor, I think) that provides a minimum 12 spaces per train (3 per passenger car of the "hang the bike by the front wheel" type). If those are full, the conductor will help you secure your bike elsewhere. Again, if the Americans can do it...

 

[marinyork]

http://nds.coi.gov.uk/clientmicrosi...02&NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=407056&SubjectId=36 is another link similar to Origamist's.

I was impressed that some urban stations (the ones where they survived in cities) will get additional parking. It's not just for London, whichever person said that.

 

[MacB]

It does seem to be looking in the right direction and I can see Johny Jeez' point re facilities. I just wonder if we may see a quite different direction resolving many issues in one fell swoop. The improvements in networking, broadband speeds and remote access facilities could be key. Personally I wouldn't go as far as having everyone working at home but I can envisage shared worksites dotted all over the place. We've already seen a steady move towards shared/rented IT and an increase in the same for office space. If you expand along those lines you could have:-

local sites where your employer rents you space, we already have the teleconferencing ability to negate the need for much 'face to face' stuff. Web cam, and remote access, technology can ensure that the anally retentive dinosaurs can keep an eye on their workforce. This can even be expanded to technical work via Waldo operation with just repair engineers on site.

Local would really mean local again, it would increase the sense of community and local business would thrive. People would have much more free time and wouldn't be too exhausted from commuting to utilise it. It would give families a chance to actually spend time together. It would close down some social networking aspects but would also open up others.

We all have storage, washing, drying, changing facilities and bikes at our homes. Trying to recreate all of this at another, or multiple, locations seems counter intuitive. Distance is the issue, I don't think anyone benefits from lengthy journeys, by whatever means, to and from work. The 'daily grind' hurts your private life and can't help your productivity levels. I see two solutions and my post above indicates my preference:-

1. people become flexible and move closer to work, changing homes when they change jobs
2. employers become more flexible and create workplaces close to their employees

 

[marinyork]

The government are working on FTTC too, so you might be right there MacBludgeon. It's going to take a long time though.

I too hope it triggers thought on city centre parking facilities as it is so poor. When you ask the council you just get the answer back looking at it - probably can't afford it.
looking at it - probably can't afford it.
looking at it - probably can't afford it.
looking at it - probably can't afford it.

The only time anything gets done is like now when there's a big pot of money available in Sheffield.

 

[jonny jeez]

We're not, I'm being a sarky bugger in that post.

.

Ah…oops

Sorry, sense of humour was temporarily disabled on another thread.