Commuters are told to "get on their bike" with new schemes

18th August 2010

Currently a mere 2% of journeys in the UK are made by bicycle but new schemes around the country could see this figure soar in the coming years.

Boris Johnson and his bike hire scheme may have hit the headlines with the ambitious Parisian style bikes and bike racks being installed all over the city, but there are a lot of other schemes making a much bigger impact in the country.

In particular new schemes in universities have proved successful. WhipBikes, a startup company from Newcastle University graduates Robert Grisdale and Jack Payne really has the potential to change the way students, and the public, go about cycling.

The scheme is mobile phone operated so students simply find a bike and text its unique code to an automated service which then replies with a code t unlock the bike. This can be done from anywhere, without the need for specially built bike racks, it can be done day or night and a single journey costs just 50p, which is taken automatically from the mobile phone.

Students will simply register to a system which will keep their phones on a database and a tracking system makes the scheme secure and robust. Robert Grisdale feels the scheme is more practical than the London scheme saying

“The UK’s been pretty rubbish for a long time in promoting cycling . . . Our unique selling point is that we’re not restricted by infrastructure. You can lock the bike up anywhere that has a regular bike rack. Once the tracking device is up and running, it could be a better all-round system than the one in London.”

Schemes in Leeds and York universities, which echo the London scheme have also proved increasingly popular and are branching out into Nottingham and Lancaster.

It’s not only universities that have seen an increase in bike schemes, there are plans for Cycle points in train stations up and down the country, where commuters can lock up a bike, hire a bike or have some repairs done while they commute to work.

The first of these points, modeled on Dutch schemes will open in Leeds next year.

There are plans for massive expansions in all these schemes, and many more, as well as increasing infrastructure, such as cycle lanes and bike workshops, all making it far easier to use pedal power instead of petrol power.