"Get on Yer Bike!" - city bike network proposed
27 December 2004
"Get on Yer Bike!" is the message the Greens are sending to Brighton & Hove City Council.Green councillors want Brighton & Hove City Council to consider piloting a hi-tech 'hire-a-bike' rental service that is being successfully piloted in Hammersmith, London.
Get on it! Councillor Keith Taylor on one of the new OY Bikes
The service, developed by OYBike Systems Limited, is a 24 hour, seven days a week hire and return bicycle network.
The service uses mobile phone technology to enable users to pay a small charge to hire the bikes without the need for cash, so reducing the risk of vandalism and theft.
The system allows people to travel across city centres without the need to purchase or maintain their own bikes. (1)
Bike pick-up points would be located at convenient transport interchange locations throughout the city such as rail and bus stations, car parks and shopping centres.
The London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham has been piloting the system since August with initial success.
The London borough invested approximately £30,000 to launch the pilot. Once a critical mass of users is reached, the system becomes self-funding. (2)
Councillor Keith Taylor, the Greens' Parliamentary candidate for Brighton Pavilion constituency, said: “It's no longer only politicians like Norman Tebbit who say get on yer bike! Green councillors believe the 'On Yer Bike' system should be considered as a pilot in Brighton and Hove.
“We already have one of the lowest levels of car ownership in the country and a bike hire network that can overcome the problems of vandalism, theft and maintenance would be a winner in our city. ”
“We'll be calling on the Council to consider whether this should be pilot project when it allocates its new transport budget," he added.
Bernie Hanning Founder of OYBike Systems Ltd said: “We're very pleased that councillors in Brighton and Hove are interested in our system.
"It is already working with success in London and is being assessed by academics to see how it contributes to encouraging sustainable travel.”
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Notes to editors:
For more information please contact Geoffrey Bowden Brighton and Hove Green Party Communications Officer 07958 682 683(1) HOW DOES THE SYSTEM WORK?
The bicycles are secured to their bike stands using cables that are attached to the bicycle and which double as security locking cables when the bicycles are on hire.
Each bike stand is equipped with a specially developed electronic lock operated through a keyboard and LCD display. This lock holds the cable secure until that bicycle is rented out.
An OYBike registered user select an available bicycle and the locks display a code, the user then calls the OYBike call centre and gives them that code.
A unique pin code is then read out to the user and sent back by text messaging. This pin code is entered into the lock to release the bicycle. After use the bicycle is locked into any empty port on an available OYBike station. A unique pin will appear on the lock display that must be sent back to OYBike to end the hire period.
To use the OYBike system you will need to pre-register a credit payment against hire charges of £10 Optional theft insurance is available at additional cost. Hire rates begin at 30p for 15 minutes.
(2) A formal evaluation of the Hammersmith & Fulham project is to be completed early next year.
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