|
|
 |
| |
Coming to a corner near you? A commuter enjoys the freedom of Oybike |
Get on your bike with a rental scheme the OY boys are pedalling
With many Londoners now aware of the need to watch their carbon footprint, a bike scheme may help win the war against four-wheelers, writes Jamie Welham
LONDONERS are used to being told to ditch the car and switch to two wheels: it’s part of the new climate.
Every day it seems another talking-head is scrambling to extol the virtues of pedal power in the capital.
But Londoners are a stubborn bunch and don’t always take kindly to being preached at – especially when it comes to transport.
There are the impracticalities of Lycra and the lack of cycle lanes – not to mention the rampant bike crime and dangers of bendy buses, which may as well be an army of shiny red assassins to most cyclists.
No one said winning the battle was going to be easy but you can’t help but feel a new approach is needed if people are going to be persuaded to saddle up.
Cue a crack team of cycling warriors who graft away from their railway-arch offices in Camden Town in search of the keys to Eden.
Their idea – Oybike – is a street-based rental network that allows people to hire and return bikes via their mobile phones from hundreds of locations across London.
If Mayor of London Ken Livingstone gets behind it and generates a bit of a timely buzz, Oybikes could soon be part of the street furniture.
“The idea is to make it as easy as possible for people to get on a bike,” said Adam Garrett, who joined the company in its early stages. “I suppose it’s like car rental firms where you can them drop off at your destination.”
The idea is to have lots of stations around London so people can just potter around and not need to look too far to drop it off.
“In theory, I could be walking in Camden, spot a bike, cycle around Regent’s Park and drop it off at Marylebone station. I could do this at any time of the day, any day of the year.”
Blue-sky thinking it certainly is, but with mobile phones, locking and unlocking, doesn’t it all sound a bit complicated – not to mention expensive?
“It’s really very straightforward,” Adam assures me. “Each bike stand is equipped with a specially developed lock operated through a keyboard and LCD display. This lock holds the cable secure until that bicycle is rented out. A registered user selects a bike and texts the Oybike centre the code.
“A code is then texted back to the user and this is entered into the lock to free the bike. You do the same thing when you’ve had enough.”
What’s more, the first 30 minutes are free so it’s hardly a wallet-stinger.
The system has been piloted in other parts of the country with some success but Oybike are ramping up for Londonwide domination.
Adam says the endgame is to make London as bike-friendly as Paris or Barcelona.
“It’s not going to be easy and we’re only one part of the puzzle of moving the obstacles that stop people from cycling.
“At the moment in London we have something like 1,400 registered users and 100 bikes. In Paris they’ve got a smart-card scheme and have more than 5,000 bikes. It shows we’ve got a long way to go but if companies and councils get behind us then we could be on to something.”
• For more information and to register go to www.oybike.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
