Proposed London Cycle Hire Docking Station - Old St

As a local resident, I've been asked to give my views about a new cycle hire facility - part of a London-wide initiative - to be situated on Old St. It would be in direct view of my living room window, and personally, it's something I'm very happy about.

I imagine the scheme has been discussed elsewhere on the forum, but seeing as so many of you (hipster twats) ride through my manor every day, I wondered if you'd be interested in giving feedback to the proposal as well.

Details of the scheme can be found at http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cyclehire, but if you've got any comments about the Old St site, positive or negative, they should go to transport.planning@islington.go.uk

The site is planned to be located here (above the '5' of 'A5201'):

Wait... they're not intending to replace some car parking spaces with the bike parking (as per most of the other city schemes), but instead to locate the bike hire racks on pavements and reduce the pedestrian space and be encouraging those who hire to ride on the pavements near the racks?

Are you seriously suggesting inconveniencing drivers for the benefit of non-motorised transport? Are you crazy?

Apparently.

I suspect that it is a way to allow the visually impaired to have a bicycle inaction experience otherwise denied them as they will now be able to bump into cycle racks on every pavement.

They're moving the existing bench forward, and placing the racks along the fence, set back from the road on a very wide stretch of pavement. The plan doesn't show whether they're drawing zig zags along that stretch of road to give hire customers a little more space to set off from the kerbside.

The proposed site has been checked to ensure there's plenty of pavement space for wheelchairs, buggies, etc.

I might even use them on occasion. Even with the great big fuck-off locks I own, there are times when I'd rather use a hire bike to go out for the evening, and not have to worry about theft of my hack bike.

Never mind cycle hire - first and foremost we need more places for cyclists to securely lock the bikes they already own. Tell the Council that they can stick a free one there, rather than this ludicrous bike scheme which will no doubt be a massive failure and waste of public money.

Why do you think that it will necessarily be a failure. The scheme in Paris has worked well. The more people who cycle the better and if this is a way to get people onto bikes, then it is a very good thing. I agree, however, that we need better security for bike parking. More people cycling should mean that more people will join the call for secure parking facilities and, as a consequence, politicians will feel obliged to act.

Turn tubengers and walkengers and busengers and carengers into cyclists and the world is a better place for everyone.

That bench is a favorite rolling-up spot for bored curryers, have they been asked for their views?

The scheme in Paris has worked well.

I read somewhere that a third of the hire bikes in Paris have been stolen or vandalised, with some even turning up in Australia! I can imagine in our capital of bike theft the same will happen.

Or worse.

I think Velib is a BAD idea. And somehow when it all goes wrong Boris will blame Ken for starting the scheme.

That bench is a favorite rolling-up spot for bored curryers, have they been asked for their views?

From where I'm standing, they're a fucking eyesore. Especially overdrive.

The scheme is Paris has run for a number of years and continues to run. If it was as unsuccessful as you make out, it would have been pulled.

I appreciate that we have more Australians in London than they do in Paris, but that is no reason to believe that the scheme will be any less of a success here.

It could fail. There could be some public money 'wasted' in the process. But it's a drop in the ocean compared to the folly that is the 2012 Olympics.

Or worse.

I think Velib is a BAD idea. And somehow when it all goes wrong Boris will blame Ken for starting the scheme.

It is my understanding that it is Boris's brother who is in charge of the scheme and i would imagine it is he who will profit most from it
nepotism a game for all the family

From where I'm standing, they're a fucking eyesore. Especially overdrive.

This is true but we're working on it.

Do we have a title sponsor lined up for our version of Velib, as JCD Decaux are in Paris?

http://www.eta.co.uk/Paris-cycle-hire-scheme-loses-100-bikes-a-week/node/11748

It could fail. There could be some public money 'wasted' in the process. But it's a drop in the ocean compared to the folly that is the 2012 Olympics.

A good point.

Have to say, that seems a rather odd place to have the stands in my opinion, as that bit of Old Street is really quite a dead spot. It ought to be outside the Foundry ffs.

How dare you call it a dead spot. It's one of the few parts that's retained its character.

Honestly, people from Bethnal Green and their fucking lardy-dah opinions.

What worries me about the London velib is that it's whole purpose is to get people on bikes who usually wouldn't use them i.e. Inexperienced riders. What happens when someone on a velib bike gets crushed by a left turning lorry?
I think that it could be an opportunity to raise the awareness of dangers with bikes and lorries. Boris should get the message plastered across the hire stations, perhaps a message added into the hire procedure somehow?

Paris is not London, fact. No HGVs in Paris, coaches are as big as it gets. Traffic is nuts, but pretty slow. You're given a wide berth by cars who know they're presumed to be responsible in case of collision. Deaths still went up in Paris when the scheme was introduced. Cycling in Paris is brilliant. The scheme also covers a far smaller geographical area, allowing greater density for the same cost. JC Decaux still have to pay groups of men with vans to drive bikes up to the tops of hills, cos people are hopping on, rolling down, and not riding back up.

I really hope londons scheme works, but I'm not a natural optimist!

Why do you think that it will necessarily be a failure. The scheme in Paris has worked well. The more people who cycle the better and if this is a way to get people onto bikes, then it is a very good thing. I agree, however, that we need better security for bike parking. More people cycling should mean that more people will join the call for secure parking facilities and, as a consequence, politicians will feel obliged to act.

Turn tubengers and walkengers and busengers and carengers into cyclists and the world is a better place for everyone.

• things to what Clive said. in Paris it works wonders, imagine getting out of a pub, getting bored of waiting for the bus and having the option to just grab a hire bike! there were more hire bikes then owned cycles in the center of paris. it's a great initiative and a great way to increase cyclists presence in this petrol head city
  

1. Don't believe the stories temporarily spread when JC Decaux were trying to renegotiate the Paris contract. It would appear that the scheme cost them more than they had anticipated, and they weren't making as much money as projected. The scheme works extremely well and those messages of gloom are not to be over-emphasised.

2. London is still some way away from using carriageway space in all of these installations. Such space is being used in some cases, and that's a start. There are, however, some locations, as the one above, where the hire station is located at the back of the footway, causing potential conflict between people on foot and users of the scheme.

Deaths still went up in Paris when the scheme was introduced.

1. Relative to the increase in cycling, collision rates went down. There is safety in numbers. See the current CTC campaign:
   
   

http://www.ctc.org.uk/desktopdefault.aspx?tabid=5225

1. If a messenger's bike broke down, they could complete the rest of their day's work on a cool, lightweight hire bike. Win-win. ;P