Residents are being asked to suggest possible sites for Boris bike docking stations as part of the council’s Get Moving transport campaign.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, announced earlier this year that Barclays Cycle Hire, as the project is officially known, would be wheeled westwards after the sponsor agreed to provide an additional
£25 million towards expanding the scheme into the borough by the summer of 2013.
Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council is working with Transport for London (TfL) to indentify locations for up to 60 local docking stations – which need to be capable of holding at least 24 bikes each.
While council transport officials draw up a list of possible locations, residents are also being invited to suggest parts of the borough that could accommodate the docking stations. To be in with a chance of being approved by TfL the sites need to be at least 23 yards long and 2.2 yards wide, and meet other rules about footpath width, accessibility and closeness to trees.
“Rolling out Boris bikes into our borough promises to relieve some of the pressure on our congested roads and jam-packed tubes, reduce pollution and give residents another option when choosing how to get around.
“Now the hard work starts in indentifying suitable sites for the docking stations, and residents’ input will be vital in getting these locations right. Once we have a comprehensive list of possible sites drawn up we will feed this back to TfL so that the suggestions put forward will include the ones that the community wants. It is then up to TfL to decide which suggestions are feasible.”
There are currently more than 130,000 members of Barclays Cycle Hire with around 25,000 journeys made every week day.
The Mayor of London's Director of Environment, Kulveer Ranger, said:
“The people of London have already voted with their legs and pedalled the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme to success after success, so we're delighted the scheme is expanding westwards. Our blue bikes are all about the people who use them, so we hope the people of Hammersmith and Fulham will hop into the saddle and help us place the docking stations where the bikes will work best for them.”
Cycling projects have been shown to give a return of £3 for every £1 spent – with much of this coming in health benefits, according to the London Cycling Campaign. John Griffiths, Chairman of H&F cyclists, welcomed the chance to increase cycle use in the borough. “It seems to be working very well elsewhere, and Hammersmith & Fulham is very flat,” he said. “It’s very good for those who would like a bike to cycle along by the river, or cycle in the parks.
“If you want to consider cycling, it’s an easy way to see if you can still ride a bike! The borough appears keen to have them, and the docking stations need to be uniformly distributed. The river area, Wormwood Scrubs and Ravenscourt Park would be very good spaces.”
Westfield Shopping Centre is to provide funding that will allow an early taster of the western expansion by extending Barclays Cycle Hire to the shopping centre by spring 2012. Approximately 12 new docking stations will connect the existing cycle hire zone to Westfield White City and six docking stations will potentially be on the grounds of Westfield London itself.
To suggest a location for a docking station visit www.lbhf.gov.uk/getmoving. The council will collate and monitor the suggestions and, if they meet TfL criteria, put forward the suggested sites for TfL’s consideration.
For more information on how to become a member of Barclays Cycle Hire and advice on how to use the scheme visit: www.tfl.gov.uk/barclayscyclehire
The council will be hosting a Get H&F Moving Transport Summit on November 8 at Hammersmith Town Hall from 7pm to discuss a range of transport related issues.
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