Cycle power gets boost from Boris

19 November 2008

TOWER Hamlets has been chosen to pilot Mayor Boris Johnson's plans for a cycle-hire scheme

The scheme will operate across nine London boroughs and several Royal Parks which are partly or wholly in London's zone one travel area.

They will initially be home to 6,000 bicycles, which people will be able to pick up and drop off at any of the 400 parking locations, called docking stations, in the wider hire area.

And it is expected to generate around 40,000 extra daily cycle trips in central London from the day it begins operating in May 2010.

Tower Hamlet's cycle hire stations will be located in the Shoreditch, Tower Hill, Whitechapel and Wapping.

From there, people will be able to continue their onward journey to anywhere they want, although when they finish their rental they will need to leave their bike at the same or another docking station in the hire area.

Transport for London (TfL) is moving forward with the Mayor's plans.

The Mayor - himself a cyclist -said: "When Londoners elected me they knew they were getting a champion of cycling and someone that would be a peddler of pedal power."

Steve Halsey, Director of Communities, Localities and Culture, at Tower Hamlets Council said the council is delighted to be involved with the scheme.

"We hope that where it is available residents and visitors will make good use of it. The health benefits of cycling are great, he said and it is both less costly and doesn't harm the environment.

For more information and downloadable maps see TfL's cycle journey planner - www.tfl.gov.uk/cyclejourneyplanner