Are city-wide bike rental schemes the way forward for UK cycling?

Rik Thomas

06 March 2008

The V?lib scheme has over 20,000 bikes available for hire in Paris

Clear Channel's Barcelona scheme is a residents-only rental operation, accessible only by smartcard

V?lib bikes in central Paris are maintained and repaired on a barge on the river Seine

Oybike's units are currently mostly located in west London ? but the company has global ambitions

LTT deputy editor Rik Thomas tries out a V?lib bike in Paris and lives to tell the tale!

The success of the Barcelona scheme has done the city's mayor no harm at all

The Velib bicycle rental scheme launched in Paris in the middle of last year appeared to have a galvanising effect on London mayor Ken Livingstone and last month he announced that, should be re-elected in May, he will initiate a similar scheme in London, with 6,000 bikes available for hire from 2010 (LTT 22 Feb). Indeed, the positive publicity generated by the Paris scheme seems to have won over all major political parties, with each of the four main candidates for London mayor endorsing the...