'Boris bikes' business plan being drawn up for Leicester

“Silly me; there I was believing it was Hallowe'en, then I read this article - turns out it must be April Fool's Day...”

“i go into the city on most days and i can assure you the people i see there would never pay the amount that these bikes would cost to rent or in fact want to ride one”

“i go into leicester city most days and i can assure you the vast majority of people i see there would never pay the cost of the bike rental or even wish to use one another potty idea from this potty council”

“Rob_Martin - Are you seriously suggesting that having a traffic free City Centre is going to save the NHS millions of pounds due to people walking/cycling from shop to shop? I don't know how you do your shopping, but I, like most, drive into the City and I still walk from shop to shop all over the centre. That coupled with 'more' footfall, which doesn't actually mean people have any more money in their pockets to spend, yes, unfortunately, the gaps in tax revenue and parking fees would still need plugging! It's ridiculous arguments in society as a whole that allow ridiculous ideas to prosper... Boris style cycles in the City would be an utter waste of money, effort and resource!”

“@ Rob Martin,

People are moaning here that they might have to walk for 20 minutes. What's that - a mile? Unless people have mobility issues, is that SUCH a hardship?"

That is a 20 min walk after driving in for 6/7 miles to get into the city. Sometime I do walk in when I have not buying stuff that requires and I have the 2.5 hours to walk in and 2.5 hours to walk back- I am sure many people at the weekends do not have that much free time.

Also perhaps, fewer obese/diabetic/respiratory illness cases from increased cycling and walking might require the NHS to have less money spent in these areas.

I quite agree, why there is a need for 2 bus stops 100 yards apart in some places in Leicester City Center I do not know- this causes congestion for cars stopping and starting and I am sure people can walk 100 yards! Also I agree pedestrian areas are great in cities but you still need the car parks to get people into the cities to use the shops or bikes. The problem with Leicester it seems to want to ban the car so people look for alternatives which make their life easier. What I hear from many people and this just may be people I speak to they only go into the city now if they really need to and have found other places to shop.

I think rather than spending money on lots of bikes, it would be better to actually have some proper cycle lanes. Where you are not having to dodge taxis' or buses or stuck in the gutter with the drains!”

“@dblleicester

plugging the gaps in tax revenue?

perhaps, fewer obese/diabetic/respiratory illness cases from increased cycling and walking might require the NHS to have less money spent in these areas. I am pretty sure there is research that shows city centres with fewer cars in them actually tend to have MORE footfall of shoppers. Pedestrians don't really want to mix with traffic. Remember walking past the Shires car park queue back in the day? Remember the High Street with cars and buses on it? Nicer now, isn't it?

It staggers me that our obsession with the convenience offered by having personalised motorised transport stops us seeing the damage that luxury does. People are moaning here that they might have to walk for 20 minutes. What's that - a mile? Unless people have mobility issues, is that SUCH a hardship?”

“Epic fail springs to mind. The City is neither big enough, nor does it have sufficient routes around the City to warrant such a scheme. What I am interested in more so is a few things really. How much did the consulting cost and why did it take 6 months...!? More importantly, if we imagine that a large majority of Cities adopted this idea and it was successful in reducing congestion, how would we plug the lost revenue for all the lost tax from fuel sales and parking which would equate to millions of pounds?”

“Peter20101 I agree and I think that is the problem. The council should be looking at what people want to use and how they would use it?

I can not see how the bike scheme will work in Leicester as in London it seems to be used for short journeys due to the cost from major stations to places of work? is this necessary in Leicester? if you are going to cycle to work, the shops etc in Leicester you are likely to have a bike. Not stopping for work for a few days or being on holiday or visiting for the weekend.

It seems the councils keep having lots of ideas on transport but no joined up thinking because they have no idea what people want? take the Birstall Park and ride what research was done for the type of people who were going to use it? what research came up with the cold hard facts that it should be situated there?

An example is if I go shopping, living in Hamilton it is easier to drive to Thurmaston or round to Fosse Park than come into the city centre as it is free parking. If I have to come in I park in street where it is free then I walk which takes about 20 mins. I would never use the bus because there is not an easy bus to Thurmaston or Fosse Park or I am buying something and either want to put it in the car while looking in other shops or it is big an inconvenient to take it on the bus.”

“The congestion problems in and around Leicester are the making of the city council alone. Their traffic management skills are non existent, traffic light timings are such that traffic isnt allowed to flow, I find that late at night/early morning main routes come a poor second to side streets. (Grace Road/Copinger Road junction with Saffron Lane is one example) so even at that time one's journey is stop/start.
The road layouts dont help either, narrowing off the central ring road, banning right turns when it was perfectly safe to do so. (The right turn from London Road into Campbell Street which was controlled by a traffic light filter). The council cannot legally ban cars from the city but it is doing everything it can to make life as difficult as possible for the motorist. Its little wonder no one goes to Leicester so on that alone the proposed cycle scheme would not work.”

“hamilton_paul, can I suggest that all councils (not just the City Council) beleive in the "if we build-it-they-will-come" approach

if they decide to provide park & ride they convince themselves that it will work

if they choose (as blaby do) that people will walk from the proposed Lubbesthrope development to work & to shop at Fosse park - thats how they choose to design transport infrastructure around their ideology rather than the actuality

if they choose to build a boris bike scheme, it is on the expectation that it will be used not any other knowledge”