Security to be priority for city bike hire scheme
DERBY VENTURE OFF THE ROAD AFTER YEAR DUE TO VANDALISM
COUNCIL bosses insist security will be a priority when they choose a company to run public bike hire in Leicester after vandalism forced the suspension of a similar scheme in neighbouring Derby.
Leicester City Council is preparing to ask companies to bid for a contract that would make more than 500 cycles available to residents in the city.
The council has secured £500,000 of Government transport cash to fund the scheme, but its preparations come as Derby’s ebike hire scheme has been suspended just a year after its launch.
The Derby scheme began with 200 ebikes, but 15 of them have vanished and a further 118 have had to be taken off the road.
The Derby venture had been hailed as a success until a surge in vandalism that began at the end of March.
That saw bikes damaged with hammers and even angle grinders, making them unusable.
A Leicester city council spokeswoman said: “When deciding on an operator, we will look at options that provide a robust solution to day-today anti-social behaviour and petty vandalism.
“We are in the final stages of preparing ‘Invitation to Tender’ documents. Our aim is to find an operator that can provide a successful bike share scheme that is respected as an effective civic transport service for city residents. We will aim to provide more than 500 cycles available from 50-plus secure locations, where the bikes will be locked when not in use.”
The network of docking stations will cover the planned Space Park, off Abbey Lane Park, the nearby National Space Centre, city centre workplaces, universities, hospitals, and the The King Power Stadium, Tigers’ Welford Road rugby ground and nearby neighbourhoods. The council says it hopes to have the scheme up and running by the autumn.
It has not yet been revealed how much it would cost to hire a bike. Santander has been announced as a sponsor for the Leicester scheme ,but the council has not said what exact contribution the bank will be making.
When deciding on an operator, we will look at options that provide a robust solution to petty vandalism