Can Boris, Barclays & bicycles improve London quality of life
July 24th, 2010
I know it’s not exactly fashionable nowadays for a Labour member like myself to welcome with open arms a policy of a Conservative Mayor of London. But I’m going to go ahead and do it anyway. The Barclays Cycle Hire scheme, launching next Friday (July 30th) has the potential to revolutionise the way we get around this great metropolis. How long have we looked on to cities like Copenhagen, Amsterdam & Zurich with their fancy bicycles and cycle-friendly policies, while we put up with uncivilised busses & tubes?
That it took Boris Johnson, London’s somewhat entertaining, but according to some a serious thinking, Mayor to bring a London-wide cycle scheme which will be accessible to millions of people, is a shame. That doesn’t mean we should look down our noses on it though.
From next Friday, people all over London will have access to bicycles in many local neighbourhoods across town. I’ve already spotted two of them very close to where I live. For an annual membership of £45, users can take a bicycle from their local “docking station”, cycle to their place of work, a restaurant, the shops or a meeting with friends for up-to half an hour completely free. When you consider the amount of London that can be covered in 30 minutes by bicycle, it’s clear that this scheme has the potential to replace thousands of bus & tube journeys per year, and simultaneously improving the health and well-being of Londoners.
As the London Cycling Campaign points out here:
…cycling reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke and promotes good mental health.
Everybody recognises that London is oftentimes a grumpy, frosty city, home to millions of people in too much of a rush to smile, take a deep breath and enjoy the wonders that wandering through this amazing city can bring. If cycling improves the general demeanour of even a small percentage of our commuting population, it will be a great benefit to us all.
Ken Livingstone and Oona King, who are both running for Labour’s endorsement for 2012’s mayoral election should recognise the benefits that this cycle scheme should bring, regardless of the fact that Boris Johnson brought it into being.
This Londoner for one, can’t wait to give the new scheme a spin.

Let’s look at today’s heckling from the Prime Minister’s point of view shall we?
I was really enjoying my peppermint iced latte at Starbucks earlier today when I almost choked after coming across a pile of leaflets like the one in the picture. Starbucks has always had its “community noticeboard” where local groups can post a leaflet or poster about specific events or issues. But I wasn’t aware that Starbucks was now allowing local political activists to post their propaganda in their stores – and as I said it was just a single leaflet on the noticeboard, but there was a whole pile of them next to the sugar! And no there weren’t any leaflets from other local parties, just a pile of this UKIP Europhobic diatribe, strategically placed to capture the political imagination of Maida Vale’s latte-drinking yuppies…











