CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
"Mums can been seen joining their kids on journeys to school on Boris Bikes. Groups of suited business types can be seen jumping on the corporate branded hire bikes instead of waving down cabs. London, slowly, is becoming a better place to live, work and visit."
If only Edinburgh had the money...
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The Mayor said: “A million thank yous go to Londoners for the warmth in which they have embraced our beautiful blue bikes. The zest in which people have taken to two wheels and joined the cycling revolution we are engendering in the Capital has gladdened my heart. Plus the doom mongers and naysayers who darkened my days with pre launch predictions of cycle hire woe have been vanquished.”
"
When i was down a few weeks ago I was shocked at the usage level tbh. I wanted to ask people, in a genuine way, what they used them for or how they used them.
I still can't see the benefit in Edinburgh.
"When i was down a few weeks ago I was shocked at the usage level tbh."
As in much more than you expected?
I was there a couple of weeks ago and it really seems to be working - in the sense that many/most of the people using them didn't previously cycle in central London.
"I wanted to ask people, in a genuine way, what they used them for or how they used them."
I talked to one guy who said he 'didn't like tube interchanges' - presumably meant that he'd worked out walking miles underground and waiting for another train took longer than cycling.
"I still can't see the benefit in Edinburgh."
Edinburgh has the disadvantage of the hills. The original plans included Leith. I would start with an area bounded by George St., Omni, Scottish Parliament, KB and Haymarket. Flattish apart from The Mound and Pleasance.
LOTS of potential for short journeys (what they are intended for) - obviously a lot of student use, people getting to work from stations. More people on bikes - safer for everyone.
What Edinburgh needs is a major bike company who want to puch their cycle-assist electric bikes to sponsor/provide 50% of the bikes! (How much advertising for your bike brand do you want? It could be all over national news for days, visible to tourists from all over the world etc etc)
MOST impressive thing was the way they had put fairly large docking stations all over the place.
Must have different planning rules down there...
Plenty room in the centre of George Street!
MOST impressive thing was the way they had put fairly large docking stations all over the place.
Yup. That is what I was going to say as well. I was there in the spring, and the amount of serious building going on to install everything was very impressive.
Can tourists use them now then?
Now then, now then.
Think this is still the case -
"Tourists can't hire a Boris bike until the end of year"
Though that applies to 'casual users' - presume anyone can pay the annual fee.
If it's anything like the Paris scheme, people might use them because it's good fun. It doesn't take much peer pressure to swipe your card and get going.
And it is fun. Cycling along the Rue de Rivoli and across the Place de la Concorde was a highlight of my last holiday in Paris.
It doesn't take much experience to realise that on the big open spaces of Parisian boulevards drivers can see you and don't try and shunt you off the tarmac... Confidence is all.
Thinking of Edinburgh, it's not that bad hill-wise. Yes, if you decide to cycle up Dundas Street or the Mound, that might give you pause for thought; but the City Fathers built the North Bridge for a reason - you can go that way or round by Lothian Road. You don't have to go straight up a hill...
"Though that applies to 'casual users' - presume anyone can pay the annual fee."
What annual fee? Currently you need to pre-register and pay £3 for a keyfob, which is sent out to you within a few days, many are arriving next day if registering early enough in the day. You can then pay the £1 daily access charge for each 24 hour period that you use the bike plus any usage fees that you make up.
If you're going to use the bike less than 45 times a year, it's going to be cheaper to purchase a daily membership.
Casual users (people who use their credit/debit card for identification) will only be able to use the scheme later in the year. They were meant to be able to from a month after the scheme started, however it turned out to be more popular than expected, and they need to increase capacity first, particularly at peak times at the London Terminals, where in the morning the racks are empty, and evening they are full.
On the hills in Edinburgh, I don't even think about cycling up the Mound, in that I just pedal up it, rather than avoid it! Hills aren't a problem once you get used to them. If you think Edinburgh is hilly, try the Isle of Man.
I was speaking to someone this afternoon, who has just started cycling to work on Monday, and has been saying that it's been a fantastic experience. He's getting to work in 35-40 minutes instead of just over an hour. It's the first time he had been cycling for over 15 years. I've been hearing a lot of similar things from various people in London.
I was speaking to someone this afternoon, who has just started cycling to work
It's amazing what a good cycle can do to convert people to cycling!
@kapnutnik: more to the point, after doing it once, they enjoy it enough and see the benefits, and are getting the help and advice from the local bike shop that they need, that they are doing it on a regular basis.
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