Free bike hire Brisbane City Council

[beauyboy]

Brisbane to get free bikes
FREE bicycle hire around the city could be introduced to Brisbane commuters and tourists next year.

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman is concerned about ongoing traffic pollution and congestion in the city, and hopes to introduce a public bike-hire system like those in some European cities.

"I hope that once people see how easy it is to get around the city by bike they'll start thinking about using the car less for those quick trips down to the shops and other short journeys," he said yesterday.

"Cycling is not only an easy way to get around, it's also a healthy alternative that doesn't create any greenhouse gases.

"There's a lot of traffic congestion, so we'll start with bikes in the inner peninsulas in areas including the CBD, Fortitude Valley, West End and New Farm."

Cr Newman said automated bike stations would be installed around the city centre and users could hire a bike using a swipe-card system.

"The first 30 minutes would be free for quick journeys across town," he said.

Cr Newman said he would implement the bike-hire system if he wins the March mayoral election. He said he was confident it could be introduced with support from sponsors and advertisers.

"We'll look at starting with 1000 or 2000 bikes," he said.

Taken directly from the couriermail.com.au
Never once has this guy done anything green and just before the next council elections he does this on the prevision of if he gets back in.

It is all a cop out and would pefer to see the funds directed towards improved bikeways.

Donald

[ggundersen]

All very well - but what about helmets? Do they think that everyone has a helmet in their back pocket or are tourists exempt from helmet laws?

[Geoff3DMN]

All very well - but what about helmets?

Possibly the helmets could be 'universal' fit and kept attached to the bikes by a cable. When you get a bike you get a helmet.

[beauyboy]

But there is also hygen issue to look at. It is bad enought putting on my own sweat soaked helmet let alone one that has been used by someone else.

Donald

[Geoff3DMN]

Disposable stretchy helmet liners...
with a dispenser near the hire point would fix that issue.

[twowheels]

Good move. Detail issues to be sorted for sure. No doubt forum members could make some constructive suggestions to get this off the ground, hopefully it could then spread to other capitals.

Have any Aussie capitals got these style bus bike racks?
http://www.toronto.ca/ttc/images/bike_rack_on_bus.jpg

[Geoff3DMN]

Action Bus in canberra are using them.

http://www.action.act.gov.au/bikenride.cfm

There are some issues around pedestrian impact that are making some bus inspectors reluctant to approve their use in some areas.

And to be fair a pedestrian getting hit by a bike rack could (in theory at least) face a more dangerous impact than a smooth fiberglass bus front would present by itself.

[MountGower]

Error. This post can no longer be displayed.

[ggundersen]

It works in europa and will also work here if they drop the helmets.

[Mulger bill]

Why do I get the feeling there's gonna be lots of shady looking blokes with utes hanging around?

Shaun

[ggundersen]

most places in europa the bikes don't get stolen

[beauyboy]

Yes but in europa most people already own a bike where as only one in two own a bike in brissy. If there is any proposal that people riding these bikes are allowed not to have a helmet I will be kicking up one hell of a stink.

This program may work in europa because they have decent networks brissy has a long way to go before we can say we have a decent network.

Donald

[Geoff3DMN]

A typical government initiative. Half arsed, half baked and flogged hard to the media.

Are you talking about the hire bikes or the bus bike racks?

Because I actually happen to think bike racks on buses is a good idea...

[MountGower]

Error. This post can no longer be displayed.

[Kalgrm]

I don't think subsidised bikes are the answer, but better facilities and some REAL driver education would go along way.

Bike subsidies wouldn't help because most people already have access to a bike (more bikes are sold each year than cars). And just how cheap does a bike need to be before people will buy one? You can walk out of K-mart with a bike which costs less than a tank of petrol (yeah, I know, it's a !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !! bike, but that's beside the point).

Getting people to actually use the bikes they own (or can borrow) is the big hurdle. Give riders some priority lanes (like taxis have now) and some security on the road (ie driver education) and we'll see more people taking bikes seriously.

Oh, and $5-per-litre petrol will make people consider it seriously too ..... That price is less than 5 years away, so get fit now, my good friends - you will be in the fast lane when petrol starts hiking!

Cheers,
Graeme

[ggundersen]

MountGower

was watching a show on tele some months ago about the inner city parking spaces for bikes and how popular they were in Holland. They also mentioned that bikes are the most commonly stolen item in Holland.

yes that is true. people take the first bike they can find when they are going home after a night out.

but that is not the free bikes.
in places like copenhagen all the free bikes were one off's and had ads on them - so they could not be sold by thieves.

[twowheels]

[Geoff3DMN]

Anyone who rides to the bus stop and breaks their ride by getting on a bus .......well........you probably don't want to know how sad I think that is.

It is aimed at people who live too far to have the time to commute to work, or who are too elderly to ride long distances in hilly areas.

Not at fit young (or even fit middle aged) people who reguarly rack up imperial centuries.

At the end of the day if it gets more people out of cars and onto bikes then I see that as a good thing.

I suspect we are better agreeing to disagree about this issue.

[mikesbytes]

I think somewhere in LA there is a ride to the station and leave the bike, except the bike parking is Valet

[Geoff3DMN]

Some railway stations have secure bike facilities although they are very much in the minority.

People riding a few kms to a local station and then taking the train 30 or 50kms to work (and reverse in the evening) is a mix that works well elsewhere in the world.

The bus rack idea is in effect only an extension of that sort of inter-model transport better suited to lower density areas where fixed rail either isn't available or isn't suitable.

[beauyboy]

It must be said QR is spending quite a bit on Bike Lockers. Mitchelton station is will have 80 after the station is redeveloped with a bus interchange. That is after it was released that each car space cost QR $11000 dollars to create.

However it must be said this said bike hire plan is planned for the inner-city the only problem is even the inner-city bikeway network is still not up to it.

Donald

[MountGower]

Error. This post can no longer be displayed.

[beauyboy]

I have no arguement against the idea of Artieral bikeways into the city however providing lockup at Stations.
Sandgate is a good case in question, Sandgate has extensive cycling lockup provisions and for good reason. Getting to the city by bike is long and windy or direct and dangerous. Minimum distance would be 16kms for a trip into the city. Not a distance a beginner would want to do work. I also have a feeling that a good proportion of the bikes that are at Sandgate are from Redcliffe, Something that is a good 6kms away.

Cycling provision at stations and bus stops are very much needed. I have noticed at cycle parking provision along the SE busway is about 50% for rails and apprently the lockers are about 75% usage.

Currently I have a running battle with TRANSlink to provide cycle parking at Southbank Busway Station. However they can not get back to me because there cycle access codes are still being developed and reviewed. What they don't know is that I have a copy of the code and another CBD BUG member and I are going to provide feedback. (the thing is pathetic) So for the sack of a code TRANSlink is stuffing around incase there provision is more then what the code currently says.

Donald

[beauyboy]

An update with Hire project.

Couriermail.com.au
Mayor pedals city bike scheme
Ursula Heger
May 06, 2008 04:00pm
BRISBANE could see "bikes for hire" scattered about the inner city by the middle of next year under a new city council plan backed by Lord Mayor Campbell Newman.

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said today that the idea, which could see up to 2000 bicycles available for public use in an area stretching from Newstead to the University of
Queensland, would be similar to systems in European cities such as Paris and Barcelona.
The plan, which allows people to borrow a bicycle to travel a short distance and return it to any registered bike station, would cut down on pollution and congestion on Brisbane streets.
‘‘In the future, I see bikes playing a much greater role in shorter-distance travel,’’ Newman
said. ‘‘We are helping to encourage and speed that culture change by providing the infrastructure.
‘‘What I expect is that people will see how easy it is to get around the city by bike and will naturally use the car less for quick trips down to the shops and other short journeys.’’
He said the 150 bike-hire stations will be positioned about 300m apart across the suburbs,
but not including CBD neighbour Springhill because of its hilly character.
Bicycle Queensland manager Ben Wilson welcomed the move, but said some parts of Brisbane’s bikeway system needed improvement to cope with the increase in cyclists.
‘‘The northside is suffering from construction of the Northern Busway, which will close the hospital-side Bowen Bridge Rd for nearly two years. It is already a narrow road and most of the
other side is taken up with the tunnel works.’’
The idea has been successful in other cities, such as Lyon, where almost 150,000 car trips
were replaced by ‘‘bike for hire’’ rides in the first six months of operation.
A council spokeswoman said the stations would not compete with tourist bicycle hire operations, which were designed for longer hire.

[simonn]

I don't think subsidised bikes are the answer, but better facilities and some REAL driver education would go along way.

snip

Getting people to actually use the bikes they own (or can borrow) is the big hurdle. Give riders some priority lanes (like taxis have now) and some security on the road (ie driver education) and we'll see more people taking bikes seriously.

I cannot agree with this more.

We are currently moving office from where we had no too much parking to where we have to little. From my team of six (not including the Indians), one lives 12km and two live 7km from our new office. Perfect cycling distance and, in North Ryde during rush hour, probably a comparable journey time to car. The office has bike racks in a secure car park, showers, gym lockers etc.

The only real issue they have with cycling is that they are scared of riding on the roads in Sydney. Two of them live very near the start of the Epping Road cycle way, but if they do ride at all, they will ride on the footpath until they get to it, because, again, they are too scared.