15 comments by 3 or more people

1. How would this kind of thing work? I can't imagine how it could work… Are you proposing that people share a bike? So that could only work if the sharers never need to come in to work on the same day, and how would they pass the bike on after their turn was finished? And then they'd probably have to adjust the thing to make it fit them?

   Sorry to sound negative, perhaps I just don't understand the proposal properly?

   Maybe the university could own bikes, rent them (for not a lot) or lend them to staff and students, on the condition that they cannot both rent a bike and have a parking permit?

   18 Mar 2005, 18:43

2. The request was really quite vague, I'm not making any particular proposal as such.

   I agree with you that pool bikes would not really work for people sharing them for off-campus travel. However they could be useful for staff based on Gibbett Hill to attend University House meetings, for example.

   I like your suggestion of renting bikes (although they are so cheap to buy that I can't see people doing this as a long-term option) and think that a lease system for students may be quite workable: the University sells bikes to students, and buys them back when the student leaves.

   18 Mar 2005, 18:53

3. Maybe something modelled on the 'velos jaunes' they have in some European city. I've never actually been there, but remember learning about them as an interesting diversion in GCSE French class.

   Basically, the city owns loads of (fairly low-spec) bikes, and has painted them yellow. Any time you want to go anywhere, you find a yellow bike, ride it to where you're going, and then dump it. Someone else can then come along and pick it up.

   This is probably the simplest option – but raises all sorts of questions about the bikes being taken off campus, or people locking them up (which would go against the spirit of the thing!).

   I guess you could try and go one up and have bike parks at Westwood, University House, Main Campus (maybe a few here) and Gibbet, with some kind of device that keeps the bikes locked in and will only release them when you swipe your University card, so the bikes are effectively booked out to individual staff/students who can then be responsible for them. This could be expensive, though, and require specialist (new, proprietary?) technology.

   Just a couple of ideas! I think it would really help travel around campus though, I've mentioned the idea to a few people (non-cyclists) and they've been very positive about it.

   19 Mar 2005, 02:36

4. It does sound like one of those schemes that people who don't cycle think is a good idea. For them cycling to/from campus is out of comprehension, so of course they mean intra-campus use.

   Still pedal cycles are used in all sorts of places. The huge new Parcelforce depot at Baginton has load carrying tricycles for staff to use when a conveyor belt fails or a parcel falls to the floor.

   If a scheme could be made to work it might be good in teaching people that cycling is not as dangerous or difficult as they think.

   I'll enquire with the CTC whether anyone knows of a similar existing project

   A suggestion for the parking: link

   19 Mar 2005, 20:16

5. Andrew Marsh

   The idea of a bike pool does sound attractive, as George says, to the non-commuting cyclist. Why not encourage the use of the Booost scheme ( link) or similar as BUG (via Stuart Dunlop) are investigating. This would allow any employee who wanted to have regular use of a bike on campus, but did not commute with it to own one at reasonable cost and keep it locked up as their responsibility. They may even want to start lobbying for more secure, covered cycle parking if this were the case, something that would be unlikely if they were "University owned" pool bikes.

   21 Mar 2005, 17:24

6. Paul McCarthy

   Again, I don't see how a bike share scheme would work or why the university would take on the risk (who would be responsible for the "safe" condition of any of the bikes before use?).

   An active policy to enable and facilitate intra campus travel would be a more useful resource focus. (e.g. Secure Bike weather proof storage near the front of buildings etc.) The Boost scheme would also be helpful.

   If there were to be pool items it may be more useful to have a pool of trailers (standard fittings would need to be purchased by scheme users ?) to use to move between buildings as it is when you have to take stuff to lectures/meetings etc that you are most likely to make use of your car.

   21 Mar 2005, 17:44

7. Chris May

   +1 to the 'it'll never work' side. Who's going to take the bikes back up the hill from main campus to gibbet hill?

   Spend the money on secure parking on-campus so that people can keep their own bikes here for occasional use instead.

   21 Mar 2005, 22:06

8. Chris May

   (I meant parking for bikes, obviously! :-) )

   21 Mar 2005, 22:06

9. Richard Hicks

   As some of you will know, I used to run "Campus Cycles", providing cycle maintenance plus selling parts and accessories, two days a week in the SU. Before that I had worked in the University Finance Office for ten years, then left to spend a year working as a mechanic in a bike shop in Leamington. The idea behind Campus Cycles was that it would be a practical way of encouraging cycling to and around the University. I ran it for two and a half years but in the end it was impossible to establish a viable business without a permanent space on campus to operate from. Since wrapping up Campus Cycles at the end of 2003, I have gone back to working in the Finance Office.

   Apologies for all the biographical background – it is relevant to the comments that follow.

   I agree that the big problems with a pool bike scheme are maintenance and generally ensuring availability of bikes. If those problems could be overcome, I think there would be potential for non-cyclists to use pool bikes for short trips around campus.

   On several occasions whilst I was running Campus Cycles, I suggested to the University that I might run a pool bikes scheme. I won't go into the details now, but if anyone is interested in how I thought it might work, just give me a call. I believe that my proposals were even discussed at a meeting of the environmental committee in 2002.

   Anyway, Campus Cycles is now history and I don't think that anyone is likely to try to set up a similar business in the near future. However, I do wonder if a group of us might be able to take on the administration of a small pool bike scheme on a voluntary basis? (assuming that the University would buy the bikes and provide some space for maintnenace).

   NB This is not an attempt by me to relaunch Campus Cycles by other means! I am pretty well committed to working in the Finance Office for the next few years at least. On the other hand, I am still doing voluntary work to promote cycling and sustainable transport – most relevantly, by helping out at the Coventry Community Cycle Workshop (Coventry Cycling Centre). For me this would be an extension of that sort of voluntary work.

   I do have a City & Gilds in cycle maintenance (and recent experience in the bike trade), so the University might have some confidence that I could supervise the maintenance of the pool bikes. However, I think it would need a few of us to be able to run this whilst still doing our ordinary jobs.

   One other comment. When I was putting forward suggestions for pool bike schemes to the University, my view was that this would be part of a campaign to persuade non-cyclists or occasional cyclists to give bikes a try. Therefore I thought that the bikes should appear as "user-friendly" as possible. One thing that I had in mind was to use shaft drive bikes from Zero cycles. This will probably seem quite daft to "proper" cyclists, but quite a few occasional cyclists think that bicycle chains are very prone to "coming off", leading to oily hands, trousers, etc. I thought it would be worth advertising that the pool bikes would be immune from that – anyone could ride them in their ordinary work clothes. I also intended to fit them with carriers and luggage capable of carrying A4 files – so that people going to meetings wouldn't have to worry about how to carry their papers.

   Apologies for such a long coment. Hope there's something useful there. I'm sure that there is scope for much more use of cycles on campus, and pool bikes would help to encourage this (albeit only in a small way). However, such a scheme would have to be administered properly in order to work.

   Richard

   22 Mar 2005, 11:03

10. I don't think it will directly benefit those who currently cycle to/from campus, but it may well bring indirect benefits. The markings and signage at the Claycroft entrance and Library Road, not to mention Richard Hicks' experiences indicate our low status with the University authorities. If we show willingness to help with one of their problems, we should rise in their estimation. Furthermore if the scheme is a success, there will be more people using cycles on campus which should also increase our influence. Some bike hirers might be so impressed by cycling that they will start using cycles for commuting.

    Any scheme must have minimal long term costs. User-charges (say 50p an hour) will help here and in encouraging responsible use.

    A couple of schemes which might serve as models:

    * Oy bike (link)

    * DB call a bike (link)

    Use of University identity cards and something like "printer credits" instead of mobile phones and credit cards would be a helpful simplification.

    24 Mar 2005, 09:45

11. There may be a better way of approaching the provision of pool bikes. Rather than investing in a lot of technology to allow anyone in the University to borrow the pool bikes, it might be better if individual departments or sections bought one or two bikes each, for use by their own staff. Then it would be fairly simple to arrange for the bikes to be kept near the department to which they belonged and for a nominated person to look after the key. Hospitality already have something along these lines, with a couple of departmental bikes, and I think that staff in one of the research groups in Chemistry were thinking about doing something like this. Advantages:

    – small scale and cheap
    – bikes are purchased for use in areas where people are interested in the idea
    – because the bikes belong to the departments, they take an interest in them (security and maintenance).

    The main things to sort out would be:

    – insurance
    – rules about helmets, etc
    – sorting out who would take responsibility for checking that the bikes are roadworthy

    But those issues apply equally to more elaborate schemes.

    If it turned out that there was lots of interest in departmental bikes, we could move to a more elaborate scheme later.

    Might be worth considering?

    29 Mar 2005, 18:19

12. Some Market Research is needed. How many people do make trips over a mile between University buildings? What's the breakdown staff/student (note undergraduates have fewer social ties to departments than postgraduates or staff). How many trips are one-way? If there is a return, after how long? Amongst those who make such trips but who wouldn't consider cycling, what are the reasons?

    By the way. I see any bicycles used for this to be strictly utility – sturdy, reliable, sit up and beg handlebars, baskets, no special clothing (shoes, lycra, helmets).

    Like these . . . .

    30 Mar 2005, 10:31

13. Richard Hicks

    I agree about using "utility" bicycles if the University does buy any pool bikes.

    I'm not sure that market research would be needed if the University decided to go for the small-scale approach suggested in my previous comment. If a group of people in one department or location think that it would be useful for them to have a pool bike, so that they can get around the campus for whatever reason, let them buy a bike. If the idea catches on, let other groups buy bikes too. If it really catches on, investigate moving to a campus-wide scheme (so maybe do the market research at that stage).

    I wouldn't want to wear a helmet when making short trips around the campus (I don't usually wear a helmet anyway), but I think that we need to be sure that the University is relaxed about providing bikes for staff and then not requiring that helmets are used when riding them (Health & Safety). Clearly if helmets were required, it would complicate the administration of any pool bike scheme.

    01 Apr 2005, 13:54

14. An informal system would be easy to set up, but might run into headaches during operation. If someone used a pool bicycle to cycle to another site, it would be unavailable until they came back (and remembered to return the key). The bicycles wouldn't get a lot of use. Wouldn't the scheme end up limited to staff ? Yet students are in the majority.

    Some sort of docking arrangement would open the scheme to anyone with a university card, whilst ensuring good tracking of where the bicycle was locked up (or who last had it). A bit like library books. I suppose the key issue is the cost and reliability of commercially available bicycle docking systems.

    See James Sherratt's comment (#3) and an earlier one from me (#10).

    02 Apr 2005, 18:10

15. Tobes

    Bike Tree: THE most over engineered bike shed i have ever seen.

    04 Nov 2005, 13:51