{"id":7964,"date":"2011-12-14T09:57:01","date_gmt":"2011-12-14T09:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/altcardiff\/?p=7964"},"modified":"2011-12-14T09:57:01","modified_gmt":"2011-12-14T09:57:01","slug":"in-depth-cardiffs-two-wheeled-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2011\/12\/14\/in-depth-cardiffs-two-wheeled-future\/","title":{"rendered":"In-depth: Cardiff\u2019s two-wheeled future"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>As the city\u2019s bike hire scheme comes to a close this month, Alt.Cardiff asks just how bike-friendly Cardiff really is?<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_8032\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"width: 480px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2011\/12\/NoLogo_Feature_OYBike_LD.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8032\" title=\"NoLogo_Feature_OYBike_LD\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2011\/12\/NoLogo_Feature_OYBike_LD.jpg\" alt=\"OY Bike Cardiff \" width=\"480\" height=\"220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2011\/12\/NoLogo_Feature_OYBike_LD.jpg 480w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2011\/12\/NoLogo_Feature_OYBike_LD-300x138.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8032\" title=\"NoLogo_Feature_OYBike_LD\" src=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2011\/12\/NoLogo_Feature_OYBike_LD.jpg\" alt=\"OY Bike Cardiff \" width=\"480\" height=\"220\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2011\/12\/NoLogo_Feature_OYBike_LD.jpg 480w, https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2011\/12\/NoLogo_Feature_OYBike_LD-300x138.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The OY Bike station at City Hall. The scheme will end on 23 December unless a commercial sponsor is found<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In the depths of a Welsh winter, cycling is perhaps not the preferred mode of transport. Yet despite the deterrents imposed by the wind and relentless drizzle on this particularly depressing Tuesday, five of the 12 bikes at the OY Bike station outside City Hall are in use.<\/p>\n<p>Cardiff\u2019s bike hire scheme has proved a popular addition to the cityscape, aiding its 2,000 members make more than 11,000 journeys round the city since its launch in September 2009. Part of the Sustainable Travel City initiative, the Council-backed scheme was tapped to reduce traffic congestion, become an icon of the city centre, not to mention prove a viable business venture. However funding issues have forced the company behind the scheme to lock up its bikes for good.<\/p>\n<p>Having provided financial backing for the scheme since its launch in 2009, Cardiff City Council gave notice that it would not be funding OY Bike into its third year back in 2010. And having been unable to secure a commercial sponsor, OY Bike Cardiff has been forced to cut its losses and terminate its contract early.<\/p>\n<p>The sudden halt of the scheme is a blow for the Council\u2019s Sustainable Travel City initiative, which holds cycling as integral to its agenda, having implemented a strategic cycle network plan and hired a cycle officer to represent the interests of cyclists. In a statement issued when OY Bike announced its decision in November, Cllr Neil McEvoy described the end of the scheme as frustrating and regretful.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sustainable Travel City<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Sustainable Travel City initiative represented a \u00a328.5 million investment from the Welsh Assembly and Council back in 2009, which paved the way for projects such as the OY Bike scheme. According to Adam Garrett, operations manager at OY Bike, his company was able to develop a bike scheme in Cardiff thanks to this support. \u201cUnfortunately I think the UK market\u2019s a bit immature in terms of bike schemes,\u201d he explained. \u201cCardiff was the council that was up for it, had some funding and was a nice city to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Providing the bike scheme certainly represented a positive step by the Council. Despite being forced to withdraw the Cardiff scheme, Adam is keen to emphasise the support his company has received. \u201cThe Council has always been pro-sustainability and I think still are. It\u2019s just unfortunate the funding\u2019s been cut,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Still, it was not without its critics. \u201cI think that particular scheme was quite badly thought out to begin with,\u201d explains Sam Coates, Green Party candidate for Cathays ward, adding that the size of Cardiff, combined with the locations of the bike stations, left the network flawed. \u201cCardiff is quite compact, so the benefits are probably not as big as somewhere like London or Birmingham. But I think it would have worked out better than it has if it had been thought out properly, within the framework of a whole city transport plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>OY Bike was just one of the a number of steps taken by the Council to improve sustainable transport in Cardiff, which included expanding the cycle network and developing public transport infrastructure. However, many feel they are not going far enough to make Cardiff a truly sustainable travel hub. City resident Ceri Jones, 30, uses his bike as his primary mode of transport. According to Ceri, while cycling in Cardiff is practical, insufficient bike docks and poorly implemented cycle paths prove a daily frustration. \u201cBasically there\u2019s two arguments,\u201d he explains. \u201cYou either have to make the roads more friendly, which means altering the behaviour of motorists, or you have to have entirely segregated cycle lanes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite the current shortcomings in the infrastructure, the future is looking bright for cycling in Cardiff as it remains a focus for local government. \u201cIt\u2019s good that they\u2019re making progress,\u201d says Ceri. \u201cThey\u2019ve hired a bike officer and they\u2019re actually listening to us. [But] I think it needs significant investment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Cllr McEvoy, the council is currently in process of creating a new cycle network to support both commuter and leisure cyclists. In Sam\u2019s opinion, the work taken to improving cycle corridors, such as the development of the Pont y Werin bridge, has proved a good development to the city\u2019s sustainable transport network. \u00a0<br \/>And while Ceri believes a culture shift is needed to improve the cycle facilities in the city, he says he has noticed a significant increase in the number of cyclists on Cardiff\u2019s roads, which he believes leads to a decrease in accidents as drivers become more aware.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately for its 2,000 users though, without a sponsor OY Bike will no longer be part of Cardiff\u2019s sustainable future, and it looks likely that those yellow bike stations will soon remain empty for good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the city\u2019s bike hire scheme comes to a close this month, Alt.Cardiff asks just how bike-friendly Cardiff really is? In the depths of a Welsh winter, cycling is perhaps not the preferred mode of transport. Yet despite the deterrents imposed by the wind and relentless drizzle on this particularly depressing Tuesday, five of the 12 bikes at the OY Bike station outside City Hall are in use. Cardiff\u2019s bike hire scheme has proved a popular addition to the cityscape, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":252,"featured_media":8035,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1412,1734],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-7964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-no-logo","tag-cycling","tag-sustainable-transport"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>In-depth: Cardiff\u2019s two-wheeled future - alt.cardiff<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/altcardiff\/2011\/12\/14\/in-depth-cardiffs-two-wheeled-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In-depth: Cardiff\u2019s two-wheeled future - alt.cardiff\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As the city\u2019s bike hire scheme comes to a close this month, Alt.Cardiff asks just how bike-friendly Cardiff really is? 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