Council and Uni aim to revive bike hire schemes

Bike hire schemes could be revived in Oxford and the University of Sunderland following the demise of the original schemes late last year when the  operator went into liquidation. 

Newcastle-based Grandscheme ceased trading last November, prompting the immediate closure of the schemes, which had only started operating earlier in the year.

An Oxfordshire County Council spokesman told LTT: “We are actively pursuing ways to re-launch the scheme and hope to make an announcement shortly.”

The Oxonbike scheme, in the Headington area of the city, had 30 bikes and was funded by DfT grant. “The bikes are not council property but are available to a new operator,” said the spokesman. 

The University of Sunderland scheme ran from May to November and Graeme Robinson, the university’s facilities manager, said it had revealed a “huge appetite” for bike hire, with more than 500 members and thousands of hires. The pilot scheme featured 23 bikes and four hire stations. 

“We’re investigating other options for cycle hire schemes now,” Robinson told LTT. “We would like to have a scheme in for September.”

The university owns the bikes so they could see re-use.

Discuss Cycle Hire Schemes at LTT's Cycle City event on 1-2 May 2014 in Leeds