Barnet Council has selected Irish firm Urbo to trial a dockless bike hire scheme in the borough.
Announced on 5 June, the two-year pilot scheme will initially involve 100 bikes – a figure which could rise to 300 if the trial proves a success.
The council reviewed six potential bike hire operators: App Bikes, Smoove, Brompton, Nextbike, Ofo and Urbo.
The council says it selected Urbo because the service ‘provides value for money’, has bikes that are ‘user friendly’ and has a ‘proven good track record with other London boroughs’.
At present, Urbo operates in three London boroughs – Enfield, Waltham Forest and Redbridge – although on 8 June it announced these schemes would end on 4 July.
Figures show that in 2013, just 1% of journeys in Barnet were made by bicycle. The council says these figures are significant because increased cycling has the potential to reduce pressure on other parts of the transport network.
The 24-month trial will be measured on the number of unique users registered, unique bookings, regular users, thefts, faults and accidents.
18 June 2018