Last Updated on 15/07/2021
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I was in Barcelona recently (the weather was considerably more pleasant than here in the UK!) and was very impressed by their city centre bicycle scheme, known as “Bicing”. There are many stations across the city (including the one shown in the photograph) and everywhere I looked, there seemed to be people riding these distinctive looking bicycles. And it got me reflecting on how we do things here in Britain.
Whilst there are now some limited examples of similar schemes in the UK, most large towns and cities still lack such schemes to encourage people to stop using their cars and to get on a bike instead – thus reducing the carbon emissions and making people healthier too.
And when one considers companies and public sector organisations, there is even less innovation and encouragement. Why can’t more companies follow the Spanish example and offer their staff access to free (or at worst, subsidised) bikes? I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has a bike scheme at work, and whether the scheme has been successful at getting people out of their cars….