Sutton Coldfield cycle scheme proves big success
A cycle hire scheme which was launched in Sutton Coldfield has been declared a big hit by the town council leader.
Councillor Simon Ward revealed, since its launch in February, the West Midlands cycle hire scheme has seen almost 3,000 journeys and almost 13.5 km covered on bikes.
The scheme was set up with £5 million from Transport for the West Midlands’ (TfWM) Transforming Cities Fund with ongoing costs covered by rental income and commercial sponsorship.
The Town Council has contributed £60,000 towards making the scheme a success in Sutton with five bike stations set to be expanded to eight in the coming months.
Councillor Ward said: "We have had a vision around the bike scheme in Sutton for as long as the town council has been around.
"It's been tricky to execute for many reasons. When Andy Street approached us and said he was doing it across the West Midlands and could we be a pilot, we jumped at it.
"We are subsidising it as well and part of the reason we are doing that is because we see it as so important. If you look at the plan around healthy living and carbon neutral, over the last four years, it has only become ever more pressing to do what we can to promote this.
"The fact we have now got the docks in the town centre and by the park is absolutely brilliant. Usage has been good and I hope as we head into a warmer period it will be even higher."
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street added: “Sutton Coldfield was the perfect place to launch the West Midlands Bike Share and I’m delighted that it has proven to be such a success in the Royal Town.
"Sutton has great transport connections, the region’s biggest and best park and a strong cycling community – with groups like Boldmere Bullets – so this was an ideal place to get the scheme on the road in January.
“Since then, across the region, 14,000 people have used our bikes to cycle 100,000km – and it all started in Sutton.”
