Budgie Bikes' bike hire business impressed the committee with its scope, ambition and sustained development. We liked the range and extent of hire outlets with the option of leaving bikes at different locations, the Town Hall service and the Park & Ride arrangement. Together these helped distinguish the company's approach from others offering less comprehensive rental services.
The comprehensive and enthusiastic approach adopted in Ealing makes this authority stand out. Single, stand-alone projects rarely bring significant benefits unless other barriers to increased cycling are also removed. Ealing has addressed this successfully through a marketing approach and by working on a range of connected projects including on-road training, security in colleges, schools and in the home, Bike Buddies and its unique Bicycle Support Team.
The committee was impressed by this school-based project with its inclusive, comprehensive approach. Both in and out of the classroom, the school shows great commitment towards cycling. It involves all ages with its Rainbow Scheme, offers a wide range of activities, both on and off road, and even has a pool of bikes for adult as well as child use. The involvement of parents and staff, and their coaching to become trainers themselves, is integral to the scheme. The project's success is best illustrated perhaps by cycling, almost non-existent at the start of the project, now being accepted by pupils and parents as an ordinary, everyday, unremarkable activity, and by the extension of the STA approach to other schools in Hackney.
The committee was very impressed by this well targeted, comprehensive project. We liked not only the range of activities and services offered but also the accompanying research and the follow up to the original scheme. The project involved women of different ages, ethnicity and backgrounds and examined a range of barriers to women's cycling. It addressed the need for on-road training, basic maintenance skills, appropriate choice of bike, storage in small homes and appropriate, feminine clothing. There have been accompanying publications, most notably the Cycling for Women, Good Practice Guide on CD which we hope will help spread the message nationally.
Page last updated 30 May 2005 by Webmaster.