COUNCILLORS have given a firm thumbs-up to the idea of a large-scale bike and electric bike rental scheme being set up in Worthing and Adur.
Work has already started to develop a map of potential hub locations where people will be able to pick up or drop of one of the 322 bikes.
During a meeting of the joint strategic committee on Tuesday (July 13), members agreed that both councils could now start looking for an operator.
The scheme would essentially be an extension of Brighton’s BTN Bikeshare, which is one of the most successful bike rental schemes in the UK outside of London.
An operator is expected to be in place late this year and the plan is to launch the scheme in two phases, with 38 hubs opening in phase one and another 13 in phase two.
Half of the bikes available will be e-bikes.
But it won’t be cheap.
A report to the committee said it would cost £830,350 to buy the bikes and the infrastructure, with an estimated annual operating cost of £233,419 for the first phase.
The benefits, though, would see cycling opened to more people, with the aim of improving air quality and reducing traffic congestion.
The scheme received unanimous support from the committee, but Worthing leader Daniel Humphreys did raise a couple of concerns – the state of the roads and the law regarding the use of e-scooters.
Brighton & Hove City Council is considering including e-scooters in the scheme in the future and Adur and Worthing councils are likely to do the same.
But at the moment the only e-scooters that can be used on public roads are those rented as part of government-backed trials.
Mr Humphreys told the meeting: “The legislation does need to catch up.”
He added: “The other thing that needs to catch up if we’re going to make cycling a lot safer and a lot more available – and not just safe for the users of the bicycles but also pedestrians and other vehicle users – is the infrastructure.
“We do need to see that infrastructure catch up across Adur and Worthing.
“We are not where many other parts of the country are with regards to the design of our highway infrastructure.
“It’s not perilously dangerous out there but equally it could be an awful lot better.”
He called on West Sussex County Council to work with Worthing and Adur on improving the roads ‘to make all of this as good as it possibly can be, to deliver all the benefits it possibly can’.
Where the hubs could be located
During Phase One, large hubs, with space for 30 bikes, have been short-listed for:
Worthing Pier/ Montague Place
Worthing Station
Shoreham Town Centre by La Patisserie
Medium hubs, with space for 20 bikes at:
Splashpoint Leisure Centre, Worthing
West Worthing Station
The Burlington, Worthing
Worthing Town Centre/ Royal Arcade Shopping Mall
Shoreham-By-Sea Station
Shoreham Football Club
Lancing Station
Southwick Square
Old Shoreham Toll Bridge
Buckingham Park and Playground, Adur
And small hubs, with space for ten bikes, at:
Sea Lane Café, Worthing
George V Avenue, Worthing
Chapel Road (KFC), Worthing
Poulters Lane Car Park, Worthing
Worthing Hospital
Brooklands Pleasure Park, Worthing
Ham Road, Worthing
Sussex Yeoman, Palatine Road, Worthing
Goring Road Post Office, Worthing
Goring-By-Sea Station
Dominion Road Post Office, Worthing
Grand Avenue, Worthing
Goring Beach Front
Strand Parade, Worthing
Lancing Beach Car Park
Broadwater Cricketer’s Parade, Adur
Monks Recreation Ground, Adur
Cokeham Road, Adur
Southlands Hospital, Adur
Londis, Old Shoreham Road
Southwick Station
Ferry Road, Adur
South Lancing (The Broadway)
Ropetackle Arts Centre, Shoreham
Co-op, Upper Shoreham Road
All hubs short-listed for phase two will be small:
Pond Lane Recreation Ground, Worthing
Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust, Arundel Road
Worthing Findon Road Express
West Durrington Development
Brighton City Airport
Fishersgate Station
Ricardo, Old Shoreham Road
Manor Road, North Lancing
Lidl, Shoreham
Retail development at New Monks Farm, Lancing (formerly IKEA)
New Monks Park
Sompting development
Holmbush Retail Park
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