Council declares plans for ‘Boris Bikes’ to come to Brighton

Brighton and Hove council have announced that they are working towards a shared bike service in Brighton that is similar to the Boris bikes in London. The council announced that they hope to bring 430 bikes with 60 docking stations all around the Brighton and Hove area for May 2017. They state:

“The aim is to provide an easy, healthy way to get around the city for residents, visitors and commuters.”

The plan is still early in development and the council have called residents to contribute their opinions via survey which you can find here. The estimated cost of the scheme is upwards to £1.45 million.

As seen from the map, the proposed area covers the majority of Lewes road and heavy student populations. Students now have a new option to get involved with the bike sharing scheme to get to and from campus rather than get the bus. With the slow rising prices of the bus service punishing students for purchasing season tickets,  this alternative service could be a lifeline to those wishing to make small journeys that a bus journey is too overkill for.

As of yet, there is no released information regarding what the cost would be for users  but we hope that it would be similar to the London style of paying a cheap flat rate and then extra for journeys that are over a certain time. The council has also announced it will review traffic planning.

The London ‘Boris Bikes’ has been very successful with around 52 million bike hires since its launch in 2010. Fingers crossed that this success can rub off on the environmentally conscious Brighton.