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LONDON, United Kingdom – The City Council of the UK capital has revealed an ambitious scheme to stimulate the use of bikes. Mayor Ken Livingstone has set a target of 80% increase in cycling by 2010. One of the means to reach this target could be the implementation of 80,000 rental bikes.

However London has already seen an increase in cycling of 83% over the past seven years, it still accounts for a very small portion of the total mobility. One of the reasons that holds back a further growth of bike mobility in London is the soaring figures for bike theft. Once being a victim of bike theft, many people give up cycling for good.

The success of Vélib in Paris seems to be a solution for this problem. The Vélib can only be rented with a credit card number. The London mayor, who visited Paris twice to see the Vélib system, has already ordered a study into the feasibility of bike rentals for London.

A big difference between both cities is the larger surface of London, including all its Boroughs. According to Jean-Francois Decaux, managing director of JC Decaux that runs the Vélib system in Paris, the UK capital would require 5,000 bikes in the City plus 75,000 to cover Greater London.

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