Future Spaces Foundation responds to plans for Boris Bikes expansion

Following Mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith’s pledges to introduce Oyster Card payments on Boris Bikes, Chair of the Future Spaces Foundation Ken Shuttleworth has announced his support for the campaign. 

New research from the foundation states that London is trailing behind other world cities in cycling infrastructure, an issue that they believe schemes like these will start to rectify.

In a comment sent to Bike Biz, Shuttleworth also added support for Zac Goldsmith’s pledge to introduce the Santander Bikes to the outer boroughs of London. He said: “At the Future Spaces Foundation, we have been campaigning to improve the culture of cycling in London following our research, which shows that London is trailing behind its global counterparts in its cycling infrastructure.

"Our two principle recommendations are extending the Santander scheme to outer boroughs and allowing cyclists to pay for the scheme with an Oyster card, so we welcome Mr Goldsmith’s pledges and want to encourage other mayoral candidates to prioritise cycling in their manifestos too.

“By moving bike-sharing schemes to less populated areas and making them easier to pay for, we believe we can start to change the culture of cycling in London to make it more inclusive. We hope this announcement will invite further debate around the mayoral election on how we can make cycling in London safe and accessible enough so that, as in other cities around the world, it becomes an efficient and practical way for people of all ages to get around the city every day.”

Read our article on Goldsmith’s cycling pledge here.