Published on Thursday, April 28, 2022
BASKETBALL stars from the Leicester Riders are swapping hoops for wheels as they lend their backing to Santander Cycles Leicester, the metropolis’s e-bike share scheme.
Darien Nelson-Henry, Riders captain and GB International Conner Washington, each a part of the BBL Championship-winning Riders group this season, tried out the bikes to have fun the set up of a brand new docking station at Foundry Square, near the Riders’ house at the Morningside Arena, in Charter Street.
It means folks visiting the Morningside Arena will be capable of arrive by e-bike.
Kevin Routledge, Riders Chairman, stated: “This is a fantastic scheme and it was great to try out the e-bikes. We are really pleased to have a docking station close to our arena. We’re on a great route here, with traffic-free access to Abbey Park and the Space Centre. It’s only a short distance to the city centre, Leicester College, the bus stations, the train station, the universities and other sports stadia, so it’s the perfect place for people to pick-up an e-bike and ride like the Riders!”
Santander Cycles Leicester gives anybody visiting, dwelling or working in the metropolis the alternative to get round by e-bike. New docking stations, the place you may choose up and return the bikes, are at present being added at key neighbourhood places, together with Queens Road, the National Space Centre, the Brite Centre in Braunstone and St Margaret’s bus station. Scheme sponsors Santander may also host a docking station at their HQ in Carlton Park, Narborough.
Thirty-eight docking stations are at present on-line, with a complete of at the least 50 deliberate as soon as the present spherical of growth is accomplished in the subsequent few weeks. This will make Santander Cycles Leicester and its fleet of 500 bikes the largest docked e-bike scheme in the UK.
Since the lifting of lockdown restrictions in April final 12 months, the e-bike share scheme has already been utilized by greater than 20,000 folks, with 50,000 journeys made on the electrical bikes.
Deputy metropolis mayor for atmosphere and transportation, Cllr Adam Clarke, stated: “Leicester is a perfect metropolis to discover by e-bike, with journeys attainable from the outskirts of the metropolis to the centre in round half an hour. There aren’t many main hills, however an e-bike could make mild work of them anyway!
“What this scheme offers is affordable, green, congestion-busting transport for anyone moving around Leicester, and I hope lots of people will join the Leicester Riders and thousands of others who have already given it a try.”
Santander Cycles Leicester is operated by e-mobility specialists Ride On, on behalf of Leicester City Council. To use the scheme, you register on-line, purchase a plan primarily based in your wants and then use your smartphone to unlock an e-bike and begin driving. Pay as you go, month-to-month and annual memberships are all out there.
To discover out extra and to enroll to Santander Cycles Leicester, go to www.rideonleicester.com
(ends)
Notes to editors
Picture reveals l-r Conner Washington and Darien Nelson-Henry from Leicester Riders
Santander Cycles Leicester is a £600,000 mission funded by Leicester City Council via the Transforming Cities Fund, following the council’s profitable bid to the Department for Transport. It is sponsored by Santander UK, with funding from operator Ride On and their supply accomplice Enzen Global.
The Transforming Cities Fund is a serious £80million city-wide programme of funding in sustainable transport, backed by £40million of Government money from the Department for Transport. This bold bundle of works focuses on main sustainable transport enhancements to supply engaging decisions for folks to get to work, schooling, outlets and different native services to assist assist the metropolis’s progress and ship on the council’s local weather emergency, air high quality and wholesome dwelling commitments.
The programme contains the growth of recent bus precedence corridors linking the metropolis centre to native neighbourhoods and suburbs together with the continued growth of a community of high-quality biking and strolling routes all through the metropolis, constructing on the success of the Connecting Leicester programme. As nicely as the Santander Cycles Leicester e-bike share scheme, it has additionally seen the introduction of electrical buses onto Park and Ride providers.
(ends)