COMMENT: A positive step forward for transport (From Oxford Mail)

COMMENT: A positive step forward for transport

9:00am Thursday 7th July 2011 in Editorial Comment

THE £5m transport investment from the Government – including a scheme mirroring London’s ‘Boris Bikes’ – is good news for Oxford.

Thornhill Park and Ride desperately needs expanding, as domost of the others.

It is the bike scheme – where commuters will be able to hire a bike at Thornhill to ride in to the city – that grabs the most interest.

James Styring, the Cyclox spokesman, is correct that this scheme will need to be substantial across the city if it is to be effective.

But there is a concern. Yesterday Oxfordshire County Council was unable to supply any details about the scheme because it was not expecting the Government announcement when it dropped.

It had tossed the idea of a bike scheme at the Government as a concept and has now been given a not inconsiderable amount of money to make it a reality.

In these times of such severe public spending pressures and debt, is it right for transport mandarins to be gifting huge amounts of our money at a plan which has no details to prove it will be a success?

If it comes off, then it is a positive step forward for transport here in Oxford but there should be questions about the Government’s safeguards in this process.