Is Peter's Pedals the future for city commuting?

Could Cambridge get a fleet of electric bikes to help ease car congestion in the city?

Independent mayoral candidate Peter Dawe has ordered 100 electric bicycles in an effort to get the wheels turning on a vision to provide city residents with a way of getting around without exhausts or exhaustion.

At about £500 each, he says they could be cheaper than London’s Boris Bikes – so called after Boris Johnson, who was mayor when the capital’s public cycle hire scheme was launched in July 2010 – and he is keen to see a start-up come forward with plans to run the scheme.

“With electric bikes, those who do cycle will think of longer journeys. With these, anyone can go five or six miles,” said Mr Dawe. “Every cycle journey is one less car journey.”

Right now, his plan is to get businesses to provide the bikes to employees for use on commutes and lunch breaks.

“I think one of the factors turning people off cycling is turning up red-faced and sweaty – it’s not the best way to start a meeting,” he said.

“I’ve lost hope that City Deal and the council are going to fix our problems – it’s us individuals that are going to fix them.

“You can talk about these things, but I thought if I go and buy 100 and sell or lease them, I can test the market. Just try.”

But could Peter’s Pedals happen?

“I don’t have the resources and powers to do that sort of scheme in Cambridge on my own, but if I become mayor I think Boris Bikes around Cambridge at a reasonable cost is an ambition. It’s not something that would happen this week, but if someone wanted to start a business setting that up I think crowdfunding would help them do that.”

Mr Dawe said the system could link with bus services on trunk roads around the city.

He said: “There are tens of these ideas that people come up with and we’ve just got to try them – chipping bits off here and there is how we’re going to make it better.”

In anticipation of increased use of e-bikes, Rutland Cycling, which has several stores in Cambridge, has launched a dedicated e-bike Centre at its Barnwell Road store, which, they say, are a common sight in European cities such as Amsterdam and Berlin.