Glasgow is trying to bury its reputation as an unfriendly city for cyclists by rolling out a new on-street bike rental scheme, but there are already complaints it only favours the city centre and the west end

A new cycle hire scheme in Glasgow has made 400 bicycles available to residents and visitors at locations across parts of the city – but already there are angry complaints that it neglects the south side.



The £600,000 Mass Automated Cycle Hire (Mach) programme offers bikes from 31 hire stations with prices starting at £1 for a half-hour rental, a service similar to London's cycle hire system, known to its fans as Boris bikes after the city's mayor, Boris Johnson.



Customers can rent Glasgow's bikes on a pay-as-you-go basis with fees capped at £10 per day. Alternatively, users can register as members of the scheme through a dedicated smartphone app for an annual fee of £60 with daily hire rates capped at £5.



Glasgow has put bike stations at 31 locations, mainly in the city centre and west end. Photograph: Glasgow City Council

Hire stations are located at rail and subway stations, shopping hubs, visitor attractions and universities, primarily in the city centre and west end.



Council leader Gordon Matheson said Glasgow could emulate the success of cities around the world which had implemented similar programmes:



Glasgow now joins other major cities around the world in having a bike scheme that is attractive, affordable and easy to use. We have studied similar schemes across the world to ensure we give the people of Glasgow, and visitors, a cycle hire scheme that meets their needs and compliments their lifestyles. Hiring of the cycles will be quick, easy and user friendly. The operation of the scheme will be made efficient through the use of tried and trusted technology, such as mobile phones.

He added that with six temporary hire stations set up at venues for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games, the Mach scheme could help to ensure lasting benefits from Glasgow 2014.



Aware of long-standing criticisms of the quality and spread of cycling facilities in Glasgow - cyclists described the city as "hell" two years ago, Mathieson said the council's strategic plan for cycling “aims to see cycling as the biggest participation activity in the city by 2020.



This is the latest step, in addition to the millions of pounds we’re investing on cycle routes across the city, to making Glasgow one of the UK’s most cycling friendly cities.

But while many have welcomed the Mach scheme, others have expressed disappointment at the lack of hire stations in some areas of the city.



Conservative councillor David Meikle branded the absence of Mach stations in his south side Pollokshields ward “outrageous.”



I’m delighted that Glasgow City council has established a cycle hire scheme in the city. But I am disappointed that out of all the sites only one is on the south side. As a councillor for a ward on the south side and someone who lives in Shawlands I feel it would have made sense to connect all parts of Glasgow to the cycle hire network. I did raise this point at the council’s sustainability and environment committee but was told the scheme may be expanded to the south side in the future. This isn’t good enough and I call on Glasgow City council to install sites on the south side. There are so many places they can put them and they will be used.

The Mach programme is operated by NextBike, which runs similar services in 80 cities worldwide. Rob Grisdale, the company's UK managing director, said he hoped to see hire stations expand to other areas of Glasgow.



We absolutely want to cover more of the city. The south could be better served, and we've had people asking about Ibrox, which would make a lot of sense. We certainly hope to see a high level of demand in Glasgow. We've compiled a lot of data from other cities around the world and we'd like to see each bike in the scheme being used around twice per day. Of course, every city is different. Some have a lot of commuter cyclists, other have more of a tourist and recreational market and others have strong student populations. Glasgow is a real mix and that's why it's important to have a lot of stations around.

He added that bike hire schemes in other cities had proven popular with customers who had avoided existing forms of public transport.



We've found that what keeps most people in their cars is the fact that they can't take a bus or train all the way to their work. If you're cycling, you can leave the bike right by the office. It also means you're not left waiting around because of a timetable – when you're ready to go, your bike is there. In other cities it's common for people to make their way into town and then cycle the last mile of their journey.

The Mach programme is part of an ongoing effort to improve conditions for cyclists in Glasgow. In recent years the city's council has built segregated cycle lanes in some areas of the city and provided advance stop lines for cyclists at junctions.



The programme is not the first of its kind in Scotland. In 2010 Dumfries introduced its Bike2Go scheme, which has been criticised for its low usage figures.

