New 'Boris Bikes' planned for Shrewsbury as tender goes out for £60k bicycle hire scheme
So-called Boris Bikes could soon be heading to the streets of Shrewsbury, after a £60,000 contract advert went up for a new scheme.
Under the plan users would be able to rent a bicycle for short-term use in the town centre using a phone app, as part of a wider programme designed to improve transport links in Shrewsbury and boost footfall at the town's retailers.
The "Shrewsbury Moves" strategy, a ten-year programme of transport improvements for Shrewsbury town centre, was adopted by Shropshire Council in 2024.
The scheme aims to reduce car use within the town's river loop by encouraging sustainable modes of transport.
A tender document worth around £60,000 has now been advertised by Shrewsbury's Big Town Partnership(BTP) asking for operators for a potential cycle hire scheme to come forward, with a deadline of early August for responses.
The BTP, a joint-working arrangement between Shropshire Council, Shrewsbury BID and Shrewsbury Town Council, says the bikes would provide a boost to the town's 750 retailers and "foster investment and increase economic growth" in the area.
Similar schemes are already operating in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Worcester.
"The ‘Green Street at Abbey Foregate’ project is the first in a series of innovative yet practical interventions that deliver the Shrewsbury Movement and Public Space Strategy (MPSS)," the tender document says.
"The project will enhance the town’s natural environment by ‘greening’ and repurposing road space and its associated car parking dominance through the introduction of new routes through, and seating within, green and accessible spaces for the benefit of residents and visitors that prioritises pedestrians and cyclists.
"An increase in cycling activity in and around Shrewsbury, alongside a desire by residents for improved, safer cycle storage in the town centre provides excellent conditions for an associated short term hire bike scheme."
The document says funding for the project is being provided jointly by the BTP and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
In a separate project launched in November last year, around 240 eBikes were made available as part of a subscription scheme for Shrewsbury residents, a move which generated a waiting list of around 500 people.
Small scale cargo bike and rickshaw schemes have also been launched in Shrewsbury over the past two years in an effort to reduce the amount of car usage in the town centre.
The most famous short-term bike hire scheme originated in London in 2010 under then Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who coined the term "Boris Bikes" to identify bicycles made available for hire via the app.
A tender for the Shrewsbury scheme is due to be awarded in early August, with a planned roll-out anticipated in October 2025.
