The Spectator on Boris Johnson’s new bicycle-sharing scheme
Boris Johnson’s new bicycle-sharing scheme has had its share of ‘teething problems’, as the Mayor himself admits. Some Londoners have had to be refunded, for instance, after they were overcharged by the complicated bike ‘docking’ system. But it’s a tribute to Boris that Londoners have taken the difficulties in their stride as part of the general fun, and with their jolly, chunky design, the London bikes could become icons of the capital — thought of as fondly as red buses or black cabs.
Boris’s cycling revolution has begun: bright blue ‘cycle superhighways’ come next, and a new unit of bicycling bobbies. The bicycle-sharing scheme is a cheering reminder that even on a budget, even in these sceptical times, an imaginative politician can still have good ideas.
Our former editor this month also helped launch a citywide ping-pong tournament — free tables have been set up across London. The project is not just fun, it’s practical. Perhaps it will unearth a British champ in time for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Wiff Waff may yet come home.
So, though he’s taken his fair share of criticism this year, there are lessons every minister can learn from the London Mayor. His counterparts in national government seem obliged to wear pompous or stony faces as they go about the important business of cutting public spending. Yet, with his bikes and sunny outlook, Boris satisfies no less valuable a need. He cheers us up. What other politician can say the same?
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