Readybike sign at Kennet Island (Picture taken by me)
If you’re not from Reading, you probably never heard of Readybike, and probably assume it’s a cycle lane network.
To put it into simple terms, Readybike was a scheme created by Reading Borough Council (RBC) and HourBike.
You could use a prepaid card to rent a bike, ride it around Reading and then dock it at a station, similar to the cycle scheme in London. The scheme begun in Reading in May 2014 with a £1.1 million+ grant from the government.
Readybike bikes at a docking station in Central Reading (image: Reading Chronicle)
So you may be wondering: it’s a cool scheme and all, but why did it disappear?
The problem started in 2018, where HourBike lost funds and were unable to continue funding the scheme, RBC did not want to fund the scheme partially, or fully; saying it was “risky”.
“Hourbike have solely operated and maintained the ReadyBike scheme in Reading since September 2017 with no financial support from Reading Borough Council… Hourbike’s decision to withdraw with just one month’s notice means we have no option but to mothball the bike hire scheme for a number of months, pending a decision on the future operation of the scheme… It is also important to emphasise that any new arrangement would again involve no subsidy from the Council for the future operation of the scheme, as was the case with the previous Hourbike contract.”
The scheme was fully ended in 2015, because the companies wanting to come forward with new schemes wanted council funding.
The hub was meant to open in West Street in a unit owned by Primark, but withdrew its offer of a lease of the unit to the council in September 2023.
When ReadyBike finished operations, the bikes were placed into storage until 2021, where 75 bikes were given to key workers, then in 2022 given to 50 workers at hotels in Reading, and the rest given to small business owners.
RBC has been exploring other options around cycling and schemes like these, but most talks do not go as planned, or is “a waste of public funds”according to Tony Page after the ReadyBike scheme closed for good.
