Cycling News

London seeks sponsor for "next transport icon"

Transport for London has started to search for a sponsor for its public bike hire scheme

From May 2010, people will be able to pick up and drop off hire bikes at 400 locations across the nine London boroughs and several Royal Parks that make up London's Zone One travel area. An initial 6,000 hire bikes are expected to support around 40,000 extra daily cycle trips in central London.
 
TfL is seeking a single company to act as a sponsor for up to the first five years of the Cycle Hire scheme, and sponsorship opportunities for the successful bidding company include branding opportunities on the cycle scheme's bicycles, maintenance support vehicles and uniforms of maintenance staff. There will also be co-branding on TfL marketing initiatives for the Cycle Hire scheme and other "benefits of being associated with one of the largest sustainable public transport systems in the UK," said TfL.
 
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: "The public response to our cycle hire plans has been fantastic, and I'm sure that this excitement will be replicated amongst potential sponsors.  I know people will be attracted to the scheme, but such is the widespread enthusiasm that I am certain that the selected company will also feel a huge benefit to being part of it. This - London's next transport icon - will be the cleanest, greenest, and healthiest way of getting about the city."
 
Peter Hendy, London's Commissioner of Transport, said:


"From its launch in May 2010, the London Cycle Hire scheme will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, throughout central London. This means our selected sponsor will have a unique opportunity to promote their brand to a massive public audience, while being closely associated with the greenest, most sustainable form of public transport London has ever had."
 
Companies interested in becoming the sponsor should respond online, selecting Tender Opportunities.

Select the opportunity from within the Current Opportunities list and follow the online instructions. The closing date for initial bids is noon on 5 June 2009.

Published Wednesday 29 April 2009