By HOLLY LENNON

GLASGOW’S bike sharing programme is to be expanded to ten more locations across the city.

The existing People Make Glasgow fleet will be doubled with the introduction of 500 new bikes and ten additional docking stations.

Glasgow City Council has given £900,000 from its capital budget to help fund the project to help make Glasgow the most cycling-friendly city in Scotland.

Nextbike, the bike share provider, has said that the docking stations will be placed in deprived areas to make cycling as accessible as possible.

The company are also looking to get women and minority groups into cycling by changing perceptions.

Julian Scriven, managing director of nextbike UK, said: “One of the biggest challenges with cycling is increasing inclusiveness.

“In Glasgow only 33 percent of people who cycle are women.

“I’m not satisfied, I want to get more women, over 55s and BME communities into cycling.

“There is a perception that cycling is hard work which is reinforced by the fact that people wear sporting gear.

“A lot of people think it’s a sport, when it’s actually just a mode of transport. It’s a cheaper, quicker way to get to a destination.

“Because of the volume of cyclists in Glasgow, it’s normal and drivers have become to used to checking for cyclists whereas five years ago they wouldn’t.”

The new bikes have been feature advanced technology and enhanced security features, including GPS tracking and seven gears.

Mr Scriven said whilst general usage in Glasgow was high, with just over 10,300 rentals in August alone, more needed to be done to persuade all sections of society that bike-share was for them.

“We’re moving into areas where people might not have access to other affordable forms of transport.

“The ambition is to move out in ark, keeping stations close to each other. We want to move out to more economically deprived areas.

“We’re going to trial offering membership for people who don’t have access to bank accounts or smart phones.

“Thanks to having our partnership with Glasgow Bike Station, people can come in open a membership.

“These are people who need affordable methods of transport and they probably need it more than anyone else.

“We would like to see Glasgow become the biggest scheme in the UK outside of the London.

“We want to see it all the convenience for the users without causing inconvenience for the users.”

Councillor Anna Richardson, Glasgow City Council’s Convener for Sustainability and Carbon Reduction, who is also a keen cyclist herself, said: “The expansion of the nextbike scheme is yet further progress, in addition to the millions of pounds we’re investing on cycle routes across the city, towards making Glasgow Scotland’s most cycling friendly city.

“We want to give the people of Glasgow a cycle hire scheme that is attractive, affordable and easy to use.”