We’ve appointed the contractor to carry out the work needed to create the city’s mobility hubs.
South West Highways will be installing infrastructure across Plymouth for electric vehicles and e-bikes as part of the city’s Transforming Cities Fund initiative, which aims to encourage more residents and commuters to walk, cycle and use public transport to get around.
The mobility hubs are one of the more visible and exciting changes planned to help people to get greener on the go. Locations are being finalised but by Spring next year there will be at least 50 locations where people will be able to pick up electric bikes, some with facilities for motorists to charge their own electric vehicle or pick up a car club vehicle.
This preparation work is expected to get underway towards the end of the year with most taking place in car parks or on council-owned land. The work will depend on the site, but likely to involve electricity cable installation, parking bay marking and in some cases, changes to kerbs.
Earlier this year the Council awarded contracts to Co Cars, the on-demand, zero and low emission car club to run their fleet from the hubs. Beryl Bikes are on board with a 500-strong fleet of electric bikes for hire at the hubs from Spring next year. When fully operational, there will be an additional 300 parking bays across the city with electric vehicle charge points.
Councillor Jonathan Drean, Cabinet Member for Transport said: “This is another step along the way to greener, more sustainable travel. These hubs will be popping up at convenient locations all over the city and will offer greener ways to get about.
“With fuel prices going up and up, measures to make sustainable travel easier are becoming more important. We have committed to reducing carbon emissions and to greener travel as part of our Climate Emergency Action Plan and these hubs are offering easy ways for people to get about and be greener.”
A decision has been signed authorising the award of a contract for infrastructure work for the TCF mobility hubs project to South West Highways via the Term Maintenance Contract. Up to £800,000 will be paid over the period of the contract for this phase of the work, fully funded through Tranche 2 of the Transforming Cities Fund.
The mobility hubs – with their e-car clubs, e-bike hire and electric vehicle charging – are part of a massive programme funded by the Department of Transport’s Transforming Cities Fund, which aims to change people’s travel habits by making it as easy as possible for people to choose low carbon options to get about.
New cycle routes are also planned for key transport corridors, with a focus on routes used by commuters to travel to work such as the Dockyard to the City Centre and Crownhill Road.
The schemes improve access to work, restart the city's growth agenda, deliver homes, safeguard and create new jobs. They also aim to improve air quality and reduce the city’s overall carbon emissions.
In March 2020 the Council received £51.2m capital funding from the Transforming Cities Fund. This builds upon the £7.6m previously awarded in 2019.