• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Politics

Government website offering bike repair vouchers crashes within minutes

Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched the scheme on Tuesday as part of efforts to get more people cycling.

Jack Peat by Jack Peat
2020-07-29 09:41
in Politics
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Boris Johnson’s ambitious plan to get Britons cycling has got off to a rocky start, with the website offering bicycle repair vouchers crashing at launch.

As part of the Prime Minister’s £2 billion scheme to boost active travel, the Government has made some 50,000 Fix Your Bike vouchers worth up to £50 available to be used for standard servicing and replacing components.

The website, fixyourbikevoucherscheme.est.org.uk, was due to go live at 11.45pm on Tuesday night.

However, initial efforts to access the site returned only an “Error 404” message.

Then those wanting a voucher were told: “Due to extreme volumes of traffic this resource has been temporarily paused whilst we take action to improve performance for users. Please try again later today.”

Cyclists took to social media to express their disappointment and the volume of complaints was such that the hashtag #FixYourBikeVoucherScheme became the number one trend on Twitter in the UK within 90 minutes of the site’s scheduled launch.

“Available in June”

The vouchers were initially due to be available in June, but the Department for Transport (DfT) said last month that they would only be released once maintenance shops could handle the expected spike in demand.

RelatedPosts

Andrew Neil has Johnson hook, line and sinker on ‘leadership duty’ excuse

Boris Johnson snaps at Beth Rigby during tense press conference

All the pictures published in the Sue Gray report

PMQs – From humbled, to revived, to calling for Starmer to resign – all in one afternoon’s work

The £2 billion investment, announced in February, also includes thousands of miles of new protected cycle lanes, cycle training, making electric bikes more accessible and creating the UK’s first zero-emissions transport city.

Other measures include strengthening the Highway Code, improving legal protections, increasing lorry safety standards and working with the police and retailers to tackle bike thefts.

On a visit to Nottingham, Mr Johnson said: “You always could spend more and this is the most ambitious package ever – it’s £2 billion.

“What we will do is create thousands of miles of protected cycle lanes – I really believe that protected cycle lanes are essential to give people the confidence people need, many people aren’t very brave or confident cyclists.”

He added: “What I also want to see is more work done to get motorists to understand that we are all going to be sharing the roads, going to be sharing it with cyclists, so be respectful, be courteous.

Cycling and walking have a huge role in tackling some of the health and environmental challenges that we face.

Our £2bn cycling strategy will encourage more cycling with thousands of miles of new bike lanes, and training for those who want to learn. pic.twitter.com/PwYtqXpdd1

— Boris Johnson #StayAlert (@BorisJohnson) July 28, 2020

“Things have been improving but there’s still a long way to go.”

“Dragged their feet”

The £2 billion investment was announced in February.

Shadow cycling minister Kerry McCarthy said: “Tory ministers have dragged their feet and failed to seize the opportunity this crisis has posed.

“Although funding is welcome, cyclists will be rightly concerned about how long it is going to take to actually put these plans into practice.”

DfT figures show there has been a surge in cycling following the coronavirus outbreak.

Compared with the equivalent day in the first week of March, cycling usage nearly doubled over the weekend of July 18/19.

Monday July 20 – the most recent weekday for which data is available – showed cycling at 146% of pre-lockdown levels.

Related: Boris Johnson launches search for £100k-a-year spokesperson to front government press briefings

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

Watch: Fury at Met Police video of officers doing random drug swabs in street

Range Rover which Prince Philip drove the Queen & the Obamas is for sale

LIVE: Conjurer – Boston Music Room

Audi RS3 video and review – return of the hyperhatch

Bar Review – Big Easy Bar.B.Q & Lobstershack, Canary Wharf

Anti-LGBT teaching protesters claim ‘white’ bias after school gates ban upheld

Macron: ‘Brexit has put Britain’s credibility at stake’

Condimentum Bibendum Cursus Malesuada Tellus

Film Review: The Old Man & The Gun

Why do people always mention the iceberg when discussing the sinking of the Titanic?

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.