similar cycle hire scheme in other towns and cities, with Paris the most used by respondents. Almost all (97%) of the respondents who have used a similar cycle hire scheme to that proposed in St Andrews would either definitely or possibly hire a cycle in St Andrews.
4.3.3 Of the 15 survey respondents who would not consider using a cycle hire scheme, the main reason for doing so is that 66% already have their own bike.
4.3.4 Perceptions towards cyclist’s safety in the town are good with 48% of respondents feeling quite safe cycling in St Andrews and 20% feeling very safe.
4.3.5 Of those respondents who indicated that they are likely to use the hire scheme, 46% indicated they would hire a cycle 2-4 times a week, 20% would hire a cycle daily, 20% would use the scheme once a week. 14% would hire a cycle either fortnightly or less frequently.
4.3.6 Of those respondents who would consider using the cycle hire scheme, 65% indicated that the hire bike would replace a walking journey, 17% would replace a car journey either as the driver or passenger, 8% would use the hire bike in place of their own bike, 7% would replace a bus journey and 4% of responses would favour the cycle hire to a taxi trip.
4.3.7 A high proportion (87%) of those who would use a St Andrews cycle hire scheme, indicated that they would be willing to pay for the scheme, with 24% of this percentage definitely willing to pay.
4.3.8 A Pay as You Go charging system either by the hour or the day was the preferred charging mechanism (41% of respondents). The next most popular charging system is a monthly charge for unlimited use (32%), followed by a small monthly membership supplemented by a reduced pay as you go charge (16%), then Other charging systems (7%), followed by a weekly charge (4%). Other charging systems included: a choice of all charging methods and an annual charge.
4.3.9 Almost half of University respondents would be willing to pay a maximum of £1.00 for cycle hire in St Andrews per hour, a quarter of respondents would not be prepared to pay more than £0.80, and only 1% would be willing to pay more than £5.00. To hire a cycle for the day, 58% of University respondents would not be willing to pay more than £4.00 and a quarter of respondents would pay a maximum of £5.00 a day. The largest response in respect of cycle hire costs for a week with 35% of respondents is for a charge of £15.00 or more.
4.3.10 Of the ten possible locations for a cycle hire scheme, the most popular locations with 13% of responses respectively are South Street and Market Street. North Street and North Haugh are joint third most popular (12% of responses each), followed by Morrisons/Community Hospital, the Bus Station and University campuses with 11% of responses each. East Sands and West Sands received 9% and 5% of responses respectively, with the least favoured location at Buchanan Gardens Student Residencies with 4% of responses. Figure 4.2 illustrates these locations.
4.3.11 The most favoured Other location for a cycle hire scheme was found to be at Leuchars Railway Station.
4.3.12 Just under half (44%) of respondents indicated that they would use a cycle hire scheme for inter campus travel, 40% would use the cycle for travel in St Andrews and the surrounding area and 16% would use a cycle for travel to public transport interchanges. With regard to cycle hire purpose, 53% would hire a bike for leisure and 44% would use the bike for shopping trips.
4.3.13 Of the 73 comments received, 36% of respondents indicated their excitement about such a scheme with simple comments such as ‘DO IT’, ‘Great Idea’, ‘Brilliant Idea’, ‘I would really love to see this happen’, ‘Please do it’ and ‘Excellent Idea’.
4.3.14 Other positive comments regarding the scheme include: a need to provide baskets and lights, an overall reduction in town pollution and congestion, increase in student satisfaction and even attendance at lectures and the need to provide a quick and easy charging system, perhaps online.
4.3.15 Of the respondents who have concerns regarding the scheme the most popular concerns include: a lack of appropriate cycle infrastructure in the town, the failure of the Green Bicycle scheme, personal safety concerns, practicalities of implementing the scheme in a small town such as St Andrews and the need for an inclusive charging system.
4.4
Visitor Consultation
4.4.1 A questionnaire was produced and research was carried out on 27 October in the Visitor Information Centre. 52 responses were received.
4.4.2 Of the visitor respondents, 46% were not staying in St Andrews town, with the majority of these respondents only in St Andrews for the day. Of the 35% of respondents who were staying in St Andrews, 44% of these individuals were staying in the town for two days. 4.4.3 A small proportion (12%) of respondents have used a similar cycle hire scheme to that
proposed and 54% would definitely or possibly use a scheme if implemented in St Andrews. Of the 46% of respondents who would not consider using the scheme, the main reasons for doing so are: that cycling is not for them, the town is small enough to walk around in and that cycle hire doesn’t fit in with their plans. It is important to note that visitors commented that even though a cycle hire scheme was not for them, they thought it was a good idea and that it could work well in a town like St Andrews.
4.4.4 Of those visitors who would definitely or possibly use the scheme, 60% would use the bike for travel in St Andrews, 26% would use the bike for travel to the surrounding area and 15% of responses highlight that the bike would be used for travel to public transport interchanges.
4.4.5 Of the visitor respondents who would use a cycle hire scheme, 52% were travelling in a group of 2 adults, 39% were travelling as the only adult and 9% of visitors had 3 adults in their party. Only 5 visiting children under the age of 14 would use the cycle hire scheme. 4.4.6 Should a cycle hire scheme be implemented, with respect of tourist journeys it would
replace 62% of walking trips, 28% of car trips either as the driver or passenger, 5% of bus trips,3% of taxi trips and 3% of trips using another bike.
4.4.7 Of the six possible cycle rental locations, the most popular location with 29% of
responses was the town centre, followed by East Sands with 19% and West Sands with 17%. The Bus Station received 11% of responses, the University 10% and the
Supermarket 6%. In addition to these responses, ‘Other’ locations favoured by visitors are: the train station, the Fife Coast, car parks and Park and Ride locations. Figure 4.3 illustrates visitor preferred hire locations.
4.4.8 With regard to charging, of those who would consider using a cycle hire scheme, 23% of respondents would definitely be willing to pay and 77% would possibly pay. As was the case with the student and resident surveys, the most popular charging mechanism is pay as you go either by the hour or day, with 90% of respondents indicating this as their favoured option. 7% opted for a weekly unlimited use charge and 3% favoured a monthly unlimited use charge.