Time to saddle up says London’s transport minister

Kulveer Singh Ranger, transport minister to Tory Mayor of London Boris Johnson, successfully delivered the capital’s pay-as-you-go Oyster Card travel scheme back in 2003. Now he has embarked on implementing an innovative bike hire scheme scheduled for introduction next summer. Sixth former Amrit Matharoo profiles a Sikh with a prominent role in Public Life.

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Transport for London’s bicycle hire scheme is set to revolutionise the way commuters travel in the capital, as well as pushing Londoners to become greener.
Kulveer Singh Ranger helped take cars off the road with the fare-cutting Oyster Card project, which brought thousands of travellers back to the underground railway. But he shies away from the notion that he may be the UK’s greenest Conservative, emphasising rather the part we all have to play every day to achieve a positive impact on the environment.

Bike hire schemes are currently in use in many cities around the world, including Paris, Montreal and Barcelona. London’s scheme aims to have at least 6,000 cycles on the roads in the first year, with 400 docking stations around the city.

The bicycle’s design has surprised many people, even Ranger himself. It is a conventional bike, deep blue in colour, with three gears, wide handlebars, and metal rack in front, with a robust and durable look.

However, it remains to be seen whether people will feel confident enough to put bums on cycle seats on a regular basis. The plan is not without its critics.
Safety is the major issue that could put people off – in the past year alone ten cyclists have been killed on the capital’s roads.

I was interested in finding out what initiatives would be introduced to ensure the safety which would encourage people to cycle.
Ranger says there will be a lot of concentration on safety.

He plans to create ‘cycle super highways’. These will be blue lanes that are clearly marked on the road surface. These will ensure “that cyclists will know that they are meant to be there, and motorists know that is where they should expect to see cyclists” and ensure that cyclists know exactly where to ride.

A major process will be educating cyclists in how to behave, through events such as ‘cycle Fridays’ and ‘marshalled rides’. An estimated £3 million is to be spent on training. Ranger and the Mayor were on their cycles when they witnessed a dramatic lorry-car collision at close hand earlier this year so he understands how important it is to maximise safety for cyclists. One measure will be to remove badly placed pedestrian safety railings, which are the biggest causes of cycling related deaths in the city.

In similar schemes around the world a huge recurring problem is vandalism. Ranger believes that it is “not any different from other modes of public transport, such as stations and bus stops which are susceptible to vandalism”. He believes sound maintenance of the bikes will be entrenched in a contract that will also help explain regulations and guidelines and this will hopefully deter vandalism. He says “it is up to the public to respect these initiatives”.

Exact figures and tariffs are yet to be decided and a lot of infrastructure is yet to be implemented but the public will be kept informed along the way between now and next summer.

‘Service to society gives us a chance to repay
our elders for the sacrifices they have made’
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Kulveer Singh Ranger grew up in Middlesex and graduated with a degree in Architecture from University College London. However, he discovered that he was not “passionate” about architecture. He then embarked on a journey of discovering what he wanted to do by working in a number of businesses, but the most valuable experience came when he joined a management consultancy. He entered the “arena of the public and private sector” specialising in public transport, and this came to ignite his passion and interest in politics.

In 2005 Ranger stood at the general election in Makerfield, Wigan, just outside Manchester. Although he did not win the seat he described the event as “a great experience but a huge challenge”.

He would not be drawn on whether he would like to have the Mayor’s job in London one day.

Ranger aims to inspire more people from the Sikh community to work in the public sector, because he believes that “helping the community is a big part of our religion, especially deriving from the idea of Seva”.

He finds the idea of helping the wider community, as well as the Sikh community, very attractive. His role models include influential leaders such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Ghandi, and Nelson Mandela, leaders who contributed to “historic, globally changing moments” that have “moulded politics”.  He says they “navigated through intensely turbulent times” – the collapse of the Soviet Union, achieving independence for India and the ending of apartheid in South Africa.

Ranger believes that upbringing is a huge factor in determining your future: it “instills your moral integrity” and teaches you to take into account the opinions not only of your immediate family but also your extended family, leading to the creation of a caring, well-rounded individual.

Ranger’s heritage and that of many thousands of Sikhs, includes the immigration here of their families from India after partition. For many families this meant embedding themselves into a new culture, accumulating finance and educating the next generation.

Ranger feels that by being proactive in community and society we now have an “opportunity to capitalise on this” and in a way “pay them back” for their sacrifices. He says we must not lose the idea of “respect for our elders” which is an action not only associated with our faith but other faiths and cultures too, and gives us focus in our lives.

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How London’s mayor Boris Johnson escaped injury as a lorry’s doors hooked a car and nearly dragged it into the path of his bike…watch and read the full story at Wharf.co.uk