Liverpool’s new bike hire scheme was officially launched by Olympic Champion Chris Boardman this month. The bikes can be hired by businesses, tourists and members of the public to get round the city.

As the 1992 cycling gold medalist launched the scheme, he told the local newspapers that the scheme is focusing on how we must change and travel as a City. With parking and congestion increasing in line with the rest of the country and world we must ask ourselves how we can all fully embrace the changes to follow a city like Amsterdam where the bicycle rider reigns supreme.

A number of Government studies have examined travel to work habits in great detail and two common themes emerge; safety and security. In Amsterdam residents spend more money on locks than bikes in the city reflecting a common problem.

So will a cycle scheme overcome that? When Boris Johnson led the way and launched 5,400 bikes on the capital’s streets three years ago, they enjoyed rapid take-up: there were a million rentals in the first 10 weeks. Framed by the media as the start of the cycling revolution, In March 2012 the scheme was extended into east London and Shepherd’s Bush, taking the total number of bikes to 8,000. Last year there were 9.5 million hires but the scheme’s popularity is reportedly dwindling due to problems including empty or full docking stations in busy areas. So is it a mode of transport that can be relied on?

Canopies by Acer have installed an increasing number of cycle shelters and storage facilities across the country in cities with and without bicycle schemes. Business and schools across the region do recognise the need to provide secure storage for those who want to use their bicycle as a regular, seasonal or occasional form of transport and are playing their part.

Our thoughts? There is a place for both schemes and shelters, starting with young children, to business men and women zipping to meetings and tourists visiting the city for a day or a long weekend and then can we work towards ‘normalising’ cycling. We may never be Amsterdam in the cycle stakes but they will always have the ‘flat advantage’ over us!