IT WAS ready, steady, go when transport bosses saddled up to unveil the purple bikes that will blaze a trail through Reading.

Borough transport leader Cllr Tony Page took the chic new purple prototype bike on a spin around the station’s northern interchange on Monday when the scheme’s name, logo and colour scheme was unveiled.

ReadyBike will launch in the spring, with around 200 bikes adding a splash of colour to the town at 29 docking stations, including Green Park, Reading railway station, Reading University and the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

Cllr Page hopes the purple fleet will become a common sight around the town and hinted that if the scheme gets rolling it could be the start of something much bigger.

He added: “Of all the council’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) projects, a bike hire scheme for Reading is the one which seems to have captured people’s imagination.

“One of the key aims of the project is to encourage more people to consider cycling as a realistic option for local journeys and we hope ReadyBike can play a big part in helping us achieve that.”

The scheme is being operated by HourBike, which runs bike hire schemes in Blackpool, Lincoln, Nottingham and Moscow, and cyclists can sign up as annual members for £50 or use a £1 per hour pay-as-you-go system.

HourBike managing director Tim Caswell said: “I think they will look marvellous and it is very important the scheme is visible. The docking stations will be orange and stainless steel so they are not going to be hidden away.”

ReadyBike is one of the flagship projects in the council’s cycling strategy, Bridging Gaps, Overcoming Barriers and Promoting Safer Cycling, which aims to get 2,300 additional cycle trips every day and double the number of people cycling to work from 3% to 6% in the next five years.

The scheme has received cross-party support since it was first mooted in 2008 and Conservative transport spokesman Cllr Richard Willis said: “It is great news to see that the cycle hire scheme is now about to about to become a reality on the streets of Reading.”

People are being encouraged to sign up to the scheme at www.readybike.co.uk, which is offering annual members their first half hour free on every trip.