Andy Burnham pledges new bike-hire scheme won't fail like Mobike
Andy Burnham said his plans for a network of bikes to help Mancunians shift to active travel will not go the same way as the doomed Mobike scheme.
The Greater Manchester mayor recently unveiled a plan to shift Manchester's transport network to net-zero by 2030, including a system of hire bikes.
Manchester made headlines in 2018 when Chinese firm Mobike pulled out of the city, citing unsustainable levels of theft and vandalism of its bikes.
Speaking on "transport day" of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, Mr Burnham said: "We've definitely learned from that experience.
"When Mobike came in, it wasn't a planned scheme that we brought in - they just came in, and we tried to work with it, but it was a very different scheme."
He told the PA news agency: "It wasn't a managed scheme, basically, whereas the scheme we're bringing in now has people who are operating the scheme, they're managing it."
Mr Burnham added that, crucially, the new scheme involves docking stations and the bikes are of a much higher quality.
"We will learn as we go, we won't say 'This is it and we won't make any changes' - if we need to make changes, we will."
Mr Burnham said a sense of ownership will also ensure there is a future for the bikes.
"I'd say to people, look, let's... all of us look after them because this is about the city's infrastructure, and it's about helping everybody get around more cheaply," he said.
"So, if you damage a bike, you're maybe taking away somebody's opportunity to get around and do that in a much better way than jumping in a car."
The COP27 climate conference - what you need to know
What is COP27? When and where will it be?
What is COP27? When and where will it be?
Each year, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meets at what is called the Conference of the Parties (abbreviated as COP) to discuss the world's progress on climate change and how to tackle it.
COP27 is the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties summit which will be held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt from November 6-18.
Who is going?
Who is going?
Leaders of the 197 countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - a treaty that came into force in 1994 - are invited to the summit.
These are some of the world leaders that will be attending COP27:
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is attending the conference, after initially saying he wouldn't as he was too busy focusing on the economy within his first weeks in office.
US President Joe Biden and his experienced climate envoy, John Kerry, will appear at the talks.
France President Emmanuel Macron will also be among the heads of state from around the world staying in Egypt.
King Charles III will not be attending COP27, despite being a staunch advocate for the environment. The decision was made jointly by Buckingham Palace and former prime minister Liz Truss.
Elsewhere, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will not attend the talks just as they decided to do for COP26.
What is it hoping to achieve?
What is it hoping to achieve?
1. Ensure full implementation of the Paris Agreement and putting negotiations into concrete actions - included within this is the target of limiting global warming to well below 2C.
2. Cementing progress on the critical workstreams of mitigation, adaptation, finance and loss and damage, while stepping up finance notably to tackle the impacts of climate change.
3. Enhancing the delivery of the principles of transparency and accountability throughout the UN Climate Change process.