In news which we don’t really know what to feel about, a gym in London is hoping to launch a range of buses equipped with spin exercise bikes so you can really “make the most of” (or, more likely, feel like dying on) your commute.
1Rebel, the gym in question, would run the “ride studios” on commuter routes into and out of the City. “Your commute,” the press release promises, “will never be the same again”. If it gets approval, and 1Rebel manages to get a bus company on board, the scheme would launch in the autumn.
Here’s a map of the pick up and drop off points in Clapham, Kensington, Angel and Stratford:
The whole thing a bit reminiscent of Silicon Valley’s corporate commuter “tech buses” – a kind of luxury “public” transport which doesn’t force you to drive, but isn’t open to everyone (or cheap) and only serves certain areas. Rising inequality and gentrification in Silicon Valley have sparked rounds of protests directed against the bus routes, which seem to serve as a symbol of the yawning gap between the tech industry rich, and San Francisco’s poor.
1Rebel hasn’t announced the price of the bus classes yet, but the gym’s standard classes cost between £16 and £20 a session. Overall, I can see the appeal – we waste lots of time doing not very much on transport, and more exercise is never a bad thing.
But the whole proposal begs the question: why not just cycle to work for free, rather than forking out £20 to arrive at work extra sweaty and on a vehicle that gestures at London’s rife inequality?
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