Meet Cycle Taxi Pilot, Jessica!

Introducing Jessica, one of our London cycle taxi pilots

Bikeworks cycle-taxi is a free service that has launched in East and West London, offering rides to isolated and mobility-restricted residents. It’s a proving an increasingly popular service which helps get residents out and about in their local communities.

Let’s get to know Jessica:

Which area of London do you taxi pilot in?
I pilot in either Tower Hamlets (Chrisp Street) or Newham (St Luke’s) on Thursdays and Fridays.

What prompted you to take up a pilot role?
I was working part-time at London Cycling Campaign (LCC) and part-time as a barista and wanted to leave hospitality in favour of something more aligned with the work I do at LCC. I wasn’t quite ready to move onto something new but the cycle taxi pilot role came up when I was casually scrolling CharityJob and I couldn’t say no!

Christine, one of Jessica’s regular passengers, en route to her West Ham FC event

Is it physically demanding?
The first few shifts were quite tiring but I think a lot of that was the mental demands of learning a new job. The battery power takes away a lot of the physical demands, except hills, I definitely have to engage the legs more on hills!

Best thing about being a cycle taxi pilot?
The best thing about being a cycle taxi pilot is spending time outdoors, feeling the seasons change and sharing a laugh with passengers.

People’s reactions are pretty funny. Riding past a group of school kids, you’ll often hear, “Whoa, look at that sick bike” or someone saying “I need one of them.” It’s also funny seeing people’s disbelief when they learn it’s a free service.

What do you like to do outside of Bikeworks?
Try not to let my housemate win at squash!

Rav’s parents were visiting London from India and they wanted to do some shopping at Westfield so they hired the cycle taxi. It rained on the return journey but we had some ponchos to keep his parents dry 🙂

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You can learn more about the cycle taxi here.