One Million

There’s been lots of stories in the press over the last few days, because the Dublin Bikes scheme has clocked up its one millionth rental over the weekend – the the person who made that ride even won a holiday to Paris and €2,000 in cash.

The thing that caught my eye, however, was the feature article The life of a cycle where the reporter talked to a bunch of DB users at one of the stations – and pretty much everyone he spoke to seemed to already be a cyclist, with a bike of their own, which they left at home (mostly because of concerns about theft) and used the Dublin Bikes instead.

So instead of encouraging pedestrians and car drivers to try out cycling, it would appear that the scheme is being used extensively by existing cyclists.  And if so, then the scheme is not going to deliver the expected modal shift in transport towards two wheels – because people are just swapping one bike for another.

Maybe instead of trumpetting the ‘most successful bike hire scheme in the world’, the local authorities would be better off tackling the very real threat of bike theft across the city – so that existing bike owners can use their own bikes without fear, and non-cyclists can be tempted onto the Dublin Bikes.

Dublin Bikes – 10 Months On

Some good news.  In the first 10 months of the Dublin Bikes scheme there have been no reports of any serious incidents from users – that’s out of over 820,000 journeys made since launch.

Full story: More than 37,000 use bike scheme – The Irish Times – Mon, Aug 09, 2010.

Cycle Lane Etiquette

It was such a nice afternoon in Dublin today that we decided to hop on our bikes and head along to the Grand Canal Dock for a drink. The road along the canal has a continuous cycle path, but it’s not really wide enough for a great deal of overtaking.

As we trundled along we came up behind a fairly slow-moving young woman on her bike and, during a break in traffic, passed her. However as we waited at the traffic lights, she went past the line and stopped in front of us, so that when we set off again we were stuck behind her, and had to wait for another gap in the cars to overtake. And, annoyingly, at the next lights she did it again. We overtook again, and then at the next lights she did it again.

We turned off the road at this point, but I was pretty pissed off with this girl. She seemed to have no regard for any other cyclists on the road, and certainly no sense of good cycling etiquette.

I would have thought that it was only good manners, when pulling up at lights, to wait behind those ahead of you – especially if you know them to be faster riders than you.

No Bikes on the Metro

Photo by Meg Zimbeck

The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) are continuing to act contrary to government policy, as outlined in the National Cycle Framework Policy, by banning all non-folding bikes on Luas and suburban train services.

Even the design of the new Metro North service has no provision to carry bikes.  And the reason?  So-called “safety concerns”.  They’re worried that, in the event a sudden stop the bike might injure someone – but the same could be said of prams and large suitcases, but they’re not restricted.

In many other cities around the world, trains and trams have been design to accommodate bikes in off-peak services – such as in the photo here, of a number of bikes in a French train.

Full Story: Quango goes against bike plan on safety concerns | Dublin Observer.

Dublin Cycle Tours

Normally when I visit a new city, one of the first things I do is go on a bus tour.  I find it a useful way of getting a quick overview of the city’s major attractions, which I can then decide to revisit at my leisure later on.  But wouldn’t it be great to take things at a slightly more leisurly pace and have that guided tour by bike instead?

Well in Dublin you can sign up with Dublin by Bike Tours for their 2½ hour cycle tour, which seems to take in all of the major tourist attractions.  The tours set off twice a day from Dawson Street, and they provide the bikes and an experienced tour guide.

I’ve not done the tour myself, but it seems like a really fun way for tourists to get to know the city.

Naked Bike Ride Cork

Fair play to the naked cyclists in Cork yesterday who bared all in the freezing rain:

…neither the torrential rain nor the bracing temperatures deterred the 56 volunteers who bared what they dared for a naked bike ride through Cork at 5.30am yesterday.

The ‘bare-it-all’ bike ride, which is an international phenomenon, aims to remind motorists that cyclists are nothing but frail flesh and bone

Cycle Superhighways

The first two of London’s planned 12 Cycle Superhighways routes were launched today, offering 1.5 meter wide uninterrupted cycle lanes direct into the city centre, painted in a distinctive blue colour.  And while the new cycle lanes have attracted some criticism they are certainly a step in the right direction.

Dublin’s cycle lanes are a bit of mixed bag.  And even the best of the lanes can suddenly stop without warning, and deposit the rider back into fast-moving traffic.  And shared-use bus lanes can be very scary for inexperienced cyclists, say when you’ve got an Aircoach bearing down on you.

The best answer seems to be segregated (and well-maintained) cycle lanes, separated from the rest of traffic.  Of course this would require some investment, and would almost certainly be implemented to the detriment of motor vehicles in many places, with the removal of lanes of traffic and/or parking spots.  But the rewards to the people of Dublin would be incalculable.  It would encourage mass use of bikes, which is good for everyone’s health, and (dare I say it?) make the city a nicer place to live.

Dublin Bikes

The Dublin Bikes rental scheme is reportedly one of the most successful in the world.  Although limited to the city centre, it has ended up being incredibly popular with locals and visitors alike.

The scheme has 40 bike stations, hosting 450 bikes, which can be rented for short periods of time.  Users either subscriber to an annual card that costs €10 a year, or a 3-day ticket for just €2, and then each usage of a bike is charge based on the time you have it.  The first half an hour is free, and then you’re charged 50 cents per half-hour block for the next 90 minutes, and from then onwards the costs rise.  Obviously it’s priced to encourage short trips, and indeed around 96% of all hires are free, with an average rental time of 16 minute per journey.  To sign up you need a credit card (or direct debit details for the annual card), as you will be charged €150 if you fail to return the bike.

In the first 8 months since launch in September 2009, over 21,000 long term members have signed up, and over 10,000 people have used 3-day tickets.  The bikes have been rented over 550,000 times, which averages out to about 10 journeys per day per bike.

In fact it’s been so successful, that it was announced in April that the scheme is due to expand.  100 extra bikes are being provided, 4 new bike stations are being built, and some existing stations are increasing their parking capacity by adding more stands.

And certainly when you’re in the city centre, you see a lot of the distinctive Dublin Bikes weaving their way through traffic.  Tourists use them to navigate between attractions, and locals use them extensively for commuting from the inner suburbs to the city centre and home.  Indeed at the bike stations at the edges of the area it can be tricky to find a bike on a morning, as they’ve all been ridden into the city centre during the rush hour.  However, the Dublin Bikes people do have vans which they use to re-distribute bikes around the city.

Dublin Cycling

Those of you who are familiar with sites such as Copenhaganize and Amsterdamize will know that real cycling is not about lycra and shaved legs.  It’s about getting from A to B using a fast, free, and convenient form of transport – and hopefully look quite stylish on the move.

The number of cyclists in Dublin rose by some 34% in the five years between 2003 and 2008, and the recent success of the Dublin Bikes hire scheme is helping more and more people see the benefits of city biking.