Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
A NEW STATIONLESS bike scheme has launched in Dublin that will see 200 more rental bikes hit the streets with more coming in the near future.
The scheme is different to the current DublinBikes scheme in that the bikes do not need to be picked up or dropped off at set rental locations.
Instead, bikes must be returned to the metal Sheffield stands that are dotted around the city. Bikes are sourced via an app which unlocks the bike and when it is returned to a Sheffield stand the rental period ends.
Dublin City Council (DCC) has granted licenses to two operators to run the new scheme, Urbo and BleeperBike, and has said that there will be “full interoperability between the two schemes”.
It means that users can sign up to either operator to avail of the scheme. Both firms are Irish-founded.
DCC has said that it is facilitating the rollout of the scheme which will see 200 bikes on the streets immediately and “a gradual increase in the number of bikes over the coming months”.
Last year, the local authority passed bylaws to regulated shared-bike schemes in central Dublin after a troubled launch by BleeperBike.
After these laws were finalised, the council put out an open call for operators to apply for licences to operate a dockless bike scheme.
In the announcement, the council added that the stationless bike hire scheme will eventually expand services to outer suburban areas.
BleeperBike has already launched its service in both the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin County Council areas.
The council has also said that it has increased cycling parking facilities in Dublin with the installation of over 1,300 extra cycle parking spaces installed over the past few months.
These stands can be used either by bike owners or by bike hire users.
Shared-bike schemes have caused problems in China and Australia with the dumping of bikes in places like parks and waterways.
Dublin City Council has said that it is working with both operators to ensure that the same problems do not occur here.
“Facilitating modal shift to more sustainable transport options is a vital element in the council’s traffic management and climate change strategies,” DCC’s Dick Brady said today.
“The provision of low-cost bike share is a valuable additional support these strategies.”
Councillor Ciarán Cuffe described the move as “a good day for Dublin”:
Similar schemes have succeeded in major cities all around the world, and we’re delighted to have them here. The lesson from abroad is that properly regulated bike schemes can make a positive contribution to sustainable transport and mobility.
- With reporting from Kilian Woods of Fora.ie
So if the sheffield stands are to be used by this scheme. Question. Where do they everyday Joe on their own bikes lock theirs now.
@The Viking: Each bike is meant to contribute a fee which goes to installing more bike parking but a problem here will be that Dublin doesn’t have a large amount of bikle parking, especially when compared to other cities these schemes have operated in like San Francisco (where the average inter-city street has bike stands every 50-100m on the pavements).
@Shane Corry: I find it really hard to believe San Fran has that much bike parking having been there last year. It is the kind of thing I would notice
@Kal Ipers: saw every inch of the city did ya?
@The Viking: car parking should be sacrificed. 12-20 bikes can fit in 1 car park space. I challenge DCC to remove some sign poles from Dublin city pavements, making it more walkable an discouraging bikes locked to them. Better to have more sheffield stands. Bonus points when they take up a space previously used for parking.
@The Viking: I was about to ask the same thing. If all the spaces are full with these bikes I’ll probably just lock my bike to it.
@Niall dunne: No but for that average of 50-100 metres it would mean some streets would need to be nothing but bike racks to make up for the streets I did see
@The Viking: The operators have to pay €50/ bike per year. This money is used to provide additional Sheffield stands. The city council has added 1300 bike stands in the last 6 months in anticipation of this. They are still adding more.
@Shane Corry:
Being to San Francisco a few times because I have family there, certainly don’t remember bike racks every 100m!
You made a reasonable point but you destroyed it by plucking a stat out of the air.
Great news can we get these out to areas ignored by DublinBikes? It would be great to see them at Luas stations and maybe work with supermarket chains to host them like Tesco, Aldi, Lidl etc
@Rob: yep dun laoghaire rathdown already allow bleeper so a few luas stops e.g Stillorgan are well stocked with them. There should be a requirement for every car park, luas station & dart station to have a minimum number of Sheffield stands with CCTV. For car parks should be a % of the car spaces.
@Oisín O’Connor: 5 bicycles can be parked in the space for one regular car, or for a “Foxrock tractor” you can park 8 bicycles in that space…
However DCC tried to install a parking rack for bicycles by taking away a car parking space and the local shop owners went mad… The bicycle parking was removed..
@Dotty Dunleary: hmmm, few things I’ve read suggest that the ratio is more like 20:1 for off-street, including ancillary space needed for car parks. Firstly, DCC need to have some backbone. Secondly, I’d say there’s a fair few businesses out there who’d proactively ask for cycle parking in front of their premises (in place of existing car spaces).
@Oisín O’Connor: Just not in Sandymount! They like cars cars and more cars in the small village streets!
@Rob: Great news story if the stands are not added to or near the other bikes seen a great suggestion bring them around Dart and luas stations I don’t know if there any bikes at the mainline train stations if not I think they would be a great asset to Dublin and other City’s. There has to be a large dropping off plan for it to work properly. Wonder if the taxi guys will find any fault?
@Dotty Dunleary: DCC have installed 1300 bike spaces in the last 6 months. As far as I’m aware only one installation was blocked by shop owners complaining to city councilors.
Great news, more of Joe Public out on bicycles without a clue how to behave on the roads, and those same roads having zero cycle specific infrastructure…
Not to mention that these bicycles will be subject to high levels of vandalism in certain areas of Dublin city center..
@Dotty Dunleary: The said the Dublin city bikes would be destroyed too and it never happened.
@Kal Ipers: These are different in that they are station-less, along with the fact that there’s very limited if any secure places to lock the bikes…
@Dotty Dunleary: and of course no helmets
@techman: Not compulsory and not easy to carry around if you’re only going to use a bicycle once a week…
@techman: empirical evidence beats hunches. Studies show they have negligible impact on safety. Biggest impact on safety is infrastructure & careful driving by buses, trucks, cars. Cycling in 30kph zones where trucks are mostly banned and bus drivers properly trained: helmets shouldn’t be needed.
@Dotty Dunleary: Helmets should be compulsory One bad bang to the heaad and you wont worry about carrying anything
@Oisín O’Connor: You understand head injuries then. Coup and counter coup. Post concussion syndrome etc. Stop blaming everybody else, cyclists are more than capable of being dangerous on the paths of Dublin let alone the roads, Maybe you should read up about the difference helmets make from a Traumatic Brain Injury perspective. No maybe about it, Read up and learn
Another load of cyclists who won’t obey the rules of the roads. I want to see the RSA have adverts on the tv for cyclists for a change, ensure cyclists know the rules of the road.
@scutterpumps: Nice rant, but it’s been done already: RSA Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKFg5XptHvY
@scutterpumps: drivers are supposed to know the rules of the road, they even have to pass a test. And yet the low standard of driving here and the numbers of cars that openly flout those rules is shocking. 60% of drivers admit to using phones behind the wheel, 40% of drivers admit to using social media behind the wheel, 60% of drivers admit to speeding regularly. So it’s not just cyclists.
@Dermot Lane: Irish driving test is a joke anyways, no night time driving, no motorway driving, not sure there’s even any dual carriageway driving, just 100′s of people a month being released onto the roads with only 12 hours of driving lessons under there belts…who then think they know it all.
When you look at places like in the Czech Republic there is a minimum of 34 hours driving lessons, and Poland 30 hours..
@scutterpumps: blah, blah, and blah…I see every day several cars breaking road rules so go away with the whole cyclists are always breaking the rules malarkey
@Dermot Lane: no one ever said it was just cyclists! The difference is motorists get punished to some degree ie 200k+ get penalty points/fines every year not to mention higher insurance premiums. Cyclists do not get punished at all.
@Fred Coloe: Of course not they want everything their way and for free, Another load of bikes left everywhere,
@Fred Coloe: Not even the cyclists who have a car get punished eh?
@Fred Coloe: people by their comments always DO seem to think it’s only cyclists and of course cyclists are subject to fines, but that’s an enforcement issue. The other difference of course is the potential damage done by a driver in a 2 ton metal box travelling at speed compared to the potential damage done by a cyclist at low velocity on a 12kg bike.
Very happy to hear this. Getting into town from most of South Dublin is quicker than driving or taking public transport, but the issue has always been not wanting your bike nicked. At 80c a ride this removes that chance and is definitely going to be my commute of choice when I need to venture into town. Enough of my money has gone to exorbitant taxi rides and frankly ridiculous Dublin Bus ticket prices. No more.
These bike hire schemes are good as long as 1) The amount of bikes is regulated and they have to pay a fee for each new bike 2) They only allow the stand-locking bikes, not the type were the wheel locks and therefore can be left anywhere – Chinese cities are overflowing with bikes of this type with them being left all over the place.
DCC says http://www.dublincity.ie/bleeperbike-and-urbo-granted-licences-operate-stationless-bike-hire-scheme-dublin-city Once locked to a Sheffield stand at destination the hire period ceases. but the urbo bikes on their websites are the ones where bikes locks the wheel they can’t be locked to the sheffield stand. Is the geofencing that precise?
@steve white: They’ve possibly just invested in the other, stand-locking type of bikes. You can see there appears to be a black-type object on the back of the Urbo bike where a stand-locking mechanism would be.
@steve white: they have retrofitted cable locks to the bikes they will be using in Dublin. You have to wrap the cable lock around the Sheffield stand and hoop it through the wheel lock.
And still they seem to be able to abuse the footpaths while the guards seem powerless to bring them to court.so much for our system when cyclist are a law onto themselves more misery for the Footpaths
@Liam Ward: Lobby your local T.D or Councillors to build cycle lanes, problem solved!
@Liam Ward: On yer bike so!!
@Dotty Dunleary: No lobby that cyclists stay where they are supposed to and pay for the special cycle lanes.
@Gary Kearney: In English please?
@Dotty Dunleary: You do enough of that Lobby you Garda Superintendent to enforce the law.
It says it’s dockless but you have to dock it. So it’s not dockless the docks are just smaller.
@David McCreery: it’s dockless.
Great idea! Lorry booked for Russia – will be collecting the bikes over the weekend.
@ウィリアム はげ: ok, the bikes will be locked to a bike stand, and will have a wheel lock. They also have GPS so make sure to disable that or you’ll be caught. I can’t imagine the resale value of these bikes being very high though.
I knew there was something off about all the new bike stands. There had to be a catch didn’t there?
More bikes, better start times on buses . It’s ridiculous that the bus time table is more than 50 years old. First bus should be on the road at 5 in the morning. More people wanting to get to work earlier . More bikes are a good idea. Too many taxis driving around city centre and no passengers in them clogging up the streets.
The first one blocking a path illegally and there will be trouble.
@Gary Kearney: probably not. We all see plenty of cars and vans blocking footpaths illegally and nothing is down about it.
@Oisín O’Connor: yep, every hour of every day – nothing done
If those two countries had problems with bikes being thrown into water, why didn’t they make them float? There must be some black box device like an airbag that could be built in, that would cause them to surface.
have your say