SLIGO COUNTY COUNCIL (SCC) is setting up its own dockless cycling scheme and wants a company to supply it with 50 bikes for free and to pay it a fee for the project. 

The council put out a tender looking for a company to supply Sligo town and its environs with a minimum of 50 bikes. 

According to the tender, the bikes must be multi-geared with a preferred seven-speed gear. They must also be suitable for “the climate and terrain of Sligo”.

The tender is part of a scheme by SCC called Urban Cycle Sligo which trialled a successful pilot of the scheme last year. The council now wishes to make it a permanent feature of the town and its surroundings.

According to the tender, there is no budget for SCC to implement such a scheme on its own. But it has offered the preferred bidder a concession contract meaning it can make money from the people who are actually using and paying for the bikes. 

The tender states: “There is no budget available to Sligo County Council to implement a public bicycle share scheme at the present time. The request for tender is being issued on the basis of offering a concession contract, whereby the successful tenderer will be entitled to retain the revenue generated from customers and sponsors over the life-time of the contract, in return for an annual payment to the council.”

A Sligo company had successfully ran the initial trial period. 

Bleeperbike offers dockless bike riding. This means it uses satellite technology and an app to track the bike’s rental. Prices during the trial included an annual subscription fee for €75 and a three-month subscription for €20. Mostly, it costs around 80c per hour of cycling. 

Sligo council’s walking and cycling strategy involves providing a combination of cycling and walking infrastructure linking the outlying population centres to the main centres of employment, colleges, schools, leisure areas and the town centre.

In 2011, just 2% of commuters living within 3km of Sligo town travelled by bicycle to work, school and college. With the provision and upgrading of cycling infrastructure, it is hoped to considerably increase this figure.

There have been similar systems set up in Dublin, Galway and Cork. In these cases, companies which set up and supply the bikes can make money by getting firms to sponsor the bikes.