A trial of an on-street cargo bicycle rental service — including a front box bike and long-tail cargo bike — has been launched by Dublin City Council.
Bleeper, a bike rental company, is operating the service for the council. Users will need to download the Bleeper bike app and gain access to the locker holding the two bikes using the AirKey app and contacting Bleeper for approval, which can take 24 hours.
Rental of the bikes costs €1 per 15 minutes of use with a daily cap of €25. The bicycles are located at a locker at Portobello Road along the Grand Canal at the junction with Martin Street.
The bikes must be returned to the locker at the same location it was rented from at before 10pm. This is similar to other cargo bike rental which are often located at hubs or at a marked location on a street.
The box cargo can carry two child passengers or up to 50kg of cargo, while the long tail cargo bike has an elongated rear carrier which can carry two child passengers or one adult passenger.
As reported last week, the project is being run by the Beta office, which trials different projects — from street art on utility boxes to bin solutions to rain planter boxes — and assesses the trialed measures before further rollout.
The Beta page for the trail outlines that the location was chosen because it’s a quiet roadway, which might be useful for those unfamiliar with cargo bikes at the start of their trip. It’s a residential area, close to several routes, including the Grand Canal Cycleway, well-lit, and beside a Dublin Bikes station.
The Bleeper page with details of how to access the service can be found at bleeperactive.com while the Beta page with further details of the trial can be accessed at dccbeta.ie.
Residents in Dublin can also access a free borrow-an-e-cargo bike service at the Sundrive Pavillion in Eamonn Ceannt Park in Crumlin run by The Bike Hub, in partnership with Dublin City Council. Fingal County Council, with Bleeper, also offers cargo bike rental in Dublin 15 at the Mountview Community Centre, near the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre.
