DublinBikes subscription cost to double with expansion – report

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A DublinBikes station on the system’s first operating day in September 2009.

Details of a deal between Dublin City Council and advertising firm JCDecaux should be revealed at the council’s monthly meeting next Monday, May 13.

The Herald reported on Friday that a deal has been reached between the advertising company and the council.

Talks between the two have lasted longer than first expected and had been due to be finished at the end of last year.

It had been so unclear if a deal would be reached that the head of the National Transport Authority told the Public Accounts Committee that “We may have to look at a parallel bike scheme that we develop our self.”

It has long been reported the expansion will include 1,000 extra bicycles added to the current 550 bikes, and bringing station numbers from 44 to about 100.

Exact details have not been confirmed but the Herald reported that the annual subscription could double from €10 to €20. The tax payer is also expected to pay for expansion and pay towards running costs — unlike the original system which was mostly funded by advertising.

Dave O’Connor, lecturer in Transport and Urban Design at DIT, makes the following point about the state paying towards the cost of the system:

(article continues below video)

The expansion will bring DublinBikes to Heuston Station and the Docklands. Sources say the council have been working on station locations for some time but exaction locations are not yet confirmed.

It’s not clear if the deal reached will follow the council’s Dublinbikes Strategic Planning Framework 2011 – 2016, but that report outlines the expansion areas as:

  • Heuston: Bordered by North Smithfield, Arbour Hill, then following Conyngham Road (Phoenix Park boundary) as far as the South Circular Road at Island Bridge, then following Old Kilmainham Road and James’s Street into the original area at Christchurch
  • Docklands: Bordered by Sheriff Street, the East Link Toll Bridge, the west edge of Ringsend, South Lotts Road, Haddington Road in Ballsbridge where it meets with the current area at Baggot Street.


View DublinBikes areas 0, 1, & 2 in a larger map

MORE: Dublinbikes expansion deal not yet reached with JCDecaux


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2 comments

  1. At the risk of being unpopular I question the relevance of the Bikes scheme to the objectives of the broader cycling policy. If we are trying to achieve outcomes in health, congestion and cost I would use scarce resources to facilitate and encourage commuting and slightly longer journeys. The bikes scheme seems ot be used for extremely short journeys and by a lot of tourists. Sure this helps tourism and generically promotes cycling but getting thousands of Dubliners out of cars needs investment too.

    Michael Mc Loughlin

    Reply

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