Bicycle share in south Dublin may not be linked to DublinBikes

— Councillors in two south Dublin councils requesting integrated city and county bicycle share scheme

 Public bicycle sharimg is planned to be trialed in south and south west Dublin but it seems that such a system would be unconnected to DublinBikes in the city centre, despite councillors requesting otherwise.

Councillors were told that a trial should include some of the area of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and South Dublin County Council, but little detail such as a time frame or exact coverage is currently available.

“They are still examining how the pilot scheme will operate and where. No time frame was given either,” said Blackrock-based Cllr Barry Ward (FG). Cllr Ward talked to IrishCycle.com after a presentation made to the transport committee  of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council yeasterday.

“There was supposed to be a presentation to the transport committee by Michael Aherne, head of transportation development division at the National Transport Authority, but Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council engineers did it as he couldn’t make it. It was more to show us that bike-share schemes have been very successful in Irish urban areas and there was a discussion in which councillors said they want the Dun Laoghaire scheme to be connected to DublinBikes, not different or incompatible.”

Asked if he thinks the council officials and National Transport Authority are still looking at the Dun Laoghaire scheme being separate from DublinBikes, Cllr Ward said: “They are. They are examining Dun Laoghaire and Tallaght for pilot schemes to test feasibility. I think that the schemes need to be connected or compatible if they are going to work.”

UPDATED: Councillors in South Dublin County Council are also raising the issue. On Twitter this afternoon, independent Cllr Dermot Looney told us that he “asked this exact question [on an integrated system]  at a SDCC meeting this week re Tallaght proposals. Similar response. Literally not joined up thinking.”

A black and red Coke-Zero branded regional bike share bicycle — of the type used in Cork, Limerick and Galway — was presented to the Dun Laoghaire transportation committee members yesterday. Although, Cllr Ward said that it was only a demo model and the south Dublin scheme won’t necessarily be sponsored by Coca-Cola.

The soft drinks company currently sponsors the schemes in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Limerick and Galway.


...That's the end of the article. Keep scrolling if you want to the comments, but IrishCycle.com *NEEDS* readers like you to keep it that way. It only requires a small percentage of readers to give a bit each month or every year to keep IrishCycle.com's journalism open to all. Thank you.


3 comments

  1. If the plan is to roll out DublinBikes across the city, then all bike share schemes in the Greater Dublin Area must be compatible. Dublin is not that big, so four independent schemes would be madness.

    From reading the article above, it sounds like at least some councilors are mindful of this. The NTA will be writing the cheque, so hopefully it will see sense.

    There might be an opportunity here. By introducing bikesharing in the neighbouring local authorities, DublinBikes may grow more rapidly than simply expanding out from the DCC area. Over time, the four local areas will eventually meet up. The expansion to date in DCC has been relatively slow, considering the demand from citizens.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to HughCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.