Bicycle share to continue to operate in Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Cork

— Electric bicycle share company raises €22,000 in donations for bikes for health workers.

Bicycle share systems will continue to operate in Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Cork through the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

A Government update today said that analysis has indicated that the bicycles are being used by hospital and other essential workers.

A Government spokesperson said on Twitter: “Following consultation with the National Transport Authority, it has been confirmed that shared bike schemes such as Bike Share in Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Cork will continue to operate.”

They added: “An analysis of usage suggested that the bikes in question are regularly used by hospital and other essential workers. Assurances have also been given in relation to the cleaning and maintenance of the bikes. The NTA is happy that the service should remain operational for now.”

Meanwhile, electric bicycle share company Moby — which was supposed to have its public launch in Dublin this week — have raised nearly €22,000 to help fund providing electric bicycles to healthcare workers.

Moby said that they were reacting to a call for help from Dr Anna O’Leary on Twitter:

IMAGE: Healthcare Workers picking up Moby bikes on March 27 (From mobymove.com).

Thomas O Connell, CEO and Founder at MOBY, said on Linkedin: “MOBY began a roll out of free ebikes to Dublin based health care workers last week. Dublin-based healthcare workers, who normally use public transport to get to and from work, are being impeded both by the reduced public-transport service and by their grave need to isolate while not in a work setting.

“The initiative has gone a bit viral and we have been inundated with healthcare workers wanting the electric bikes. We are hoping to roll this out across the country and are appealing to other bike rental companies to do the same and we will support your costs using funds generated from our GoFundMe campaign,” said O Connell.

He added: “We are also appealing to anyone who owns an electric bike and wants to lend it to a healthcare worker ( we will facilitate by picking up the bike , servicing it, delivering it, and guarantee the safe return ) , to get in touch as we don’t want to run out of bikes . You can do all of this on the link below.”

Last week IrishCycle.com reported how, River Cycles, a Dublin bicycle shop, is offering free repairs for front line hospital staff and firefighters.

Since Coronavirus restrictions were made stricter over the weekend, the Government has said that bicycle shops offering repairs are now under the category of ‘businesses that can only offer emergency call-out or delivery services’.

ADDED:

The Cork Cycling Campaign has also offered to help essential works in need to find a bike or gear loan to get to work:

Another bicycle share company, BleeperBike, said on Linkedin: “Further BleeperBikes have been dropped at SJH, SVUH and the Mater hospitals today. We will continue to monitor usage & restock as needed. We are providing free use of BleeperBikes to hospital staff who work within our operating zone for the duration of the Covid-19 crisis. Staff from SJH, SVUH & Mater have already availed, please email [email protected] if you would like the same.”

In Galway meanwhile, a new electric bicycle company Brite are also looking to help healthcare workers and have also shared a link to a Gofundme page:

2 comments

  1. Great initiative by Moby! Let’s hope the workers continue to use bikes once pandemic has passed! Just a great way to get from A to B!

    Reply

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