International bicycle share operator Tier-Dott — which has recently rebranded as Dott in other countries — is pulling out of Ireland.
It had on-street bicycle share operations in Fingal using the Tier brand and under the ‘Nextbike by Tier’ brand in both Limerick City and Navan town. The Belfast Bikes scheme, which is operated by another company with bicycles supplied by Nextbike, seems to be unaffected.
In Navan, the Tier scheme was seen as popular by Meath County Council, which, only a few months ago in September, had told councillors that the scheme was expected to be expanded, as reported in a local newspaper.
However, in a more recent email sent to councillors from Fingal County Council officials, it was said: “[Tier] will begin removing vehicles from service on December 1st and aim to finalise the exit by December 20th, 2024. The promotion of bike share remains a key element of our Active Travel strategy and we are determined to secure a new provider for eBike share services in early 2025.”
The situation in Fingal is reflective of that in Limerick and Navan.
Tier had also expressed frustration with legislation for electric scooters, which excluded the use of their current scooter model. The company told theJournal.ie in August: “While the 25kg weight limit prevents us from bringing our most advanced e-scooter model to Ireland, we are confident that we will be able to provide a compliant e-scooter service in the coming months.”
Fingal County Council said that while it is disappointed to lose the bicycle services from Tier, the council is launching the ‘Fingal Pass’ for Bleeper bikes, which gives residents the first 30 minutes of every trip free of charge, as IrishCycle.com is reported on separately today.
Meanwhile, Limerick City and County Council announced in a statement that its stationless bike share pilot scheme, which they launched in April 2023 under the Tier Nextbike brand, will come to a close this month.
The reason given was that Tier-Dott is ceasing its Irish operations. The council highlighted that the move does not affect the Limerick version of the TFI Bike share scheme, which another company operates on behalf of the council and the National Transport Authority.
Limerick’s dockless bike share pilot scheme was focused on the Castletroy area and “a small number of parking locations in the city centre.”
Limerick City and County Council said that it was “proud of the scheme’s achievements” in encouraging more people to embrace cycling as a convenient and sustainable mode of transport. It said: “While the conclusion of this pilot is a disappointment, it provided valuable insights and learnings that will inform the development of a future permanent scheme.”
Brian Kennedy, director of services for Transportation and Mobility at Limerick City and County Council, said: “We are grateful to Tier-Dott for their excellent work and commitment to the Limerick area throughout the pilot. The Council is working towards implementation of a comprehensive bike share scheme as well as other mobility share schemes that can be considered for a broader spread of the city and county where suitable.”
“This initiative allowed us to test and refine ideas for improving sustainable mobility, and we remain committed to exploring innovative solutions in partnership with the National Transport Authority,” he said.
As in Fingal, the company has indicated that it was due to start wrapping up its scheme at the start of the month and finish by December 20th, 2024.
The council said that it would like to “extend its sincere thanks to the people of Limerick for their enthusiasm and support of the scheme” and added: “Limerick City and County Council remains committed to improving transport options for residents and visitors alike and will continue working towards innovative, long-term solutions to support cycling and active travel across the region.”
Requests to comment made to Tier-Dott representatives and its press office between last Thursday and today have gone unanswered.
A spokesperson for Belfast City Council said Belfast Bikes is operated by NSL Limited, with bikes supplied by Nextbike. The spokesperson said: “At this point, we’re not aware of any impact caused by the Tier-Dott merger.”
Of the stationless bicycle share operators left in Ireland, Bleeper and Moby both operate in parts of Dublin, Lime in Castlebar and Westport, and Bolt in areas of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Bray, Sligo, Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford and Portlaoise. In Wexford, Bolt is also trialling e-scooters. An Irish company, CoMotion, were running a scheme in Shannon, but their app was not accessible at the time of publication.
CORRECTION: Moby continues to operate in Athlone, and Mullingar, and also operates in Tullamore.
TFI Bikes also operates a station-based service in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford, while DublinBikes does the same in Dublin.
In recent years, Zipp, which used to operate in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council area, were acquired by a scooter-focused company which currently seems to have no offering in Ireland.
