The Dublin bike scheme is set to jump from 550 to 1,500 bikes by next July, with the first 50 extra bikes made available yesterday when two new stations opened.
Dublin City Council has just opened the first phase in its expansion of the Dublin bike scheme that will see 58 new stations opened by next summer, making available an additional 950 new bikes.
Yesterday, Thursday, the first new stations opened at North Wall Quay and Deverall Place near Gardiner St, both on the north side of the city.
A total of 50 new bikes will be available from those stations, bringing the number of bikes available to 600.
When the expansion plans are complete in nine months, some 1,500 bikes will be available from 102 stations, with some existing stations to be extended.
The scheme started in 2009. Under it, those wishing to travel around the city can register for 12 months for just €10 and ride the bikes between stations for free at any time.
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Its success caught even the most optimistic observers by surprise, so much so that on opening the scheme was almost immediately expanded from 40 stations and 450 bikes.
The bikes and stations have been supplied by international advertising company JC Decaux in exchange for 72 advertising billboards around the city.
The new phase of expansion will see a slightly different form to that model, with Dublin City Council set to pay the company €1.925 million per year to operate the citywide scheme.
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The new stations will cost €6.1 million to put in place. Some €5.2 million is being provided by the National Transport Authority. Dublin City Council will provide the remaining €900,000.
The council is considering deals to raise around €500,000 to supplement the annual running costs by filling advertising spaces on the bikes, along with other branding opportunities.
The annual fee is also increasing from €10 to €20, and those looking to use the bikes for periods of just three days will pay €5 rather than €2.
Those increased fees will come into operation in just one week, on December 6th.
By next July when the expansion plans are complete, the bike stations will stretch from Heuston station to North Wall Quay, covering from east to west the wide area of the inner city.
Following the opening of the two stations yesterday, a further eight will open in the weeks ahead at various locations including: Mount St Lwr, Grattan St, Clonmel Street, Great Strand Street, Excise Walk, Fenian Street, York Street West and York Street East.
The scheme already has 36,636 long term – or annual – subscribers and 10,266 short term users. Just over 1.5 million journeys have been made on the bikes so far this year, with total journeys since the scheme’s inception just north of 6 million.
The average journey on one of the bikes is 20 minutes. The busiest day this year was Tuesday, October 8th, when 6,973 journeys were made.
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