The Galway Bikes Scheme which was unveiled last year has not proven to be a huge hit in the city, with the city's 2,029 users making just 1,723 journeys between them per month – an average of less than one per person.
By Brian Canty
The bike scheme that has proven such a resounding success in Dublin has been a complete failure in Galway, it has emerged.
Galway obviously isn’t comparable to Dublin in terms of its population or number of bikes available - 1,500 bikes in the Dublin scheme as opposed to 195 in Galway.
But the average journey per bike taken is worth highlighting.
Figures released show that each one of the Galway's 195 bikes is used just nine times a month on average, compared to an average of 222 journeys a month in the country’s capital.
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Just 2,000 people have subscribed to the scheme in the west and up to and including September of this year, only 15,500 journeys were made across the city.
Galway currently has 2,029 registered users but combined, they make just 1,723 journeys between them per month – an average of less than one per person.
Dublin, meanwhile, has 70,552 users and combined, they take over 330,000 journeys between them – an average of nearly five per person.
Of course, there are extenuating circumstances for Galway’s low usage and among them is the fact the city is just so small.
Councillor Billy Cameron described the scheme as a “complete hames” when it opened first because most of the docking stations were within walking distance of each other, meaning the time saved by cycling as opposed to walking was negligible.
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Interestingly, despite it being one of the country’s best tourist destinations, the three-day passes haven’t generated as much revenue as had been anticipated.
A three-day pass costs just €3 but the Galway bike scheme only generated €20,713 this year to the end of September.
The Limerick scheme, meanwhile, made €23,430, while Cork took in €69,168.
Another reason the Galway scheme hasn’t been such a huge success is the location of the bikes, with obvious places like GMIT and Salthill not being serviced.
The usage figures also show students are very active users across Cork and Limerick.
In Cork, the busiest stations are Fitzgerald’s Park and Bandfield – both of which are close to UCC.
Limerick’s busiest station is at Mary Immaculate College.
In Galway, GMIT, with a student population of around €8,000 is outside the city and the nearest bike station (one that has just 11 bikes) is 2.6 kilometres away.
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