Dublin bicycle scheme delayed until September
Dublin's city bicycle scheme, which will make 450 bicycles available for rent across the city, will not be up and running until mid-September at the earliest according to Dublin City Council. The delay in implementing the already long-awaited scheme is a pity. It's a good idea and one that the AA is happy to support.
Anyone who has been in the city centre recently may have noticed the mysterious bollards that are part of the new “stations”, where users will be able to pick up or drop off bikes. These have been being installed since the end of April. Their construction was to have taken nine weeks but is running late because of additional complications with utilities such as gas pipes.
You can have a look at the station locations by clicking here.
As some rather cynical AA members have said, it is rather baffling that 'unforeseen complexity' can delay what ought to be the most simple of projects. These are bicycles, not spaceships. Nevertheless the system is on its way and if the experience of places like Barcelona or Paris is anything to go by it will work very well.
Most of problems surrounding the relocation of utilities have now been ironed out, but the council has decided to delay the introduction of the bicycles until a Sunday in mid-September, most likely September 13th, to allow it to have a launch event which would not clash with either the hurling or football finals in Croke Park.
The bicycles are being provided through a deal between Dublin City Council and advertising multinational JC Decaux. Under the deal JC Decaux provides and maintains the bicycles in exchange for a 15-year licence to use outdoor advertising space in Dublin.
The bicycles, which will be available 5am- 12.30am seven days a week, will be free for the first 30 minutes of use, the next 30 minutes will cost 50 cent. There will be an increasing scale of fees for longer periods of time to encourage frequent return of bicycles to the stations.
Frequent users can buy an annual membership for €10. Non-members can also use the bicycles by giving a credit card number.