Dublin Bikes [many] months on.

seamus

I actually find the lights on the DBs quite good and makes them noticeable. But I'm moving at less than 50kph.

bk

AMontague wrote: »

That's a good suggestion and we may go that route, however, the advertising market is very poor at the moment and there's not much money to be made. In fact I heard that many buses in Dublin aren't carrying ads at the moment because there is very little take-up.

Perhaps sponsorship, rather then advertising per say.

I'm sure there are a few socially and environmentally aware companies who might jump at the opportunity to sponsor these bikes and get a little advertising on them.

Metrobest

bk wrote: »

Perhaps sponsorship, rather then advertising per say.

I'm sure there are a few socially and environmentally aware companies who might jump at the opportunity to sponsor these bikes and get a little advertising on them.

The bikes are an urban design element in the city centre. As an aesthethic and branding issue, I feel strongly that they should be left free of advertising. Compare the experience of sitting on a Ryanair or Aer Lingus plane, with or without advertising on the overhead lockers. I don't have a philosophical objection to adverstising; i just think it should not be invasive in a personal space.

Motorways are ugly environments anyway so a few mega billboards have little impact on the environment and generate huge revenues as frustrated motorists stuck in traffic have plenty of time to glare at the ads. So what about putting large advertisements at the two portals of the Dublin port tunnel which Dublin City Council manages? And the toll gantries of the M50 which the government presumably has leverage over?

Or levying an extra 50 cent on parking charges in a special 'green zone' of the city (this is what Barcelona does to fund its scheme)

Or securing funds from the national lottery for the scheme's expansion.

BrianD

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Mc Donald's would be ideal candidates for on bike advertising, They could then sponsor drop off terminals close to their restaurants. You would burn off calories after you had your big Mac meal.

I don't think people would give a damn what is written on the bike if the service is free. A JC DEcaux bike already sticks out like dogs ba*ls as it is even without any adds. People would use their own bikes if they are too concious. A bike covered in adds would also help with security as they would be more easily spotted if found outside the threshold of the rental range.
I don't think people would be too worried about what the bikes look like if this could fund expansion and introduce the project in other towns and cities across the country. I would prefer to see more adds on bikes and the terminals and less roadside billboards.

I don't agree. The bikes may look different but they're not that unusual. The only branding opportunities would be the basket and the mud guard. Neither of these offer great visibility and wouldn't have great value (wn compared with a 6 sheet panel on the roadside).

They would have to provide Electric scooters to go out that far, I certainly wouldn't cycle out to the Navan Road on on any push bike.

I wouldn't be suggesting that it would be city centre and then the next station would be Navan Road. There would be stations in between. Also people out that way don't have to going to CBD. I'm sure there are plenty of local journeys out there.

_Kooli_

I think they are great. No use during rush hour though, because when you get a bioke and get to your destination there are often a line of people waiting to leave the bikes back because there are no free spaces.
A bit more effort into redistributing them would be good.

BrianD

This from todays Irish Times:

The Irish Times 24/10/2009 wrote:

City council to increase capacity of bike stations
By OLIVIA KELLY


DUBLIN CITY Council is to increase the capacity of its Dublinbikes rental stations in the coming weeks because of the huge popularity of the scheme.

The council also has longer-term plans to introduce new station locations and increase the number of bikes available to users.

More than 16,000 people have subscribed to the scheme since it was introduced just six weeks ago, making it the most popular city bike scheme to date in Europe, according to the council.

“More than 11,500 people have registered for annual passes and around 4,000 for day or three-day tickets, so we’re absolutely chuffed with it,” council communications manager Michael Sands said.

There is also a very fast turnover of bicycles with an average usage time of 16-17 minutes. Rental is then free for half an hour and costs 50 cents for the first hour, rising to €6.50 for four hours.

However, the popularity of the bicycles and the rapid turnover has resulted in a shortage of bicycles at many stations and a shortage of free spaces to return bicycles at others.

“We’ve had six trucks going around trying to balance things out as much as possible, but what we’re going to do is expand what we have as much as possible with additions at some locations.”

Some of the most popular stations, such as Portobello, will see its bicycle spaces double; at other locations the number of additional spaces will depend on the amount of room surrounding the station. The increase in capacity may involve the removal of some on-street car parking.

The additional spaces will be paid for by JC Decaux, the out-door advertising company which won the contract to provide the bike scheme in return for advertising space in the city.

The council is also entering into talks with the company in relation to providing bicycle stations and additional bikes at new locations.

There are currently 450 bicycles available from 40 stations between the Royal and the Grand canals. However, there are locations where there would be a high demand for bicycles with no station, such as Heuston train station.

“For the scheme to work, a necklace of stations is needed and you can’t have a gap of more than 450 metres between stations. Heuston was a problem in that regard because the gap between it and the next location was too big, but we will seriously look at that now.”

The number of new stations and bicycles will be subject to negotiation with JC Decaux, Mr Sands said.

A mobile phone application which allows Dublinbikes users to see in “real time” the location of available bikes or spaces on a bike station is now available.

A similar application was launched last September, but was withdrawn after Fusio, the software firm which developed it, was threatened with legal action by JC Decaux.

The new application, which is an official JC Decaux product, is available to download for free from the Apple App Store Ireland.

Surely the demand issues can be managed by the movement of bikes via the 6 trucks? Though extra capacity at some station would be desirable as would be welcome as would more stations.

I am amazed that JCD are fixated by producing a phone app for one type of phone that is used by a minority of people while no Nokia app or mobile web site has been created for the handset that most people use.

paddy2k

i think i saw somewhere ages ago that they were going to run the scheme without advertising on the bikes for the first 6 months and that after that they would be selling the space on the back mudguard to the highest bidder.

spurious

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

Im surprised that the bikes themslves aren't sponsored by advertisements.

Presumably all the billboards that JC Decaux still haven't taken down should be factored in.

BrianD

paddy2k wrote: »

i think i saw somewhere ages ago that they were going to run the scheme without advertising on the bikes for the first 6 months and that after that they would be selling the space on the back mudguard to the highest bidder.

It is one of the few spaces that you could put an advert. I just don't see it as a great medium.

Spurious wrote:

Presumably all the billboards that JC Decaux still haven't taken down should be factored in.

Ar these the legacy billboards that JC have. Since they have been up for so long perhaps they should stay up with JCD paying a levy on them to the city.

I would be interested to know how much rental money that DCC will make in Year 1 and what this will be used for. Give that most journeys seem to be under 30 min it doesn't seem like much. Though €130,000 has been taken on the annual card subscriptions (based on 13,000 annual cards reported to be issued).

Capt'n Midnight

BrianD wrote: »

I would be interested to know how much rental money that DCC will make in Year 1 and what this will be used for. Give that most journeys seem to be under 30 min it doesn't seem like much. Though €130,000 has been taken on the annual card subscriptions (based on 13,000 annual cards reported to be issued).

without advertising revenue €130,000 could pay for 185 bikes at €700 per year each - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V%C3%A9lomagg%27#cite_note-4

Irish costs would be higher , even though we'd have a greater economy of scale.

13,000 users 450 bikes !
other bike schemes have resorted to cutting locks of people who "reserve" their bike

Also in other cities turning the saddle backwards is used to indicate a bike with a problem when you return it - saves the next persons time

atgate

With so many things going wrong with Dublin at the moment the bikes scheme is like a shining beacon of what can happen if a few people stick by a good idea and despite general levels of interest being both desmissive and at the same times excited. For once something amazing has happened to my city. Where does one write a strong letter of compliemt. Coz you guys deserve one.

dewsbury

atgate wrote: »

With so many things going wrong with Dublin at the moment the bikes scheme is like a shining beacon of what can happen if a few people stick by a good idea and despite general levels of interest being both desmissive and at the same times excited. For once something amazing has happened to my city. Where does one write a strong letter of compliemt. Coz you guys deserve one.

I agree with the above.
It it rare to see something done so well with such little fuss.

lostexpectation

doesn't matter how often theyre used he deal was crap

Aard

It's great to hear of the success of the scheme.


I don't think there's any point in having advertising on the bikes. How would it work anyway? A mini-ad on the basket like the baskets in Tesco? Who would read it, or indeed be looking at it long enough to be able to read it?

sickpuppy32

BrianD wrote: »

The only branding opportunities would be the basket and the mud guard. Neither of these offer great visibility and wouldn't have great value (wn compared with a 6 sheet panel on the roadside).

wouldn't they not be like the advertising on shopping trolly handles, aimed towards the driver of the bike?

serfboard

I was in Dublin yesterday for the first time in a long time, and have to say I was amazed to see the success of this scheme. I also observed what other people have said as well, in that it seems to have inspired other people to "get on their bikes" as they seemed to be everywhere!

Well done to all involved - despite this being dismissed by naysayers - with some people just waiting/wanting it to fail so they could say "I told you so".

loyatemu

serfboard wrote: »

I was in Dublin yesterday for the first time in a long time, and have to say I was amazed to see the success of this scheme. I also observed what other people have said as well, in that it seems to have inspired other people to "get on their bikes" as they seemed to be everywhere!

a lot of that is because of the Govt Cycle-to-Work scheme as well as a general trend towards cycling over the last couple of years. There's definitely a lot more people cycling now than 5 years ago, though probably still not as many as 25 years ago...

Run_to_da_hills

loyatemu wrote: »

There's definitely a lot more people cycling now than 5 years ago, though probably still not as many as 25 years ago...

25 years ago the average bicycle weighed in a ton, had just 5 or 10 speed gears, Lightweight cycles equipped with alloy cotterless chain sets and alloy wheels were found on the most expensive cycles that could be bought in just a few places in the city such as Hardings and the Rutland. Now semi professional cycles can be bought in many of the high street supermarkets.

Fortunately the average weight of a bicycle has dropped significantly along with fatter tires to absorb the ever increasing potholes. One thing good about Dublin Bikes is that they are rather heavy which should discourage longer commutes and hogging.

redser05

Hey.

I was hoping for a favor. I have to get a survey done for college on Dublin Bikes. I want to get peoples reactions to the service. I want to see if there are any improvements that could be made. I don't know if this is against thread rules. If it is please delete my comment. I would be very grateful if you guys could take a minute to fill it in. It is only 10 short questions.

Link:

<a href="http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=WkEnL1fe_2fH2f4xQK1GSLyw_3d_3d">Click Here to take survey</a>

Thanks for your time

redser

Africa

Enjoy the scheme a lot, and it saves a lot of time. But it really really needs to be expanded - a lot of the time the places are full or there are no bikes and the stations arent really close enough together, there really has to be more. Also, the area covered can be a lot lot more.

Great start guys. Now pull your socks up and really deliver!

BrianD

sickpuppy32 wrote: »

wouldn't they not be like the advertising on shopping trolly handles, aimed towards the driver of the bike?

`

There's only 450 bikes though and the riders eyes need to be elsewhere. Not sure how any shopping trolleys are in Dublin but it's a different environment. Seeing the ad on a shopping trolley means that the viewer is in an environment where they can purchase the product. You generally only see FMCG/grocery brands on shopping trolleys.

I read in this Marketing magazine that JCD are planning to expand the scheme but is vague wether it will be more bikes or stations. Personally, I think that more stations would be prefabe to expanding existing stations.

markpb

BrianD wrote: »

I read in this Marketing magazine that JCD are planning to expand the scheme but is vague wether it will be more bikes or stations. Personally, I think that more stations would be prefabe to expanding existing stations.

I read an article online last week (which I can't find now). It said they were going to expand some of the existing stations and add a small number of new ones but the number of bikes would remain the same.

HereKitty

Used the Bikes today for the first time. Absolutely great. Got from Baggot st to Pearse St in no time at all, normally a 20 minute walk in my heels. Arrived at my destination, without even breaking a sweat. Lets see more Ladies use these beauties! A joy...well done all concerned...now if only there were enough free spaces to return the bikes.....:rolleyes::rolleyes:

positron

I use DublinBikes now and then, and love it too.

Yesterday I got my first bad bike - the seat won't lock in place - that is, even after adjusting the seat lock latch as tight as possible, the seat collapsed under me, which was slightly dangerous as I was moving at a good speed with a Dublin Bus on my tail..!

Africa

Anyone else think they should have covered the stations to keep the old bikes a bbit dryer?!

Cookie_Monster

Africa wrote: »

Anyone else think they should have covered the stations to keep the old bikes a bbit dryer?!

a good idea and in the long run sure to save on weather related maintainance costs, rusting etc.

However I reckon these would just be a skanger hangout / beggar keep dry spot or simply be set on fire. :mad:

Euro_Kraut

positron wrote: »

Yesterday I got my first bad bike - the seat won't lock in place - that is, even after adjusting the seat lock latch as tight as possible, the seat collapsed under me, which was slightly dangerous as I was moving at a good speed with a Dublin Bus on my tail..!

I use the bike every day and have this problem intermitenly too. You are right that it is dangerous. Its very disconserting when you are cycling along and the saddle slips.

Run_to_da_hills

positron wrote: »

I use DublinBikes now and then, and love it too.

Yesterday I got my first bad bike - the seat won't lock in place - that is, even after adjusting the seat lock latch as tight as possible, the seat collapsed under me, which was slightly dangerous as I was moving at a good speed with a Dublin Bus on my tail..!

This happens because the seat tube can no longer be tightened, either the threads on the securing bolt are stretched or the frame cannot be pinched to lock the seat post. A simple way out of it is to remove the seat pin and wedge a shim between the post and set pillar, a piece of a beer or coke can would do.

Maintenance should widen the gap in the frame where the seat pillar fits.

I would be totally against covered in bike parks as they would effectivly become urinals at night after the clubs close .

Africa

Luas ones aint exactly 'urinals' now are they? I was thinking something similar to them, just some glass over the area they are stored.

Ive had dodgy seats as well. Seems to be the only thing so far thats wrong with them. Though I have to ask who these amazingly tall people are that have the seat up the very top!!

Run_to_da_hills

Africa wrote: »

Luas ones ain't exactly 'urinals' now are they? I was thinking something similar to them, just some glass over the area they are stored.

Luas ones are pretty much monitored by CCTV, If JC decaux were to provide shelters for these bike you ca be damn sure they will be covered with advertisement.

I would just bring a few tissues to wipe the saddle before you get on.