Dublin Bikes at Heuston

superrdave

Does anyone know why the westernmost dublin bikes stop is only at smithfield? surely they could have some further west.... i mean, they go as far south as portobello and as far north as the mater hospital

silvo

From http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055571821

Why is there no bike station at Heuston Station?
In order for the scheme to work, the bike stations must be ideally no further than 300m apart. This will ensure that in the unlikely event of a bike station being full, users will not have far to travel to the next nearest station. Heuston station serves many commuters and therefore it is likely many users would arrive at the station at approximately the same time (evening rush hour peak) on bikes taken out from a number of different stations. If the bike station at Heuston were full and there wasn’t a sufficient number of bike stations nearby to accommodate the user, users would be likely to miss their train. This would put many people off using the service.

It is predicted that the usage of the service at Heuston would be such that a high concentration of stations would be required in the vicinity and furthermore on the approach from the city centre (every 300m) for the scheme to work effectively. Given that there are 450 bikes overall, this would spread the scheme quite finely, with core areas in the city centre suffering as a result.

If the scheme proves to be a success, it is likely the scheme will be extended to a ‘phase 2’ which will include Heuston station and other areas outside the city centre core.

tomasrojo

There was something in the news lately about constructing a Dublin Bike station "near" Heuston.

tomasrojo

http://www.tribune.ie/news/home-news/article/2010/jan/24/wheels-are-in-motion-to-expand-hugely-successful-c/

The council is now planning an expansion of the scheme, due to be completed before the summer.

Four more stations will be provided across the city, and others near Heuston station and Grand Canal Dock are also being planned.

delta_bravo

Any word on where these extra 4 stations will be?

AMontague

The next planned extension is about increasing the capacity within the current footprint. Usage of the scheme is way ahead of expectation so there is a need for more stands within the current area. The four new stations will essentially be second stations at existing locations. They will be at:
1. Smithfield
2. Eccles Street
3. Charlemont
4. Richmond Street

loyatemu

AMontague wrote: »

3. Charlemont
4. Richmond Street

this would mean 4 stations in very close proximity, Richmond, Portobello and 2 x Charlemont. I'm not sure what you mean by extra stations at existing locations though - is this not just extending the existing stations (which I believe is being done in a lot of the locations anyway)?

electrogrimey

I'm still waiting for the (seemingly obvious) station at Drumcondra Dart Station. My closest is the Mater Hospital, which is a good 10 minute walk, but one at Drumcondra Dart Station'd I thought was an obvious choice...

Lumen

There's a fair bit of space in the Phoenix Park, although that would likely turn the place into a massive (Car) Park & Cycle facility. Would that be a good thing? Dunno.

I'm still with concreting over the Liffey. :pac:

silas_flannery

Hi,

I emailed "Dublin City Cycling" via http://www.dublincitycycling.ie/contact two weeks ago asking them:

a) any plans to expand the network of Dublin Bikes stations
b) will there be public consultation about where the new stations will go

The web site is run by Dublin City Council ... I haven't had any response yet...

I would like a station in Grand Canal Dock but I am not holding my breath.

funkyjebus

is there not one beside the new courts house at the parkgate entrance to the Phoenix park, thats across the road from Hueston.

markpb

electrogrimey wrote: »

I'm still waiting for the (seemingly obvious) station at Drumcondra Dart Station. My closest is the Mater Hospital, which is a good 10 minute walk, but one at Drumcondra Dart Station'd I thought was an obvious choice...

Presumably Drumcondra would suffer from the same problem Silvo quoted in post #2?


Cllr, who is paying for the new stands? Has the council approached other companies about on-bike adverts or other ways of paying for extra bikes and stands?

Victor

The problem with putting them at train stations is that a train will arrive in the morning, all the bikes will disappear, leaving none for people on later trains. Conversely lots of people, all the vacant racks would disappear in the afternoon.

What is needed is for better public transport services between train stations and major destinations, e.g. for Heuston, extending Dublin Bus route 10 to Parkgate street and providing a service that would operate through the Liberties to D2, thereby complimenting route 90/91/92/748.

AMontague wrote: »

4. Richmond Street

Is this north or South Richmond Street? Just to make sure it doesn't interfere with the Bleeding Horse contra-flow.

funkyjebus wrote: »

is there not one beside the new courts house at the parkgate entrance to the Phoenix park, thats across the road from Hueston.

I think this is just ordinary bike parking.

petethedrummer

Can I have one outside my house please?

Lumen

Victor wrote: »

The problem with putting them at train stations is that a train will arrive in the morning, all the bikes will disappear, leaving none for people on later trains. Conversely lots of people, all the vacant racks would disappear in the afternoon.

That's why they shuttle them around the city on the back of trucks. It's a solvable problem, although I don't know to what degree it is economical to achieve perfection.

The scheme is very new in government/geological time scales, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

blorg

Lumen wrote: »

That's why they shuttle them around the city on the back of trucks. It's a solvable problem, although I don't know to what degree it is economical to achieve perfection.

The other issue though is you need stations to be close to each other. The current stations are all clustered together so if a station is full you can leave the bike back at another nearby station.

If you have just one station several km out in Heuston without other nearby stations then what does someone going to catch a train do when the station is full?

Lumen

blorg wrote: »

If you have just one station several km out in Heuston without other nearby stations then what does someone going to catch a train do when the station is full?

Get the next train, obviously.

I understand the issue, but if I was a regular user and found this to be a problem I'd be happier just taking a bike one way and the Luas (or whatever) back. Choice is better than no choice.

Maybe all those idle taxis could be put to use shuttling DB users from the nearest station. Stick a taxi rank next to each DB stop, remove the minimum fare and get market forces working.

AMontague

markpb wrote: »

Cllr, who is paying for the new stands? Has the council approached other companies about on-bike adverts or other ways of paying for extra bikes and stands?

A lot of that is still being negotiated, so no final answer on that yet.

AMontague

loyatemu wrote: »

this would mean 4 stations in very close proximity, Richmond, Portobello and 2 x Charlemont. I'm not sure what you mean by extra stations at existing locations though - is this not just extending the existing stations (which I believe is being done in a lot of the locations anyway)?

A lot of the stations will go from 20 bike stands to 30 bike stands, but at the 4 locations, they will be close, but not exactly beside existing station. For example, at Smithfield there will be an extra station in another part of Smithfield.

I'm not sure where the station on Richmond Street is, in relation to the Bleeding Horse.

davej

It would be nice if the bike stations themselves provided information on how many free stands were available at other stations before you started your journey.
At least I haven't noticed this option on the screen.

davej

monument

davej wrote: »

It would be nice if the bike stations themselves provided information on how many free stands were available at other stations before you started your journey.
At least I haven't noticed this option on the screen.

davej

The stations have info on nearby stations, so if you arrive at a station which is full you can see the nearest station with free stands.

seamus

Lumen wrote: »

That's why they shuttle them around the city on the back of trucks. It's a solvable problem, although I don't know to what degree it is economical to achieve perfection.

I imagine it's solvable if you look at creating large stations with 50 spots or more and multiple machines. There will obviously be times that it's completely full or completely empty, but this can be monitored and more bays added to get the balance just right.

davej wrote: »

It would be nice if the bike stations themselves provided information on how many free stands were available at other stations before you started your journey.
At least I haven't noticed this option on the screen.

Indeed it would be useful to put in the station that you're going to and the station tells you whether there are any free spots there.
The current stations wouldn't be capable of such functionality though without a touchscreen.