Dublin Bikes

Vélo

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/dublinbikes-clocks-up-two-million-journeys-504918.html

monument

And the bad news:

@dublinobserver: Also on DublinBikes: Impact of the State visits is very severe, 17 stations closed for over a week: http://ow.ly/4TTnT

EDIT: The conspiracy theorists would say that that Queen band and Osama fellow are coming to slow down the march of these bikes things.

monument

Isn't it pretty sicking that it's still not treated seriously even after a fairly small bike rental system gets to 2 million trips in just 1 year and 8 months?

Not just the state visits, things like closing stations down around big events too. Bike stations for no apparent reason closed off at the edge of events.

Rew

They will remove the bikes from the stands for fear that someone might pack them full of an explosive and then park them up in the stands.

SuiteCheex

monument wrote: »

EDIT: The conspiracy theorists would say that that Queen band and Osama fellow are coming to slow down the march of these bikes things.

Which one are you talking about? Barack Osama or Obama bin Laden?

Great scheme though. Glad to see it working so well. Must tell the GF that she missed her chance to get on the telly again. RTE news nabbed her for a soundbite when the scheme hit the million mark. Funny thing being it was the one and only time she's been on the Dublin bikes!

tomasrojo

The mythical Bicycle Bomb again:
http://www.john-adams.co.uk/2008/07/28/bicycle-bombs-a-threat-to-westminster/

tomasrojo

monument wrote: »

Isn't it pretty sicking that it's still not treated seriously even after a fairly small bike rental system gets to 2 million trips in just 1 year and 8 months?

Not just the state visits, things like closing stations down around big events too. Bike stations for no apparent reason closed off at the edge of events.

Yes, considering that they are clearly now being used for commuting. Some people depend on them.

dayshah

So, will Lizzy be taking the Luas instead?

Ole Rodrigo

Vélo wrote: »

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/dublinbikes-clocks-up-two-million-journeys-504918.html

Cant' believe they're closed for a week.

Walking in the city center sucks.

tomasrojo

John Adams has a more recent post about bicycle bombs that I hadn't noticed.

http://www.john-adams.co.uk/2011/05/05/bicycle-bomb-update/

His beef is with a permanent ban on bicycle parking in certain areas of London on the grounds that somebody might pack the top tube with explosive and thus turn a bike into a pipe bomb. His, to me, reasonable objection is that nobody seems to have come up with any evidence that anyone has ever been killed in this way.

So we have less to complain about, I suppose. I presume there are severe restrictions on leaving cars anywhere near where ERII and Obama will be too.

loyatemu

its not bikes they need to worry about!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nvfQw8UCDE

FatSh!te

Just read this, from Here

"A total of 17 stations will be closed from 2pm on Monday, until Wednesday morning May 25 to facilitate the visits of Queen Elizabeth and US President Barack Obama.

They are Christchurch Place, High Street, Custom House Quay, Dame Street, Fownes Street Upper, Georges Quay, Leinster Street South, Custom House, Cathal Brugha St, Merrion Square West, Molesworth St, Mountjoy Square, Ormond Quay Upper, Parnell Square North, Pearse Street, Princess Street and Talbot Street.

Access to other stations may also be restricted."

Thought some of you might like to know.

On a lighter note, just back for a nice 60km spin. Passed a boardsie at some point too...can't remember where.

Beasty

Threads merged

Beasty

Beasty

Looks like half of Dublin will be shut down next week

I hate to think of the chaos it would cause if that lady visited a really big city, like London:rolleyes:

tomasrojo

loyatemu wrote: »

its not bikes they need to worry about!

The Russians used dog bombs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-tank_dog

I don't think they used bike bombs though.

buffalo

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0516/breaking12.html

Members of the public have been urged to use public transport over the coming days as on-street parking will be restricted...

Seventeen Dublin Bikes stations are to be closed from 2pm today until Wednesday morning due to the royal visit. Access to other stations may also be restricted over the coming days.

I'm just wondering how nobody in a position of power sees how ridiculous that statement is. "Sorry guys, please don't bring your cars into the city - use public transport. No, not the public bikes."

Has there been an official reason given? I know of the legendary status of the bike bomb, but has that actually been stated as a reason?

tomasrojo

I haven't heard anyone mention bike bombs.

While packing the frame with explosive seems to have never been used successfully, explosives have been left in baskets in the past (once in Northern Ireland, I think), and dublinbikes do have baskets. It still seems disproportionate, but there's a lot of pressure on everyone to make sure that absolutely nothing goes wrong with this.

buffalo

So I guess the same principle as removing all the litter bins and sealing the manholes.

I really wish all this wasn't so necessary. Every individual measure seems so excessive.

Trampas

I guess it wouldn't be hard for them to put a notice at stations stating which stations are closed.

Caught out at St Patricks weekend but thankfully not this time.

Some stations which are closed are strange and also the amount of time is crazy

petethedrummer

The bikes are a legitimate security risk if this admission is to be believed.

Trampas

Why are not more stations not back open today?

monument

Is it the same reason why so many stations were closed for so long in the first place?

And is that because a large section of official Ireland and Dublin are still not taking cycling serious?

Trampas

Another crazy closure of the bikes for the 10km run this monday

Seven db stations will be closed to facilitate the Flora Women’s Mini Marathon from Sunday 5th - Tuesday 7th June.

The stations affected are as follows…
St. Stephen’s Green East (36)
St. Stephen’s Green South (37)
Merrion Square West (26)
Merrion Square East (25)
Fitzwilliam Square West (13)
Wilton Terrace (39)
Herbert Place (19)
These stations will be closed from approximately 11am on Sunday 5th June and will re-open at approximately 11am on Tuesday 7th June. It will not be possible to rent or return a db to/from these stations during this time period.
Access may be restricted to other stations bound by the race route on the day.
dublinbikes users are advised not to cycle on the race route during the course of the event and should heed the directions of official race stewards.

tomasrojo

http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/06/16/from-london-to-d-c-bike-sharing-is-safer-than-riding-your-own-bike/

People riding shared public bicycles appear to be involved in fewer traffic crashes and receive fewer injuries than people riding their personal bicycles. In cities from Paris and London to Washington, D.C. and Mexico City, something about riding a shared bicycle appears to make cycling safer.

Plenty of comments there.

Peterx

Tis a great scheme, I logged on the dublinbikes.ie site today for the first time and I now know I have been on a dublin bike for 2 hours and 2 minutes in June.

I'm very glad the breakdown only includes minutes, if it were down to seconds I'd be trying to break my own personal land speed records between my usual stations:)

cython

Peterx wrote: »

I'm very glad the breakdown only includes minutes, if it were down to seconds I'd be trying to break my own personal land speed records between my usual stations:)

Pfft, That just means you have to beat them by bigger margins each time :pac:

tomasrojo

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/2011/aug/04/dublin-bike-hire-scheme

What's the secret of the Dublin bike hire scheme's success?

Dublinbikes is one of the most successful bike rental schemes in the world, with more than 58,000 subscribers and 2.2m rentals

Cookie_Monster

this is an interesting comment, despite the relative success of the scheme:

Dublin is a city of half a million people. A million people live in the Urban area. On average, all around the world, people make about 2.5 journeys per day using all modes. As such, you can expect that the half million who live in the city make around 1.2 million journeys every day. Dublinbikes are used for about 1.1 m journeys every year. That's less than a third of one percent of the total journeys made in the city.

Also note that the story includes someone who already rides his own bike in the city. This is perhaps similar to London's scheme, where only a fifth of subscribers are people who did not already cycle in the city.

We all like good news stories, but the hype over shared bikes is ludicrous. This scheme may well be doing better than that in London, but it's still tiny. There is still no evidence that these expensive systems achieve a change in travel habits, yet councils around the world seem keen to install them.

2x4

Good to see Dublin Bikes are a success:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/2011/aug/04/dublin-bike-hire-scheme

cython

Already up today: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=73633535#post73633535

woysworld

dublin bikes.... If u sign up to use the bikes, is there a time limit wit them or can they be used to get home from work and returned the newt morning?... Thinking i mite start using them when the traffic jams start again in the next month.:eek:

Creamy Goodness

first half hour is free, then they charge after that.

i wouldn't like to be doing anymore than 5k on them being honest but they are dead handy for getting across the city centre on lunch etc.

woysworld

cheers... i think it would be expensive to take the bike over-nite... oh well

Kumsheen

Any update on the expansion of the scheme?
I remember it was in the news a good few months back but i can't find any news section on the dublin bikes site.

Lumen

The pricing structure is designed to stop people taking out bikes overnight.

central park

Im thinking of using these bikes to follow my friend doing the Dublin Marathon on Monday. Did anyone try this before??

Dermot Illogical

central park wrote: »

Im thinking of using these bikes to follow my friend doing the Dublin Marathon on Monday. Did anyone try this before??

You're an accident waiting to happen!
The last time I ran one I saw someone trying this. They weren't allowed get very far.

central park

Sorry I probably phrased that wrong! I dont intend to go round the route, just to get from A to B and be waiting to pass on gels or whatever. Having run the Dublin marathon myself, I KNOW that bikes and people crossing the roads in front of runners is highly dangerous so I WONT be doing it!

Dermot Illogical

central park wrote: »

Sorry I probably phrased that wrong! I dont intend to go round the route, just to get from A to B and be waiting to pass on gels or whatever. Having run the Dublin marathon myself, I KNOW that bikes and people crossing the roads in front of runners is highly dangerous so I WONT be doing it!

Sounds like a good way to get around in that case. Just tell your friend you're looking for a sub €6.50 time..