Limerick Bike Scheme

dunworth1

Jofspring wrote: »

Really hoping they move out the Ennis road. The Jetland area or even across the road near funworld would be great. The strand one is grand but still just on the verge of town.

Throw in a cycle lane out the Ennis Rd then and you will service a lot of people with a direct safe route into town.

one by thomond park would be nice

Jofspring

Most definitely, Thomond Park Stadium or even Shelbourne Park.

Jilm

Newenham St. station is open for business.

Wise Old Elf

A quick bump.... There was discussion a few pages back of a station on Hyde Road. I was passing this morning, and while it looks like the same bollards as the bike scheme I think they were regular bollards blocking vehicle access to a green area, and not for the bike scheme (open to correction as always:) ).

Anyone hear anything on when they'll commission the station at the Model school on O'Connell Avenue?

Poxyshamrock

Yeah that's what they are. I can't see them ever putting a bike station in the middle of Weston! :pac:

zulutango

So, we're well into the summer and the bikes have been in the city for more than 6 months. What's the verdict?

I use them quite regularly, so here's my take.

There are quite a few maintenance issues. I've come across the following in the last few weeks. Loose saddles, mudguards rubbing off the tires, gears not working, lights not working. These aren't a big deal though. It's just a matter of returning the bike and getting a new one. At the same time, it's important that the operators keep on top of the maintenance, or it could get to a point where people decide it's too much hassle to use them.

There really needs to be more stations put in, especially north of the river. It's staggering that the designers only put stations on O'Callaghan and Clancy Strands, which are barely across the river. The obvious locations on the north side are Union Cross, Hasset's Cross (by Thomond Park), LIT, outside the Gaelic Grounds and maybe somewhere near Ivan's Cross or Woodies. I have no idea what the future plans are but the scheme is limited if stations aren't located here. Similar arguments could be made for other parts of town.

The 12.30am closing time is a bit early, I think. I can't imagine it would cost any more, or induce any great liability if this was extended to 1am or 1.30am.

Wise Old Elf

I've used them, but less than I had planned.
The last time, I cycled out to the one nearest Punch's Cross, only to discover that it was out of action, had to cycle back in to the Novena traffic and drop it off somewhere else, grr!
On the maintenance, I've been lucky, only happened me once where I got a bike with a flat tyre. When I put it back in, the station asked me had I a problem with the previous bike, I presume it still does that?

You're right on the north side though, one at Hassett's, one near the Gaelic Grounds, and one near Shelbourne Park would seem somewhat logical. I presume the early closing time is to prevent pissed people using to get home from the pub and falling off/damaging them.

zulutango

It would be good to see some usage data, i.e. which stations have most/least demand, what times of the day they are mostly used, what the average usage time is, etc.

panda100

I use the bikes at least four times a day and can't say I have encountered any maintenance issues. I find them brilliant! The best thing to happen to limerick in a long time.

A station near jetland on the ennis road and the crescent shopping centre would be great.

I have to say in general I find limerick to be a very cyclist unfriendly city.Taxi drivers are the worst and I've had abuse hurled at me over the last few months by drivers whom believe they are the only users of limerick roads. Hopefully, with more people out and about on the bikes people will become more used to cyclists out and about on limerick roads.

Limerick Dude

panda100 wrote: »

I use the bikes at least four times a day and can't say I have encountered any maintenance issues. I find them brilliant! The best thing to happen to limerick in a long time.

A station near jetland on the ennis road and the crescent shopping centre would be great.

I have to say in general I find limerick to be a very cyclist unfriendly city.Taxi drivers are the worst and I've had abuse hurled at me over the last few months by drivers whom believe they are the only users of limerick roads. Hopefully, with more people out and about on the bikes people will become more used to cyclists out and about on limerick roads.

Ah its not just a Limerick thing, I cycle a fair amount around Dublin and its city centre and always get abuse from taxi drivers up here, even though there a so many cyclists in Dublin. I think its an Irish mentality more than anything else. Haven't gotten a chance to use the Limerick bikes, like people have said previously, I would have probably have used them already if there was a station out the Ennis Road, even only as far as Union Cross would be handy!

zulutango

I'm coming across a few buckled wheels lately, and a fair bit of damage to the bells. Not good.

Jofspring

Have seen the guy driving around town in the van fixing bikes and picking them up so they are doing it. How people are managing to do so much damage to the bikes I don't know. Maybe people doing damage to them as they are parked up.

phog

The only issue I had with the bikes was a loose saddle but that was because the previous user hadn't pushed in the lever fully and I never checked nor needed to adjust the saddle height.

I'd assume there's a certain amount of vandalism at the bike stands but there's also a chance that some users might not be as careful with these bikes as they would if they owned it.

styer

Hi Guys,
I've signed up to the bike scheme, but living out in Raheen I don't use them as frequently as I would like, I think they are a great alternative to Buses/taxi's/cars. I often walk into town if I'm meeting someone in the evening, but its a long enough walk. I've read through most of the thread and like a lot of people they are hoping for stations at Ivans, the Gaelic grounds, Castletroy, Cresent, shopping centre, etc, does anyone know if there are actually any plans to expand the service to the suburbs. At the moment I think that unless you are travelling form say the Loche bar to Mary i most of the stations are very close and confined.

Anyone know of any official word?

Poxyshamrock

FAO anybody who uses the Newtown Mahon station by CBS, it's out of order since Thursday. It's a popular one in the mornings so just a heads up.

styer

For anyone that may be interested I got this reply form the bike scheme on future expansion of the scheme..

"Thank you for getting in touch and we hope you enjoy using Coca-Cola Zero Bikes. Bikeshare schemes are usually focused on short internal trips within a City centre. In an ideal situation they rely upon users self-distributing the bikes between the different bike stations. This Self-distributing means that there would be a flow of people taking bikes out from the station and a reasonably equivalent number of people bringing bikes back to the station. Such an arrangement ensures both bike availability for other people who want to hire bikes from the station and empty spots for people who want to return bikes. However, in practice there is rarely such a balanced flow and more bikes get hired from one station than get returned or, alternatively, there are more people seeking to return the bikes to a station than there are spaces available. To deal with these imbalances, a system of manual bike distribution has to be put in place. These requires a fleet of trucks and drivers who load up excess bikes from one station and move them to another station which is short of bikes. This manual redistribution is expensive to operate. There is a significant cost for trucks and drivers, particularly for an operation that runs 7 days a week from 5.00 am to 12.30am. In addition, the trucks don't have the advantage of the bikes in getting quickly through traffic - the trucks have to contend with the same traffic delays as other road vehicles. As bike stations move further out from a central area, the flow of bike users generally becomes more unbalanced at each station, requiring a lot of bike redistribution by truck. Given the increasing operational costs associated with this redistribution, the schemes in the cities of Cork, Galway and Limerick have adopted a prudent approach, focussed on the central area of the cities as the initial schemes. However, it is the National Transport Authority's intention to review the geographic area of the bike schemes following an initial period of operation and, if the schemes are successful, to examine the potential for further expansion of the schemes."

sioda

Keep meaning to email about the stand at cbs to see when or if it's coming back online

Poxyshamrock

sioda wrote: »

Keep meaning to email about the stand at cbs to see when or if it's coming back online

I know! I haven't really used the scheme since they closed that.

FobleAsNuck

no station at Crescent means I'm never going to use those bikes

Poxyshamrock

FobleAsNuck wrote: »

no station at Crescent means I'm never going to use those bikes

I'd say it won't be long before they stick one at the Crescent.

pigtown

Would people mind if this thread was also used to discuss cycling infrastructure in the city?

I see that the final section of the riverside route between the city and UL is going ahead next month. The path will close to the public and a new two lane shared bike/walking route will be built. It will be lit up until 10.30 pm and there will be cctv and exercise stations along the route.

Also, all the roadworks around Annacotty/Monaleen are due to the upgrading of the junctions to make cycling and walking safer and more appealing. They are almost finished building a fully segregated Dutch-style roundabout near the Annacotty roundabout, giving cyclists right of way.

panda100

I live up near Mary I and the one way traffic system on the final section of the south circular road is really driving me nuts. There are two bike schemes located on this stretch with no other stations any where close to the dock road or Mary I. That means if you want to return a bike, and not break the law by cycling the wrong way up a one way street, you have to go all the way up o'connell avenue and all the way back down the north circular road. There is certainly a case to be made of installing a two way cycle lane on this stretch. There are already cyclists frequently cycling on the pavement and against the traffic, which is unsafe. It also makes no sense to have two stations on a one way street!

steveon

panda100 wrote: »

I live up near Mary I and the one way traffic system on the final section of the north circular road is really driving me nuts. There are two bike schemes located on this stretch with no other stations any where close to the dock road or Mary I. That means if you want to return a bike, and not break the law by cycling the wrong way up a one way street, you have to go all the way up o'connell avenue and all the way back down the north circular road. There is certainly a case to be made of installing a two way cycle lane on this stretch. There are already cyclists frequently cycling on the pavement and against the traffic, which is unsafe. It also makes no sense to have two stations on a one way street!

Mary i is on the south circular rd not the north which is across the river. If u live up by mary i simply go down new street and dock at the mount school it takes 5 mins to get from there to mary i ....i walk it every day

panda100

steveon wrote: »

Mary i is on the south circular rd not the north which is across the river. If u live up by mary i simply go down new street and dock at the mount school it takes 5 mins to get from there to mary i ....i walk it every day

I always get confused between my north and south I still think there is a case for a two way cycle lane considering the amount of cycle traffic that this road see's.

steveon

panda100 wrote: »

I always get confused between my north and south I still think there is a case for a two way cycle lane considering the amount of cycle traffic that this road see's.

There is rarely room in this street for a single lane of traffic and for people to park outside there homes as alot have no gardens where your talking about and as its a one way street the bikes have to follow the road laws which means a one way . no need to waste tax payers money for a bike lane on a stretch of road that takes 5 mins to walk fron st clements to.the roundabout beyond mary at the.end of new street.

Im all for bike lanes but that is ridiculous

wingnut

panda100 wrote: »

That means if you want to return a bike, and not break the law by cycling the wrong way up a one way street, you have to go all the way up o'connell avenue and all the way back down the north circular road.

Used to annoy me walking to Mary I because if the opened the convent through way you could save a 5 min walk. Never annoyed me on bike because because it only takes a minute or two to cycle around and back.

You can always walk the bike up the one way if you want to stay legal.

Poxyshamrock

wingnut wrote: »

Used to annoy me walking to Mary I because if the opened the convent through way you could save a 5 min walk. Never annoyed me on bike because because it only takes a minute or two to cycle around and back.

You can always walk the bike up the one way if you want to stay legal.

I think they'll be opening the convent gates soon! Will be very handy!

Parchment

FobleAsNuck wrote: »

no station at Crescent means I'm never going to use those bikes

I see this as being a huge flaw in their layout.

Parchment

pigtown wrote: »

Would people mind if this thread was also used to discuss cycling infrastructure in the city?

I see that the final section of the riverside route between the city and UL is going ahead next month. The path will close to the public and a new two lane shared bike/walking route will be built. It will be lit up until 10.30 pm and there will be cctv and exercise stations along the route.

Also, all the roadworks around Annacotty/Monaleen are due to the upgrading of the junctions to make cycling and walking safer and more appealing. They are almost finished building a fully segregated Dutch-style roundabout near the Annacotty roundabout, giving cyclists right of way.

I cycle from Limerick city to Castleconnell on a regular basis and once youre out past Chawkes petrol station its a pleasure to cycle the rest of the road. Mostly due to the low volume of traffic since the motorway opened.

pigtown

From the council's August report;

the council’s design team is currently preparing designs
for cycleways from the Limerick institute of technology to
the city centre and also from mary immaculate college to
the city centre

All of the other infrastructure is being developed by Smarter Travel and the bike scheme is run by the NTA but the council are developing these routes. Here's hoping they are learning from the other's experience.