The Bike Scheme thread

galwaycyclist

snubbleste wrote: »

I think I'll invest in a bollard company.

Good idea. Just make sure it isnt one of the companies who make bollards that can also be used to lock bikes. Clearly the city council won't be interested in your products.

monument

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Good idea. Just make sure it isnt one of the companies who make bollards that can also be used to lock bikes. Clearly the city council won't be interested in your products.

Just a while ago somebody on Twitter asked me about CycleHoop... I think the opposite of what you're saying: CycleHoop should offer Galway City Council alternatives to Sheffield stands.

We already know Galway likes alternative bike parking -- like the area marked for bicycles with nothing to lock your bike to.

galwaycyclist

monument wrote: »

Just a while ago somebody on Twitter asked me about CycleHoop... I think the opposite of what you're saying: CycleHoop should offer Galway City Council alternatives to Sheffield stands.

We already know Galway likes alternative bike parking -- like the area marked for bicycles with nothing to lock your bike to.

Unfortunately it has been repeatedly pointed out to Galway City Council that bike parking is about more than just bike racks.

This is from a Galway City Community Forum document that is over a decade old and would have been submitted on two city development plans, the walking and cycilng strategy etc etc

Other options
Cycle parking can also be provided alongside
buildings or walls in well-trafficked areas. A
simple option is wall-mounted railings or wall
bars, consisting of bars or loops set horizontally
or vertically onto the wall, 750mm above the
ground. Each parked cycle will require 1,800mm
of horizontal space. At places of scenic or
historical interest, a "hitching ring" consisting of a
large looped ring hinged onto a wall setting might
be more in keeping with the surrounds.
Alternatively, a cycle parking sign could be used
to denote features such as railings, tree guards
or other street furniture that might be used for
locking bikes onto. When roadside bollards are
being used, consideration should be given to
using designs that can double as bike parking.

Whatever the problem is in Galway, it is clearly not that the engineers in the roads department "don't know" about other ways of doing things.

thesandeman

If the bikes have to be reversed out of the stands does anyone else think the station outside Brogans is pretty dangerous? It looks like you would have to be standing in the right lane of the road with your back to traffic in order to manoeuvre the bike out.

schemingbohemia

thesandeman wrote: »

If the bikes have to be reversed out of the stands does anyone else think the station outside Brogans is pretty dangerous? It looks like you would have to be standing in the right lane of the road with your back to traffic in order to manoeuvre the bike out.

if they're like the dublin bikes you only need to reverse a couple of inches to remove it from the stand.

joeKel73

Had the first opportunity to properly use the bike scheme today. Picked up a bike opposite Argos and took it across town to the Claddagh. Bikes ride very high but gearing system works great.

Locked bike into the 1 free stand at Claddagh Basin and walked home to Salthill. Later got an SMS that my journey has now exceeded 2 hrs and update on running cost! I had a brisk walk back into town, all bikes still locked in, checked the screen and it was off. Rang the helpline and they had no record of the bike being returned. The app said there was 2 free spaces but it was full. They weren't able to make contact with stand as it was offline so they checked the bike in on the system. They rang later to confirm too.

Very helpful helpline but best check screen to see if stand is offline before returning bike to save hassle!

Zzippy

The last 2 times I was in town this week I noticed the bike stand at Mainguard St was empty - were the bikes removed or just more people using bikes from here?

Iwannahurl

J o e wrote: »

Locked bike into the 1 free stand at Claddagh Basin and walked home to Salthill. Later got an SMS that my journey has now exceeded 2 hrs and update on running cost! I had a brisk walk back into town, all bikes still locked in, checked the screen and it was off.

I am beginning to suspect that there are recurring technical problems with the docking stations. I used the one opposite the Fire Station before Christmas. Although the stand was nearly full, the screen insisted there were only two bikes available.


When I returned the bike about an hour later it didn't register. I had to contact the operators to ensure that I was not being charged.


A day or so later I happened to be walking by and every single stand on the station had lights flashing. The maintenance guy was there and he told me that the station was malfunctioning. I doubt it's the only one.

kippy

Zzippy wrote: »

The last 2 times I was in town this week I noticed the bike stand at Mainguard St was empty - were the bikes removed or just more people using bikes from here?

I noticed the one near the Raddisson empty all of Friday.

joeKel73

Iwannahurl wrote: »

I used the one opposite the Fire Station before Christmas. Although the stand was nearly full, the screen insisted there were only two bikes available.


When I returned the bike about an hour later it didn't register. I had to contact the operators to ensure that I was not being charged.

Yeah that's the Claddagh Basin stand and same problems. It seems when the stand is "offline" and you put a bike into it it still locks in but they've no way of knowing. You're meant to get a beep to confirm return but if you don't get the beep from an offline stand the hardware lock still won't release the bike again.

joeKel73

Tried to get a bike at New Dock Street stand today (passing GTI which still isn't live and Claddagh which is still offline). The touch screen was almost unusable - it's registering presses in random location making it nearly impossible to enter the 4 digit pin. A couple of others tried too and left bike-less.

Emailed them about it. Shakey launch to the scheme.

Mrs OBumble

Noticed today that the bikes in the Merchants Rd stand now have cycle locks on them fyi.

joeKel73

Yeah they all have combination cable locks now.

ceatharloch

Bike Station in Salthill:
http://www.petitions24.com/bikesinsalthill
http://www.petitions24.com/bikesinsalthill

ArmaniJeanss

ceatharloch wrote: »

Bike Station in Salthill:
http://www.petitions24.com/bikesinsalthill
http://www.petitions24.com/bikesinsalthill

I'm not an expert on Galway geography, but isn't Salthill so far away from the existing stations that just randomly placing one station there now would be farcical and against the whole idea of such systems?
There would instead have to be a gradual rollout in that direction.

ceatharloch

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I'm not an expert on Galway geography, but isn't Salthill so far away from the existing stations that just randomly placing one station there now would be farcical and against the whole idea of such systems?
There would instead have to be a gradual rollout in that direction.

The center of Salthill is about 2km from the center of Galway City.

ArmaniJeanss

ceatharloch wrote: »

The center of Salthill is about 2km from the center of Galway City.

But that doesn't matter. What matters is how far away your proposed station is from existing stations, it needs to be a maximum of around 200/250 metres between stations so that if you get to station X and it is full then you can cycle to another station to leave your bike.

I'm not sure the people who came up with the petition understand the basics of the system. (This isn't a dig by the way, I was much the same when the Dublin one opened, looking for isolated stations to be built).

kippy

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

But that doesn't matter. What matters is how far away your proposed station is from existing stations, it needs to be a maximum of around 200/250 metres between stations so that if you get to station X and it is full then you can cycle to another station to leave your bike.

I'm not sure the people who came up with the petition understand the basics of the system. (This isn't a dig by the way, I was much the same when the Dublin one opened, looking for isolated stations to be built).

Isn;t there a station proposed or already at the GTI?
One more station along the road from the GTI and another at the aquarium, then another at leisureland.
Not that much involved in that as far as I can see.
It's not as "remote" as asking for a station in doughiska or parkmore etc etc.

ceatharloch

Why the figure of 200/250 metres?
Why not about 500 metres (2.5 minutes cycle)?

Mrs OBumble

kippy wrote: »

Isn;t there a station proposed or already at the GTI?
One more station along the road from the GTI and another at the aquarium, then another at leisureland.
Not that much involved in that as far as I can see.
It's not as "remote" as asking for a station in doughiska or parkmore etc etc.

Eventually I'd hope to see multiple stations in Doughiska, Parkmore, Knocknacarra, etc. (A very handy way for Doughiska residents to get to work.)

But it's likely that moving incrementally towards Salthill is a more likely first expansion. (Get GTI working properly, then ones at Southpark/Nimmos Pier, Nile Lodge area, GBS/GCI, Caesar's Palace, the Acquarium, opposite Bailey Point, Leisureland, Blackrock, Pearse Stadium, the tennis club.)

ArmaniJeanss

kippy wrote: »

Isn;t there a station proposed or already at the GTI?
One more station along the road from the GTI and another at the aquarium, then another at leisureland.
Not that much involved in that as far as I can see.
It's not as "remote" as asking for a station in doughiska or parkmore etc etc.

Seems good because at least it is talking in terms of rolling out to an area, rather than just dropping a station in an area. Would it be a bit 'straightliney' though, in football terms you need the stations to be a 4-3-3 rather than 4-2-1-1-1-1 formation!

ceatharloch wrote: »

Why the figure of 200/250 metres?
Why not about 500 metres (2.5 minutes cycle)?

Because you don't want to have to backtrack 500 metres when you get to a station and it is full (full stations are inevitable). It then becomes as you said a 2.5min cycle back but also an annoying 10/12 minute walk to get to your destination, presumably close to the full station.

ceatharloch

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

Seems good because at least it is talking in terms of rolling out to an area, rather than just dropping a station in an area. Would it be a bit 'straightliney' though, in football terms you need the stations to be a 4-3-3 rather than 4-2-1-1-1-1 formation!



Because you don't want to have to backtrack 500 metres when you get to a station and it is full (full stations are inevitable). It then becomes as you said a 2.5min cycle back but also an annoying 10/12 minute walk to get to your destination, presumably close to the full station.

OK - I agree somewhat: But I think more accurate figure is 5-minute walk. Most people will do 500m in 5 minutes (or 1km in 10 minutes).

ArmaniJeanss

ceatharloch wrote: »

OK - I agree somewhat: But I think more accurate figure is 5-minute walk. Most people will do 500m in 5 minutes (or 1km in 10 minutes).

You may be carrying work bag or shopping, and have to cross roads or stop at pedestrian lights to do that 500 metres, so you are likely below your optimum walking speed.
200/250 metres between stations seems the norm anyway in other cities in Europe.

Good luck anyway, I hope people use it, it becomes mega popular and the powers that be see the need to expand it in multiple directions like Salthill.

joeKel73

GTI bike stand is now finished and open for business!

The scheme is looking in a healthy state at the moment with all stands online and containing bikes (apart from the 2 not yet launched).

Poxyshamrock

Station at Spanish Arch has disappeared from the app.

what_traffic

J o e wrote: »

GTI bike stand is now finished and open for business!

The scheme is looking in a healthy state at the moment with all stands online and containing bikes (apart from the 2 not yet launched).

Only 16 (14 open) stations - was meant to be 19 originally.

pleasant Co.

J o e wrote: »

GTI bike stand is now finished and open for business!

The scheme is looking in a healthy state at the moment with all stands online and containing bikes (apart from the 2 not yet launched).

The comments in this thread of late would suggest that it isn't in quite a healthy state - bikes not registering, people being charge for usage they haven't undertaken.

joeKel73

what_traffic wrote: »

Only 16 (14 open) stations - was meant to be 19 originally.

As Poxyshamrock noticed - Spanish Arch has disappeared off the list. I hadn't seen any work started for this?

No word of an alternative site for the University Road stand yet.

Forster Street was also removed from the list.

The original proposed sites...

Edit - just noticed map below is also 16 as is missing some stands that were added since.

joeKel73

pleasant Co. wrote: »

The comments in this thread of late would suggest that it isn't in quite a healthy state - bikes not registering, people being charge for usage they haven't undertaken.

That's because several stands were offline - I was pointing out that there was the most about of online stands we've seen yet.

I never heard anything back about the unusable screen on Dock Street though.

ben.schlomo

And all the while the sh1teheap theyve created outside the library sits there.