Dublin Bike Station in The Liberties?

Claireyy

Hi all,

I'm a journalism student in DIT and I'm writing a story about the Dublin Bike service for The Liberty newspaper.

I noticed that there are no bike stations in the heart of the Liberties such as Thomas ST/Meath ST/Cork ST/Francis ST.

I was wondering what people who live/work in the liberties think about this?

Would you like to see more bike stations in the area or are you satisfied with the stations that are available?

Any feedback would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Claire

Gumbo

Dublin City Council have plans prepared to extend the scheme, and included are many stations in the heart of the Liberties and the Heuston area But like every other scheme, you have to get the basic system off the ground and up and running before your expand.

Theres no DB stations in Finglas either, but im not complaining

IIRC, the nearest station to the Liberties area is at the Cornmarket junction.

Gumbo

The docking stations will be expanded first to the Docklands and the Heuston areas, covering Islandbridge, and as far as Kilmainham. Following this, it is planned to be rolled out to a total of 14 zones – which will cover:

[3] Dolphin’s Barn and the Liberties;
[4A] Fairview, East Wall, and Croke Park;
[4B] Phibsborogh, Cabra, and Stoneybatter;
[5] Ballsbridge, Ranelagh, Rathmines;
[6] Drumcondra, Marino, and parts of Glasnevin;
[7] Harold’s Cross;
[8] Ringsend, Irishtown, and Sandymount;
[9] Parts of Drimnagh and Inchicore, and further areas of Kilmainham;
[10] Donnybrook
[11] Further into Rathmines and Ranelagh, out as far as Rathgar and Clonskeagh;
[12] Areas around Crumlin and Terenure;
[13] Glasnevin east and central
[14] DCU and Whitehall.

If the five year plan goes ahead as scheduled, the ambitious strategy also mentions further expansion into the rest of the city council’s areas, such as Finglas, Ballymun, and Ballyfermot.

monument

Please do link back to the source: http://dublinobserver.com/2011/03/wheels-set-in-motion-for-dublin-bikes-expansion/

ManAboutCouch

A station at Heuston would be heavily used I expect. I'm not sure about tourist numbers using the service, but if they're decent then a station at The Storehouse would get a lot of tourist traffic too - you might need a breathalyser lock there though

wile1000

According to the article (written a year ago but still very interesting particularly since I am an ex-Melbournian and their cycle scheme is referenced), it would take "about a year" to go out to tender in order to start expanding.

Any further news on that I wonder?

Carawaystick

wile1000 wrote: »

According to the article (written a year ago but still very interesting particularly since I am an ex-Melbournian and their cycle scheme is referenced), it would take "about a year" to go out to tender in order to start expanding.

Any further news on that I wonder?

Did the first scheme go out to tender....
Were any of the other Ad agencies asked if they'd like to take over public property and install ads and a few bikes?

Gumbo

Carawaystick wrote: »

Did the first scheme go out to tender....
Were any of the other Ad agencies asked if they'd like to take over public property and install ads and a few bikes?

had any of the other ad agencies sufficient experience, experteese, ans financial backing to erect a functioning city bike system like JC Decaux have done throughout europe?

I would still imagine a public tender was issued but it could of course been a private/commercial deal.

bk

Well I would hope that for any expansion of the bike scheme, the new bikes would be fully compatible with the old bike stands and vice versa.

The reason why there are no bike stands around Heuston (and Connolly) was the fear that it would be used too much!!

However a recent report I read, found that while usage would obviously be higher at these locations, it wouldn't be as high as originally feared.

Carawaystick

kceire wrote: »

had any of the other ad agencies sufficient experience, experteese, ans financial backing to erect a functioning city bike system like JC Decaux have done throughout europe?

I would still imagine a public tender was issued but it could of course been a private/commercial deal.

Why not get a bike company to run a bike hire scheme?

lol a public tender?! I bet you think bartholomew ahern really did win the money on some horse( name,jockey,meeting and number of legs that horse had unknown)

Funny how jc decaux had the expertise to erect advertising over a year before the bikes rolled out; and managed to erect signs that breached disability regulations (the ads don't come to the ground, so a blind person's cane will go under the sign before it eventually makes contact.

Funny how jc decaux had the expertise to erect signs making it a danger to pedestrians by blocking drivers view of them.

monument

Carawaystick wrote: »

Why not get a bike company to run a bike hire scheme?

Because ads for bikes was the only model which could be used to get it off the ground, and they were the experts in ads for bikes?

One of the things I don't like is no matter who you pick you're stuck with their infrastructure and bikes. Even after the 15 years is gone is somebody going to tender against Jcdecaux or whoever got it in the first place, and replace all of the docking stations etc? But there's no way around this if you want a public on-street bike system -- which the public in Dublin seem to very much so support!

L1011

Carawaystick wrote: »

Why not get a bike company to run a bike hire scheme?

Name a bike company who have ever run a bike hire scheme of this kind (computer controlled, etc).

I'm only sorry we didn't get a few public bogs out of them too (They do ad-sponsored toilets in other cities)

Africa

Bit ridiculous that the system still hasnt expanded properly. The amount of money JCD has made off this system is damn near criminal.

Come on JCD. Get your finger out and actually expand outwards!!!

GetWithIt

Africa wrote: »

Bit ridiculous that the system still hasnt expanded properly. The amount of money JCD has made off this system is damn near criminal.

Come on JCD. Get your finger out and actually expand outwards!!!

Do you have source or are you just ranting?

Carawaystick

MYOB wrote: »

Name a bike company who have ever run a bike hire scheme of this kind (computer controlled, etc).

I'm only sorry we didn't get a few public bogs out of them too (They do ad-sponsored toilets in other cities)

Who runs the bike scheme in Barcelona?
London use a subsidiary of tfl

The funding for the bikes should be separated from the operating of the bikes. So the city sells advertising space to the highest/best bidder

The city then decide to use that money for the best advantage of the city -- This may include setting up a bike scheme, it may have been better used for other services.
Rather than letting an advertising company come in and say "if you let us do x we'll give y, but don't allow any public debate before the contract is signed"

BeerSteakBirds

There should be more slots than bikes. I am sick of getting to my destination only to find that I can't park.

L1011

Carawaystick wrote: »

Who runs the bike scheme in Barcelona?
London use a subsidiary of tfl

The funding for the bikes should be separated from the operating of the bikes. So the city sells advertising space to the highest/best bidder

The city then decide to use that money for the best advantage of the city -- This may include setting up a bike scheme, it may have been better used for other services.
Rather than letting an advertising company come in and say "if you let us do x we'll give y, but don't allow any public debate before the contract is signed"

Barcelona: Not a bike company - amazingly, its an ad firm, again
London: Not a bike company - its a hugely overpriced IT contractor paid for by, guess what? ads.

opinion guy

When are they going to start extending this ?
I've been hearing about it for yonks but nothing seems to have happened. Come on already :rolleyes:

Gumbo

opinion guy wrote: »

When are they going to start extending this ?
I've been hearing about it for yonks but nothing seems to have happened. Come on already :rolleyes:

Alot has happened in the background.
Maps prepared, new sites mapped, new sites surveyed for existing underground services, applications for diversion of these services to allow for the new stands and signposts.

and on top of that is the complicated contract talks between DCC and JCD in order to get it right.

i'd imagine the new sites will be announed sometime this year.

bk

kceire wrote: »

Maps prepared, new sites mapped, new sites surveyed for existing underground services, applications for diversion of these services to allow for the new stands and signposts.

This is what I meant by this system being excessively expensive.

There is a new system being installed in Canada and the US, where it takes just 30 minutes to install new stations. The stations arrive on the back of a flat bed truck and are lowered unto the ground. Once tied together, their combined weight means they will never move. The station is powered by solar power and communicates with 3G mobile network.

So install cost is minimum.

There is another kickstarter project where you don't even have stations, you simply lock the bike to any bike stand. Cheaper still:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/312013110/social-bicycles-bikeshare-everywhere/

markpb

Carawaystick wrote: »

The city then decide to use that money for the best advantage of the city

This is exactly why the bikes and advertising were tied together - councillors tried for years to use rates to pay for the bike scheme but it was never a priority so it never happened. The (current) Lord Mayor tied the two together to stop councillors accepting the advertising money and then spending it on something else.

NuMarvel

BeerSteakBirds wrote: »

There should be more slots than bikes. I am sick of getting to my destination only to find that I can't park.

There are definitely more stands than bikes, but some stations are probably more popular than others.

What would be handy is if the station you're getting your bike from could tell you how many free stands are available at your destination. I know you can check for free spaces when you get to a full station, but being able to do that before you leave means you can straight to the nearest free alternative and save some time (and make the bike available more quickly).

BeerSteakBirds

NuMarvel wrote: »

What would be handy is if the station you're getting your bike from could tell you how many free stands are available at your destination. I know you can check for free spaces when you get to a full station, but being able to do that before you leave means you can straight to the nearest free alternative and save some time (and make the bike available more quickly).

Actually you could be onto something about tweaking the user experience. What if we could reserve our destination slot/location when we take a bike from our point of origin ? That way we would be ensured a successful and on time journey. It might even ensure a more efficient experience for everyone as it would be easier for the JCDecaux vans to predict in advance of bicycles arriving which racks would be full. Reservation could be ''policed'' by ensuring that the unreserved locations on other stands do not accept the bike or by a ''timewaster'' fee if someone does not use their reserved slot.

opinion guy

That sounds unnecessarily complicated.

All they need to do is move the bikes around more between stands - especially at peak times. Whilst there are places you cna't park at, there are also places with no bikes. The one I use most often usually has no bikes at it which is very annoyign

bk

opinion guy wrote: »

All they need to do is move the bikes around more between stands - especially at peak times. Whilst there are places you cna't park at, there are also places with no bikes. The one I use most often usually has no bikes at it which is very annoyign

That is the beauty of this system: http://socialbicycles.com/

There are no stations, just lock the bike to ant standard bike stand. Also thus much lower costs and much easier and cheaper to roll out more bikes.

Bluefoam

NuMarvel wrote: »

BeerSteakBirds wrote: »

There should be more slots than bikes. I am sick of getting to my destination only to find that I can't park.

There are definitely more stands than bikes, but some stations are probably more popular than others.

What would be handy is if the station you're getting your bike from could tell you how many free stands are available at your destination. I know you can check for free spaces when you get to a full station, but being able to do that before you leave means you can straight to the nearest free alternative and save some time (and make the bike available more quickly).

This info is already available on phone apps... How many bikes and spaces are available at each station etc...

Aard

bk wrote: »

That is the beauty of this system: http://socialbicycles.com/

There are no stations, just lock the bike to ant standard bike stand. Also thus much lower costs and much easier and cheaper to roll out more bikes.

At this stage, thinking about a different system is academic. Those sobi bikes need a smartphone or internet connection to open the lock. They've already lost me as a customer so. Also, there are stations for sobi, and you will have to lock it in a certain area. I can see it failing tbh. The db system works well. Perhaps it's not perfect but it's in place now, whereas sobi is still in testing.

bk

Aard wrote: »

At this stage, thinking about a different system is academic. Those sobi bikes need a smartphone or internet connection to open the lock.

Not true, you don't have to use a smart phone. You can just unlock one by entering your pin in the keypad on the bike.

The smartphone is just a convenience for those who have it.

Aard wrote: »

Also, there are stations for sobi, and you will have to lock it in a certain area.

No wrong again, there are no stations for sobi. The whole point of it is not to need stations. You simply lock it to any bike stand.

The operator can set up certain geographical areas where you are allowed to lock the bike. But these aren't like bike stations, rather these are large geographical areas. For instance in Dublin the area would probably be anywhere within the canals.

The reason for this is you wouldn't want someone cycling the bike out to Wicklow, leaving it there and then DB have to go retrieve it from there.

Aard wrote: »

The db system works well. Perhaps it's not perfect but it's in place now, whereas sobi is still in testing.

I agree DB works, but once Sobi launches I believe it will be a revolution in bike sharing, making it far cheaper and widespread.

One of the reasons I bring it up, is that the government are starting to think about introducing bike schemes in Cork, Galways, etc.

It isn't too late for them to go with a cheaper system.

The current proposal is that it will cost about €30 million to cover the 4 regional cities. You could buy 30,000 sobi bikes for that money. We will be lucky to get a tenth of that with the velib system.

BTW in Germany they are successfully using thousands of bikes using a similar system called "call a bike" you call, text or use an app to get an unlock code that you use on the bike to unlock it. Again no expensive stands needed, you can lock your bike anywhere.

NuMarvel

Bluefoam wrote: »

This info is already available on phone apps... How many bikes and spaces are available at each station etc...

Not everyone has a smartphone though. And for tourists, using the smartphone app could incur large data roaming charges. But the fact that the technology is there should make it easier to implement at the stations.

lemeister

Slightly OT - but does anyone know when the new stations in the IFSC are going to be started? It was supposed to be December 2011

Mr Simpson

lemeister wrote: »

Slightly OT - but does anyone know when the new stations in the IFSC are going to be started? It was supposed to be December 2011

Apparently negotiations are now underway with JCDecaux regarding the expansion, I can't link to the SkyScraperCity thread at the moment, but its on thejournal.ie as well.

bk

mmcn90 wrote: »

Apparently negotiations are now underway with JCDecaux regarding the expansion, I can't link to the SkyScraperCity thread at the moment, but its on thejournal.ie as well.

Good news, but do yo know if it is just for the expansion along the quays or also expansion out towards the likes of Drumcondra, DCU, etc.

Mr Simpson

bk wrote: »

mmcn90 wrote: »

Apparently negotiations are now underway with JCDecaux regarding the expansion, I can't link to the SkyScraperCity thread at the moment, but its on thejournal.ie as well.

Good news, but do yo know if it is just for the expansion along the quays or also expansion out towards the likes of Drumcondra, DCU, etc.

Thats not clear from the article, and unfortunately I can't find it now. Andrew Montague announced it on his last day as Lord Mayor.

Mr Simpson

Finally found that article, Here it is. He expects the number of bikes to be tripled, with 30 new stations to be added, unfortunately between Heuston and The Point only for the moment.

opinion guy

mmcn90 wrote: »

Finally found that article, Here it is. He expects the number of bikes to be tripled, with 30 new stations to be added, unfortunately between Heuston and The Point only for the moment.

Awesome. Any expansion is to be welcomed I think!! Even if they start expanding a station at a time I'll be happy. Come on lads get crackin:D

Mr Simpson

opinion guy wrote: »

Awesome. Any expansion is to be welcomed I think!! Even if they start expanding a station at a time I'll be happy. Come on lads get crackin:D

Definitely, any kind of investment is rare at the moment, so this can only be welcomed

lucernarian

The layout of db stations has been slightly disproportionately in favour of north-south expansion, while clear candidates for the use of the db scheme like the IFSC area were inadequately served despite also being near city centre. Dublin City Council spent much money on a segregated bicycle lane and traffic management system along Grand Canal while the db scheme has no stands along it northeast of Baggot St... Heuston Station is also a good candidate for this but that would need a denser network of stations as dealing with peak demand will have to be accounted for. Even having two stations within 100 metres of each other at heuston would probably do the trick. There also needs to be some improvement in capacity in some area in the vicinity of O'Connell Bridge to deal with demand.


On an unrelated note, why does the bike stand at Princes St (just off O'Connell St) not check bike availability at Cathal Brugha St, it being possibly the nearest station and the easiest to travel to by simply continuing up the same side of the street and then making a right turn? It's often full and it's very frustrating that the other station I'd use when going to work can't even be checked. Rant over:)