Dublin Bikes - expansion stalled?

Aard

I can't link easily as I'm on mobile, but google Dublin Bikes expansion and tou'll find a map showing where the stations will be. There are about ten more expansion phases. Eventually it will cover the area between Drumcondra and Rathmines, Inchicore to Sandymount more or less.

lolosaur

looks like kimmage, crumlin and drimnagh are not allowed to have nice things yet again.
The north side is heavily under biked.

and those stations in inchicore are not in inchicore at all, they are in kilmainham, the nicer parts, just in case the scruffys might be on them coming in from ballyer or bluebell.

Coke zero bike scheme - Bringing bikes to the middle classes.

Aard

It will cover Drimnagh, Crumlin, and Cabra -- not exactly solubrious areas. Maybe you found the wrong map? Try this one : http://dublinobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/expmap-large.jpg

lolosaur

perhaps. that is just a map that seems to be coloured in though, they dont have any location sites attributed to it or any specific guide lines.

why should less solubrious areas be denied of sucvh facilities though. they are high density, highly populated areas.

For now, i shall retract my reservations stated above, however, i dont beliwve we will see much done.

1 bike for bluebell. if they keep that, they can have another one in 10 years

Aard

Nowhere is being excluded on account of wealth or poverty. In fact only about one-quarter of the area to be served could be classified as above average. Check out the Haase deprivation index, which will show that most of the proposed area is below averge or disadvantaged. Other areas are excluded due to their distance from the city centre.

There are no specific locations chosen, but the general rule with bikeshare systems is to have about 300m between stations. So it's not going to be a case of having one station out on its own serving a large catchment.

beauf

I thought the original plan was that it wasn't intended for commuters. As it grows it's going to fall within reach of more commuters. Though if you are on the fringes or further from the Dublin bikes. Using your own bike makes a lot more sense.

Your own bike is more direct A-B always available. And much quicker and lighter

lolosaur

beauf wrote: »

I thought the original plan was that it wasn't intended for commuters. As it grows it's going to fall within reach of more commuters. Though if you are on the fringes or further from the Dublin bikes. Using your own bike makes a lot more sense.

Your own bike is more direct A-B always available. And much quicker and lighter

and more susceptible to junkie theft.

ArmaniJeanss

Any talk of increasing the free 30 minutes?
With the latest expansion its getting to the stage where some journeys between the stations furthest apart may not be doable in 30 minutes for all cyclists.

Aard

30 minutes seems to be standard across different cities. I've been monitoring the time and length of my journeys, and my speed averages 11kmph pretty consistently. I don't cycle fast (I get overtaken a lot :$ ) and I stop for amber lights so 11kmph is probably on the low end of the scale. Anyway, it means that in 30 mins I could do a 5.5km journey, where I'm sure some people could manage 6km. When the system expansions come in, it will only pose a problem for people going crosstown end-to-end.

beauf

Seems if you are using it more than 30 mins you are kinda beyond the intended use of the scheme. I'd also suggest 30 mins on a Dublin bike which is a thundering tank. Would be 20 mins on a better bike. A better bike being a 2nd hand MTB with slicks for about €100. it would feel like a Ferrari in comparison.

beauf

lolosaur wrote: »

and more susceptible to junkie theft.

The bikes are really worth nothing. They so heavy no one want them. A bigger problem might be just mindless vandalism.

beauf

Be nice if they could make the tagging on/off simpler. The Leap card process is simpler.

lolosaur

It would be great if they had a "dump section, where you could tie the bike up by a station if it was full instead of having to go searching for other stations. ther eis nothing more infuriating then getting to a full station.

ArmaniJeanss

beauf wrote: »

Seems if you are using it more than 30 mins you are kinda beyond the intended use of the scheme.

I'd have thought any two stations on the scheme is within the intended use of the scheme (maybe not?). So the question would be is Ringsend to Kilmainham in 30 minutes do-able, at peak hours, safely, in bad weather. Bearing in mind that DB trumpet that the scheme has got many 50yo+ and 60yo+ subscribers.
I wouldn't see any harm in increasing to 45 minutes as the scheme expands, its only an arbitrary limit anyway to prevent ridiculous misuse.

beauf

ahem...

beauf wrote: »

I thought the original plan was that it wasn't intended for commuters. As it grows it's going to fall within reach of more commuters. Though if you are on the fringes or further from the Dublin bikes. Using your own bike makes a lot more sense.

Your own bike is more direct A-B always available. And much quicker and lighter

BTW its got nothing to do with age. Its about fitness. Good maps reckons thats 6.6k and about 22mins on a bicycle. You can probably add 10~20 mins to that for low fitness and a strong headwind.

I expect they could run stats amd see how much of a financial impact increasing the free period would have. They say the average journey is 13 mins. So probably very little impact.

I know a few people who taken bikes from city centre and cycled around the phoenix park. I was fairly impressed with that considering the bike.

Coca-Cola Zero dublinbikes at a glance:
Over 42,000 long term subscribers
Almost 5,000 short term subscriptions so far this year (2014)
Over 7 million rentals since launch
Average journey time 13 minutes
95% of rentals are free, i.e. under 30 minutes
Busiest usage day so far: 11,096 rentals on 12th June 2014
All information accurate as at June 2014

lolosaur

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I'd have thought any two stations on the scheme is within the intended use of the scheme (maybe not?). So the question would be is Ringsend to Kilmainham in 30 minutes do-able, at peak hours, safely, in bad weather. Bearing in mind that DB trumpet that the scheme has got many 50yo+ and 60yo+ subscribers.
I wouldn't see any harm in increasing to 45 minutes as the scheme expands, its only an arbitrary limit anyway to prevent ridiculous misuse.

No, depending on which way you go. If you start at grand canal dock and head down along the canal, you are cutting it fine. a decent cyclist will do it but traffic + other bikes + pedestrians, you are not going to get 100% 30 minutes every time. best to do is request an exta 15 minutes at portobello.

even at that, there is a squeeze on spaces on emmett road when you do get there.

your other option is straight down the quay to heuston and up through irma. its a more straight forward route but your hoop will be in bits from the stretch along wood quay to hsq with potholes and rogue taxis aiming for you. again, its do able but only 40% of the time i would say

beauf

I find you kinda need to be using a smart phone app to judge what station will have spaces before you get their.
Unfortunately a lot of the apps seem to think you only want to know about stations near your current location.
The ones that have a map of them all, are more useful.

Still its a lot better than it used to be. When it stated it was often impossible to get a bike or free stand. These days its a lot easier.

JohnWyne

I find the only app that is fully up to date, all the time, is JcDecaux's app allbikesnow. I use it nearly everyday and it's great

monument

Paris -- which has a far larger network of stations -- has three methods or outcomes which extend the trips by 45mins:

1. Pay extra on your annual subscription.

2. Paris gives all users 15mins extra if a station is full, from the FAQ link below: "Log in using your ticket number or subscription number. Follow the onscreen instructions and the terminal will give you 15 additional minutes to reach a nearby station and return your bike."

3. Take a bicycle from a standard station and return it to a V station, usually at a hiller location -- it's interesting concept I strangely just learned about this on a Dutch Cycling Embassy trip to the Netherlands (city of Paris officials were in the group).

"What are the Vélib bonus V+ stations for?
Stations marked as “Bonus V+” are there to reward brave users that make it to the highest-up Vélib stations. If you pick up a bike from a “standard” station and return it to a “Bonus V+” station, you are credited time! There are 100 Bonus V+ stations that reward your efforts with 15 extra free minutes.
If you are an annual subscriber you can convert your Vélib’ minutes into currency to use on CitéGreen, the premier reward program for pro-environmental eco-citizenship. For more information, see citregreen.com" -- https://aboen-paris.cyclocity.fr/How-it-works/FAQ2

Maybe the same can be done with stations which are far apart in Dublin?

cob1

My friend in London says that there if people want to do a longer journey they swap bikes at an intermediate station, hopping from one to another. Not sure Dublin Bikes allows this at present but could be permitted when stations are widespread enough that it becomes an issue.

I don't know if it's been discussed here but I have to say myself the quality of the service seems to have dropped during the current expansion. In the past I would almost never have encountered empty/full stations, on one occasion recently I walked home past 7 empty stations on the way home from work. It's not unusual any more that I walk all the way home as by the time I find a bike there's no point taking one. I know it's at the peak time but it didn't used to happen at all for me. Hopefully just growing pains and more bikes are on the way, I emailed to ask if this was the case but it was a waste of time, I just got a copy and paste response that actually didn't answer any of my questions.

Poxyshamrock

In Dublin you have to wait 5 minutes before taking another bike.

beauf

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

In Dublin you have to wait 5 minutes before taking another bike.

I didn't know that.

beauf

monument wrote: »

..."What are the Vélib bonus V+ stations for?
Stations marked as “Bonus V+” are there to reward brave users that make it to the highest-up Vélib stations. If you pick up a bike from a “standard” station and return it to a “Bonus V+” station, you are credited time! There are 100 Bonus V+ stations that reward your efforts with 15 extra free minutes....[/url]

Cool idea. Need one at the top of Howth Hill etc.

LeinsterDub

http://www.businessandleadership.com/sustainability/item/48108-dublinbikes-hits-50-000-mem

The Coca-Cola Zero Dublinbikes scheme has today hit the 50,000 annual subscriber mark.

the scheme experienced its busiest ever day this month with members taking over 15,000 journeys on 2 October.

http://www.thejournal.ie/dublin-bike-busiest-day-1743070-Oct2014/

Impressive numbers

loyatemu

still no sign of the Georges Dock station - are there any others left to do?

monument

loyatemu wrote: »

still no sign of the Georges Dock station - are there any others left to do?

I think there was at least two to go when I last asked and only one has been completed since, which opened this week.

loyatemu

monument wrote: »

I think there was at least two to go when I last asked and only one has been completed since, which opened this week.

it's not listed on the DublinBikes website anymore - all the new stations are marked as "open" - it is still on the expansion map though.

NuMarvel

College Green is listed on the expansion map, but I don't think work has commenced on that yet. But with LUAS works still going on in the vicinity, that's probably not too surprising.

cgcsb

any ideas when we can look forward to the next expansion stage? possibly the liberties and coombe?

Aard

The expansion map that circulated a while back that indeed the next stage should cover the remainder of Dublin 8 excluding Inchicore. I think the timeframe indicated was for a new phase of expansion every six months or so, but I wouldn't hold my breath.