The Dublin Bike rip-off?

munkifisht

With the subscription increase for the Dublin bike scheme I did some calculations recently and I've got to say I wasn't too happy with the results.

I compare it always to Paris where JCDecaux did the same scheme with 1230 stations, 14000 bikes, so pretty much 10 times the service, in a city with a population ~ 6 times that of Dublin. While the Paris scheme costs €30 a year, it has also been plagued by vandalism whereas one stolen bike was eventually recovered in the Dublin scheme. Initially, we got 4 bikes/advertisement as opposed to 13 in Paris. Looks like we are getting closer to the Paris scheme but still not there yet and if the DCC have given up more advertising space then it should not effect the cost.

First lets look at what we all have a limited amount of, time. In Dublin, the term of the scheme is 15 years as opposed to 10 in Paris. Well, that's just a contract time, but it is 50% longer without the possibility of renegotiation.

Now look at the "what you pay":bike ratio, in Paris there are 240k subscribers so it makes for a ratio of 17 users/bike, considering last year when the announcement was made (I am expecting the subscribers will go up with the new area covered so it’s not really comparable) there were 70k subscribers for 550 bikes there is considerably more ~127 users/bike. If you look at the subs raised, Paris gets €510 per bike opposed to €1270 in Dublin which is set to rise with the introduction of the new bikes and greater area covered (assuming there is a linear relationship between number of bikes and number of subs) to $2540. Even if the number of subs do not increase with the increase in area covered we are still looking at 46 users/bike with revenue of €933.

Now, lets look at advertising and the potential revenue from the advertising space JCD got from sponsoring the scheme. In Dublin, we got 4 bikes/advertisement as opposed to 13 in Paris. In terms of revenue from this space we’re talking €5.4m Vs $60m in Paris (information available from the rate card info). Breaking it down per bike, that’s €4,286 in Paris Vs €9,818 in Dublin.

The bike scheme is an excellent idea, but be in no doubt we’re paying over the odds for it. Really the benefits it brings to the city I think should make it a free service with a token 1c credit card charge to prove the existence of a credit card. Its benefits stretch far beyond the cyclists who use it, but these are just my thoughts.

ballooba

You're forgetting the €36 Million we just paid to JCDecaux for 8 new stations. That money is going to be funded out of subscriptions among other sources. But €36 Million for eight bike stations?

EDIT: Sorry, I misread an article earlier. It's 58 stations for €36 Million, a bit more reasonable.

AlekSmart

ballooba wrote: »

You're forgetting the €36 Million we just paid to JCDecaux for 8 new stations. That money is going to be funded out of subscriptions among other sources. But €36 Million for eight bike stations?

EDIT: Sorry, I misread an article earlier. It's 58 stations for €36 Million, a bit more reasonable.

Ah here Ted...only a "Bit"...It's not as if these "Stations" are replicas of the Moscow Underground or somesuch.

I'd stick with your original interpretation.....It's all a bit Celtic Tiger ish for me ?

Five Lamps

ballooba wrote: »

You're forgetting the €36 Million we just paid to JCDecaux for 8 new stations. That money is going to be funded out of subscriptions among other sources. But €36 Million for eight bike stations?

EDIT: Sorry, I misread an article earlier. It's 58 stations for €36 Million, a bit more reasonable.

But does that include anything else apart from the build of the stations?

bk

Five Lamps wrote: »

But does that include anything else apart from the build of the stations?

The extra bikes, spare/replacement bikes and ongoing running and maintenance of the scheme (including redistribution of bikes, etc.).

ArmaniJeanss

I'm not sure how relevant some of those figures are, stuff like subs per bike or bikes per advertisement. I'd also expect that Paris's bigger system leads to big economies of scale savings on areas like bike maintenance and the number of trucks/drivers to move bikes.
But ultimately I don't think €20 per year can be 'a rip-off' in any way.

Also in your fourth paragraph you say there were 70,000 current subscribers at the time the expansion was announced.
However DB themselves thsi autumn refered to 35,000 subscribers which would make your subsequent maths all wrong.
http://www.dublinbikes.ie/Magazine/Reports/dublinbikes-the-stats!
(Perhaps you making a mistake of including lapsed subscriptions from the start of the scheme)

Five Lamps

ArmaniJeanss wrote: »

I'm not sure how relevant some of those figures are, stuff like subs per bike or bikes per advertisement. I'd also expect that Paris's bigger system leads to big economies of scale savings on areas like bike maintenance and the number of trucks/drivers to move bikes.
But ultimately I don't think €20 per year can be 'a rip-off' in any way.

Also in your fourth paragraph you say there were 70,000 current subscribers at the time the expansion was announced.
However DB themselves thsi autumn refered to 35,000 subscribers which would make your subsequent maths all wrong.
http://www.dublinbikes.ie/Magazine/Reports/dublinbikes-the-stats!
(Perhaps you making a mistake of including lapsed subscriptions from the start of the scheme)

Exactly, I would say that economies of scale make a huge impact in the comparison. It's one of the reasons why things are more expensive here in general.

worded

I just can't see why it all can't be run by a govt body and or private organisation versus an advertising croud cluttering the city with blots on the landscape. Are we prostituting ourselves for the ride?

monument

There's so much wrong in the OPing post! For now I'll say:

In all fairness to Dublin City Council they signed the first deal in the context of Paris having to replace every single bike... around the same time our media (and at least 80% of posters on boards) said all the bikes here would end up under water. The original Paris contract was likely too much in favour of the city.

€20 yearly for unlimited free sub 30min trips in the city centre compares very, very well to every other mode (including walking, unless you're never in a hurry). 95.2% of trips to date have been free after subs!

DublinBikes had 36,636 long-term subscribers as of last week.

Paris officially now has "over 20,000" Velib' bikes. The last I remember reading is that the city of Paris agreed to pay more because of the problems but also because they wanted it expanded regardless of the problems.

ballooba wrote: »

You're forgetting the €36 Million we just paid to JCDecaux for 8 new stations. That money is going to be funded out of subscriptions among other sources. But €36 Million for eight bike stations?

EDIT: Sorry, I misread an article earlier. It's 58 stations for €36 Million, a bit more reasonable.

When was €36 million just paid to JCDecaux???

The estimated €35m cost of the expansion is for capital and operational costs of the expansion over 15 years.

JCDecaux won't see too much of the capital budget of €6.1m (€5.2m from the National Transport Authority and €900,000 from Dublin City Council).

worded wrote: »

I just can't see why it all can't be run by a govt body and or private organisation versus an advertising croud cluttering the city with blots on the landscape. Are we prostituting ourselves for the ride?

Rewind to 2009: Who is paying for DublinBikes if it's not by adverts?

ArmaniJeanss

worded wrote: »

I just can't see why it all can't be run by a govt body and or private organisation versus an advertising croud cluttering the city with blots on the landscape. Are we prostituting ourselves for the ride?

We now know the scheme is a success.
However back in 2007 the scheme was completely laughed at, abhored, treated as a joke and a farce. Theres a 'Free Bikes for scumbags?' thread locked in a forum here somewhere.
Under this sort of adverse journalism it would have been impossible for any government to finance it directly.

Heres an example from Phoenix magazine of how the scheme was regarded.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055058730
Post #41.

However the idea of this failed european experiment in bicycles for the masses is probably marxist enough to have the support of the environmental lobby. If the experiment fails (which it will) Dubliners will be stuck with these huge ads cluttering up the streets.

The only thing going for such schemes is a weird sort of Green/commie/hippy appeal as there are simply no other tangible benefits. You can buy a new bike and lock for less that the cost of maintaining one of these rental bikes for a single year. I know of nobody who would like to cycle around the city but cannot afford a bike so these schemes are a solution to a non-existing problem.

bk

worded wrote: »

I just can't see why it all can't be run by a govt body and or private organisation versus an advertising croud cluttering the city with blots on the landscape. Are we prostituting ourselves for the ride?

It is because the entire bike rental system, including the bikes, stations, hardware and software was all designed by this advertising company.

It isn't just a case of an advertising company paying for another company to build, run and operate the scheme. JCDecaux actually build and operate this themselves, they were one of the first companies in the world to develop such a scheme and technology and they operate it in 30 cities across Europe:

http://en.cyclocity.com/

At the time there were no other such systems in operation *. There were literally almost the only choice. Now since then, some cheaper to install and operate systems have been developed, but unfortunately they would be incompatible with the existing system, which was the best available at the time.

* There were some other schemes, like call to ride in Germany, but non with such stations, RFID cards, etc.

monument

Just to add some more facts:

Original DublinBikes contract included more than just bikes; also included were the new city centre tourist way finding signs and street maps, and ongoing advertising space reserved for city council use to promote events and for public service messages etc.

Carawaystick

The bikes are still rubbish though,
crap gearing, that wont change down under load, clutch occasionally goes too. ( happened to me 3 times)
Crap brakes, and brake levers on the wrong side.

When it was a tenner a year, it cost 10% of a yearly subscription to update credit card information.

When Elisabeth Windsor or Barack Obama were visiting, the screen displays gave misleading information about service restrictions.

The UI of the hiring stations are different from station to station. The ones you can take a 3-day sub use different keys to the ones you can't take a sub.

Carawaystick

monument wrote: »

Just to add some more facts:

Original DublinBikes contract included more than just bikes; also included were the new city centre tourist way finding signs and street maps, and ongoing advertising space reserved for city council use to promote events and for public service messages etc.

Why would you mix a contract for bikes with a contract to provide advertising? The two are unrelated.
Was there an open procurement process for the advertising/information the corpo wanted to provide?
Was there an open procurement process for the bike scheme?

Jawgap

Carawaystick wrote: »

The bikes are still rubbish though,
crap gearing, that wont change down under load, clutch occasionally goes too. ( happened to me 3 times)
Crap brakes, and brake levers on the wrong side.

When it was a tenner a year, it cost 10% of a yearly subscription to update credit card information.

When Elisabeth Windsor or Barack Obama were visiting, the screen displays gave misleading information about service restrictions.

The UI of the hiring stations are different from station to station. The ones you can take a 3-day sub use different keys to the ones you can't take a sub.

I think it's a great scheme - great for zipping around the city and by far the easiest, quickest and most convenient way to move around.

And I say that as someone who was fully convinced we'd be picking the bikes from the canals and the Liffey.

There may be room for improvement, but the scheme (relative to other city bike schemes) is one of the few world class amenities in the city.

You are, of course, entitled to a different view.

markpb

Carawaystick wrote: »

Why would you mix a contract for bikes with a contract to provide advertising? The two are unrelated.

If I remember correctly (and I could be wrong), the councillors involved spent several years trying to get funding for the scheme directly from DCC but failed to do so because there were always other things that had more votes. By tying advertising posters together with Dublin Bikes, tourist signs and maps, they got the funding they needed without taking it from the DCC budget.

It's not a pretty way of doing things but politics rarely is and Dublin now has a bike scheme to be proud of as well as those badly needed signs and maps. It seems like a good compromise to me.

LXFlyer

Carawaystick wrote: »

The bikes are still rubbish though,
crap gearing, that wont change down under load, clutch occasionally goes too. ( happened to me 3 times)
Crap brakes, and brake levers on the wrong side.

When it was a tenner a year, it cost 10% of a yearly subscription to update credit card information.

When Elisabeth Windsor or Barack Obama were visiting, the screen displays gave misleading information about service restrictions.

The UI of the hiring stations are different from station to station. The ones you can take a 3-day sub use different keys to the ones you can't take a sub.

Everything was up in the air when QE2 and Obama was here - the guards kept moving the goalposts and the plans that had been agreed ended up dead in the water.

I'd suggest that is hardly the time to be judging whether the scheme was successful or not.

Slunk

In fairness the bikes are grand for a little spin around town. They are not designed for long journeys and they have to put up with a fair amount of punishment. Three gears is perfectly fine for Dublin city. I've noticed a few bikes recently had alot better brakes than before. Also, with them been heavy awkward things it puts people off robbing them too.

UCDVet

munkifisht wrote: »

With the subscription increase for the Dublin bike scheme I did some calculations recently and I've got to say I wasn't too happy with the results.

I compare it always to Paris where JCDecaux did the same scheme with 1230 stations, 14000 bikes, so pretty much 10 times the service, in a city with a population ~ 6 times that of Dublin. While the Paris scheme costs €30 a year, it has also been plagued by vandalism whereas one stolen bike was eventually recovered in the Dublin scheme. Initially, we got 4 bikes/advertisement as opposed to 13 in Paris. Looks like we are getting closer to the Paris scheme but still not there yet and if the DCC have given up more advertising space then it should not effect the cost.

First lets look at what we all have a limited amount of, time. In Dublin, the term of the scheme is 15 years as opposed to 10 in Paris. Well, that's just a contract time, but it is 50% longer without the possibility of renegotiation.

Now look at the "what you pay":bike ratio, in Paris there are 240k subscribers so it makes for a ratio of 17 users/bike, considering last year when the announcement was made (I am expecting the subscribers will go up with the new area covered so it’s not really comparable) there were 70k subscribers for 550 bikes there is considerably more ~127 users/bike. If you look at the subs raised, Paris gets €510 per bike opposed to €1270 in Dublin which is set to rise with the introduction of the new bikes and greater area covered (assuming there is a linear relationship between number of bikes and number of subs) to $2540. Even if the number of subs do not increase with the increase in area covered we are still looking at 46 users/bike with revenue of €933.

Now, lets look at advertising and the potential revenue from the advertising space JCD got from sponsoring the scheme. In Dublin, we got 4 bikes/advertisement as opposed to 13 in Paris. In terms of revenue from this space we’re talking €5.4m Vs $60m in Paris (information available from the rate card info). Breaking it down per bike, that’s €4,286 in Paris Vs €9,818 in Dublin.

The bike scheme is an excellent idea, but be in no doubt we’re paying over the odds for it. Really the benefits it brings to the city I think should make it a free service with a token 1c credit card charge to prove the existence of a credit card. Its benefits stretch far beyond the cyclists who use it, but these are just my thoughts.

In my experience *everything* in Dublin is overpriced, even compared to other capital cities. Maybe it's the whole 'island' thing....I'm not sure. But I don't think the Dublin Bikes are any worse a value than the Dublin Bus (which also tends to suck compared to other countries, IMHO).

Five Lamps

UCDVet wrote: »

In my experience *everything* in Dublin is overpriced, even compared to other capital cities. Maybe it's the whole 'island' thing....I'm not sure. But I don't think the Dublin Bikes are any worse a value than the Dublin Bus (which also tends to suck compared to other countries, IMHO).

It's pretty obvious why things are more expensive. Island nation on the edge of Europe with 4m. Economies of scale are non existant.

loyatemu

Dublin Bikes are great, the criticisms of them are mostly relative to "owning your own bike" when they're designed for a different purpose.

I don't even use them that often, but when I do they're fine to ride, 3 gears is plenty (Dublin is flat), the brakes are responsive, the UI on the stations is a little clunky but its still usable. €20 a year is still a bargain particularly as they're doubling the area covered.

Carawaystick

lxflyer wrote: »

I'd suggest that is hardly the time to be judging whether the scheme was successful or not.

Dublin bikes had locked out stations with little day glow locks, but their stations still said the locked out stations were available.
So you couldn't find out the nearest stations with free racks to park. I had to return to where I started from on golden lane from custom house quay to find a free space.
This was nothing to do with the disorganisation of the cops, but due to piss poor implementation of the system by Dublin bikes.


Then there was the locking down of the user data by jc decaux, hounding developers to remove their apps from smartphone app stores
Why did the corpo agree to let jc ecaux lock this down?
Or maybe this is another symptom of the lack of planning the corpo put into the scheme and were just doffing their caps to the furriners deigning to implement a scheme to their great benefit.

monument

Carawaystick wrote: »

Why would you mix a contract for bikes with a contract to provide advertising? The two are unrelated.

Bikes and ads was already an established model in France etc. it's not something which was invented in Dublin.

Getting public service ad space from that wasn't a great leap.

Carawaystick wrote: »

This was nothing to do with the disorganisation of the cops, but due to piss poor implementation of the system by Dublin bikes.

Agreed with you on that issue, but I also think there has been an over kill in closing stations near or at other events. When the bikes should be a plus to those not driving or putting pressure on limited public transport.

Carawaystick wrote: »

Then there was the locking down of the user data by jc decaux, hounding developers to remove their apps from smartphone app stores
Why did the corpo agree to let jc ecaux lock this down?
Or maybe this is another symptom of the lack of planning the corpo put into the scheme and were just doffing their caps to the furriners deigning to implement a scheme to their great benefit.

Council say this is fixed with new contract.

Qualitymark

Great scheme, to my mind, though the bikes are kind of scary and uncomfortable to ride.

One big difference between Dublin and Paris is that in Dublin hardly any bikes are stolen and they're treated with care by the people who hire them, whereas in Paris they're treated with contempt and many, many bikes go missing.

UCDVet wrote: »

In my experience *everything* in Dublin is overpriced, even compared to other capital cities. Maybe it's the whole 'island' thing....I'm not sure. But I don't think the Dublin Bikes are any worse a value than the Dublin Bus (which also tends to suck compared to other countries, IMHO).

Whole 'inequality' thing, imho. In a society where inequality is built in - or when it's growing fast like Ireland - there's a ripoff mentality by anyone selling anything. Amazingly infections; I was looking to buy something last week from a small local antique/bric-a-brac shop, and found myself instantly thinking "Could I get it for cheaper", rather than "I'll pay the reasonable price these local traders are asking".

Five Lamps

Carawaystick wrote: »

Dublin bikes had locked out stations with little day glow locks, but their stations still said the locked out stations were available.
So you couldn't find out the nearest stations with free racks to park. I had to return to where I started from on golden lane from custom house quay to find a free space.
This was nothing to do with the disorganisation of the cops, but due to piss poor implementation of the system by Dublin bikes.

Would agree this was badly done but they have improved since. My gripe was the extra time to get stations back in action after the event had finished. Even if they weren't going to restock with bikes, they could have removed the locks allow people return bikes.

Then there was the locking down of the user data by jc decaux, hounding developers to remove their apps from smartphone app stores
Why did the corpo agree to let jc ecaux lock this down?
Or maybe this is another symptom of the lack of planning the corpo put into the scheme and were just doffing their caps to the furriners deigning to implement a scheme to their great benefit.

Problem here is if developers are making money out of the data then DB should be getting a cut. I don't see a problem with them cutting off developers.

Carawaystick

Five Lamps wrote: »

Problem here is if developers are making money out of the data then DB should be getting a cut. I don't see a problem with them cutting off developers.

Why should jcdecaux get a cut? they are agents of the corpo, according to the t&c's of dublin bikes.

seamus

Carawaystick wrote: »

The bikes are still rubbish though,
crap gearing, that wont change down under load, clutch occasionally goes too. ( happened to me 3 times)
Crap brakes, and brake levers on the wrong side.

The brake levers aren't on the wrong side (there is no "side" for brake levers)

This is splitting hairs really. This is not a premium service. If I were paying €20/day for a rental bike, then I would want a bike which is top-notch, cleaned and serviced on a weekly basis and set up precisely to accommodate me. I would also expect a van to pick it up and drop it off whenever I called for it.

But I don't. I pay €20/year so that when I have a short journey to make in the city, I can take a bike which will get me from A to B in cycling time. That's exactly what they do. Expecting every bike to work in pristine order all the time is expecting unreasonable service for what you've paid.

When it was a tenner a year, it cost 10% of a yearly subscription to update credit card information.

A euro. Which was, and still is, credited to your account.

markpb

Carawaystick wrote: »

Why should jcdecaux get a cut? they are agents of the corpo, according to the t&c's of dublin bikes.

He said DB, not JCD. Since DB own DublinBikes, presumably any income would go to them.

seamus wrote: »

A euro. Which was, and still is, credited to your account.

It's still a piss poor system. There's no need to actually charge the euro to the card, a pre-auth or credit check would do the trick. I've changed my card several times but I never use the bikes for more than half an hour so the credit is useless to me.

Five Lamps

Carawaystick wrote: »

Why should jcdecaux get a cut? they are agents of the corpo, according to the t&c's of dublin bikes.

I think JCD's relationship is different to that of an app developer and
I presume they have paid to develop and support the official app.

monument

Brain fart 2-3 or so...

Up to the contract change, the city was making money from the subscription and trip fees (that money will now go into the expansion costs directly).

It's also likely the case the of the money the city is paying for the expansion, recent subscription funds would cover that.

Qualitymark wrote: »

Great scheme, to my mind, though the bikes are kind of scary and uncomfortable to ride.

I've used them on tons of trips around town and a few longer trips, and I can't fault them on comfort.

But it's a very subjective measure.

Five Lamps wrote: »

Would agree this was badly done but they have improved since. My gripe was the extra time to get stations back in action after the event had finished. Even if they weren't going to restock with bikes, they could have removed the locks allow people return bikes.

I'm glad I'm not the only one annoyed about these delays.

Five Lamps wrote: »

Problem here is if developers are making money out of the data then DB should be getting a cut. I don't see a problem with them cutting off developers.

Public data should be free to use. It's a principal Dublin City Council have generally signed up to. The http://www.dublinked.ie project is a prime example.

Qualitymark

I've used them on tons of trips around town and a few longer trips, and I can't fault them on comfort.

It's the wide-apart handlebars I find scary - they make me feel off-centre and unable to control the bike in traffic.

Carawaystick

markpb wrote: »

He said DB, not JCD. Since DB own DublinBikes, presumably any income would go to them.

When the bikes first started, there were free apps using the data. jcd stopped the apps from using the data and got them kicked out of the apple app store.
The corpo's response was that it was in the deal with jcd.

later jcd brought out a terrible app.
later again jcd brought out an alright app.

markpb wrote: »

It's still a piss poor system. There's no need to actually charge the euro to the card, a pre-auth or credit check would do the trick. I've changed my card several times but I never use the bikes for more than half an hour so the credit is useless to me.

by rights, under data protection and foi law, this should be changed for free.

loyatemu

Carawaystick wrote: »

When the bikes first started, there were free apps using the data. jcd stopped the apps from using the data and got them kicked out of the apple app store.
The corpo's response was that it was in the deal with jcd.

later jcd brought out a terrible app.
later again jcd brought out an alright app.

I use the BikeDroid app, it still works fine.

Yakuza

markpb wrote: »

I've changed my card several times but I never use the bikes for more than half an hour so the credit is useless to me.

The credit is held over until your renewal. The same happened me last year, I changed card details mid year, and it charged me €1. I was a bit miffed until I realised it was credited to my account, and when my renewal rolled around a bit later, I was charged €9 instead of €10. I do agree that one should be able to change CC details without having to take any money from the card, but it's not the end of the world that they took a euro a few months too early!

Even at €20/year, it is good value. If they doubled it again...well, I wouldn't be happy about it, but for now I'm not too bothered about the increased fee (esp that they've installed two new stations within 100m of my office (one of them literally across the road )

anthomoran

I have seen on a regular basis the bike stations on north side of dublin are empty zero bikes. I have sent an email to dublin bikes and this is the reply i got look below.
The reply showed me that dublinbikes has little interest in distributing bikes and need to employ more bike staff to distribute bikes on the northside of dublin in the mornings.

**************************************************************************************************
Thank you for your email.

As previously advised we appreciate your observations with regard to the dublinbikes regulation.

While we do provide a degree of regulation of the distribution of bicycles around the stations, we do not guarantee that any given station will never be either full or empty.

The system is designed to self regulate to a significant degree and to this end, advanced features are provided on the terminal to indicate the real time capacity of local stations.

If you arrive at a full station, you can scan your card so the terminal recognises that you are trying to return a db to a full station. It will then list the nearest 8 stations with availability and allow an extra 15 minutes free of charge to leave the bike back at another station.


You can also plan a journey in advance to ensure availability by doing one of the following:
· Using the dublinbikes website which gives availability in real time on the station map
· Downloading the iphone or Android application allbikesnow for free
· Or by simply contacting the call centre between normal working hours on 1850 777 070
We value your feedback which we take into account along with all other comments on a similar theme when considering possible changes to our regulation patterns. In the context of regulating the entire network, we note your particular comments and will endeavour to make improvements wherever possible.
Should you wish to take your query further, please do not hesitate to contact DCC on 01 222 2222.


Regards
dublinbikes team
T. 1850 777 070
For more information visit www.dublinbikes.ie
*******************************************************
Wondering have many other dublinbike users experienced the lack of bikes on north side ?

SilverLiningOK

anthomoran wrote: »

I have seen on a regular basis the bike stations on north side of dublin are empty zero bikes. I have sent an email to dublin bikes and this is the reply i got look below.
The reply showed me that dublinbikes has little interest in distributing bikes and need to employ more bike staff to distribute bikes on the northside of dublin in the mornings.

**************************************************************************************************
Thank you for your email.

As previously advised we appreciate your observations with regard to the dublinbikes regulation.

While we do provide a degree of regulation of the distribution of bicycles around the stations, we do not guarantee that any given station will never be either full or empty.

The system is designed to self regulate to a significant degree and to this end, advanced features are provided on the terminal to indicate the real time capacity of local stations.

If you arrive at a full station, you can scan your card so the terminal recognises that you are trying to return a db to a full station. It will then list the nearest 8 stations with availability and allow an extra 15 minutes free of charge to leave the bike back at another station.


You can also plan a journey in advance to ensure availability by doing one of the following:
· Using the dublinbikes website which gives availability in real time on the station map
· Downloading the iphone or Android application allbikesnow for free
· Or by simply contacting the call centre between normal working hours on 1850 777 070
We value your feedback which we take into account along with all other comments on a similar theme when considering possible changes to our regulation patterns. In the context of regulating the entire network, we note your particular comments and will endeavour to make improvements wherever possible.
Should you wish to take your query further, please do not hesitate to contact DCC on 01 222 2222.


Regards
dublinbikes team
T. 1850 777 070
For more information visit www.dublinbikes.ie
*******************************************************
Wondering have many other dublinbike users experienced the lack of bikes on north side ?

Yes, I have found the same problem. The ones nearest to me at Talbot Amd Princes Streets are frequently empty or nearly empty. Even expanding the one at Talbot seems to have made little difference. Connolly Station nearby contributes a lot to this. It does seem very shortsighted to not put more stations in this area when there there seems to be an abundance of them on North Wall Quay for some reason.

Using for me is even akward as these newest stations are nearly half an hour walk. They can be useful though when it doesn't suit to bring your own bike. They could easily have been expanded further on the Northside with the canal anyway. North Strand had the highest number of cyclists during peak times in the last count, which seems to indicate the people do cycle in that part of town. Maybe the design and planning of this system was carried out by Southsiders who only cross the Liffey for the airport.

LeinsterDub

SilverLiningOK wrote: »

Maybe the design and planning of this system was carried out by Southsiders who only cross the Liffey for the airport.

Yale The southside could use an international airport, Mr. Burns.

Snickers Man

I don't care what the whingers say. It's still the best tenner I've spent in my life. And even doubling the subscription it's still a steal.

Single best improvement to the quality of life in the city I can remember.

Baron Kurtz

Another bay or two in the Rathmines/Ranelagh/Rathgar areas and I'd find it hard to fault!

SilverLiningOK

Snickers Man wrote: »

I don't care what the whingers say. It's still the best tenner I've spent in my life. And even doubling the subscription it's still a steal.

Single best improvement to the quality of life in the city I can remember.

It does have loads of postives without saying. The gaps in the network and empty/full stations can be a bit of nuisance. It has got lots of people to consider the bicycle as a practical mode of transport. It partly encouraged me to resume cycling more frequently after a gap of about 8 years. I was nearly at the point of giving away my bicycles. Seeing people using the bike share scheme over the last few years has not gone unnoticed.

Yes, I will be renewing too. Might it use to rediscover parts of the city that I haven't cycled for many years, especially with expansion towards Kilmainham. It's great in the evening to cross town when meeting people and also can save time walking places during the day when you don't have your own bike with you.

Snickers Man

SilverLiningOK wrote: »

It does have loads of postives without saying. The gaps in the network and empty/full stations can be a bit of nuisance.

There's no service that can't be improved but let's talk about practical ways to improve it. Such as can it be extended beyond the limits of the canals; is there some reason why CIE companies have such an aversion to stands near their termini (eg Busaras, Heuston, O'Connell St); can something be done to rebalance the availability of bikes/spaces at various points during the day; how about timely updates and more accurate information for the smartphone apps etc etc

All this waffling on about the ratio of advertisement hoardings to bike availability is a load of "First world problem" whinging bollox. And I'm not pointing the finger at you, BTW.

Trampas

Far from a rip off.

They should have some MI on where they need bikes each morning to meet their requests.

I'd like to see them move the bikes out further first than adding more stations within the current network and do it in a even movement so everyone gets the benefit.

Qualitymark

Snickers Man wrote: »

There's no service that can't be improved but let's talk about practical ways to improve it. Such as can it be extended beyond the limits of the canals; is there some reason why CIE companies have such an aversion to stands near their termini (eg Busaras, Heuston, O'Connell St); can something be done to rebalance the availability of bikes/spaces at various points during the day; how about timely updates and more accurate information for the smartphone apps etc etc

Good points all. There's a lovely spot they could use in Harold's Cross, outside the HX46 cafe and near the Polish bike shop (and not far from the great Delaney's 'Raleigh Cycles Rudge' bike shop on Emmet Bridge). Bike stands near cafes are known to increase business to the cafe, so this would be good for all concerned.

Capri

There's plenty of bikes available on the Fenian St stand, nobody around that area to use them OH, 'Inda' has a pad nearby?, so THAT'S why they built a stand in the middle of nowhere :rolleyes:

Aard

Plenty of people living near Fenian St. Conspiracy theory averted.

asteroids over berlin

Best thing in this city since sliced bread - love the idea/sceme 😎

monument

Capri wrote: »

There's plenty of bikes available on the Fenian St stand, nobody around that area to use them OH, 'Inda' has a pad nearby?, so THAT'S why they built a stand in the middle of nowhere :rolleyes:

It's the city centre street with lots of offices, housing, and a hotel on the street, and then within a few minutes walk there's at least one large national museum, the busiest commuter train station in the country, more hotels, a ton more of offices and housing, in three different directions there's 3-4 entrances to parts of TCD's campus, there's a major hospital around the corner and a park which regularly holds large events around another corner.

But, sure, it was put there because of Enda.

Rolly eyes image would not do my point justice.

Capri

Aard wrote: »

Plenty of people living near Fenian St. Conspiracy theory averted.

Really ? Let's see what the usage pattern is there then from Dublin Bikes - I would have thought placing the stand on Merrion St/Fenian st jct between the hotels there and on the route to/from Pearse station would have been more logical and user friendly :rolleyes:

Qualitymark

Capri wrote: »

Really ? Let's see what the usage pattern is there then from Dublin Bikes - I would have thought placing the stand on Merrion St/Fenian st jct between the hotels there and on the route to/from Pearse station would have been more logical and user friendly :rolleyes:

May be a question of how much use a particular piece of pavement gets, though? Not everything is the evil politicians' doing.

Capri

Qualitymark wrote: »

May be a question of how much use a particular piece of pavement gets, though? Not everything is the evil politicians' doing.

That particular location gets SFA pedestrian traffic - ask the one coffee shop there,or the Garda on duty There's a KBC bank across from it but in terms of it being in a high volume location - NADA. I stick to my original theory, especially when you hear 'Inda' being interviewed (sounding out of breath by his morning stroll up to Government buildings ) :cool:

Qualitymark

Capri wrote: »

That particular location gets SFA pedestrian traffic - ask the one coffee shop there,or the Garda on duty There's a KBC bank across from it but in terms of it being in a high volume location - NADA. I stick to my original theory, especially when you hear 'Inda' being interviewed (sounding out of breath by his morning stroll up to Government buildings ) :cool:

Hotels may use the pavement for loading/offloading tourist groups & their luggage?