Dublin Bikes

MaxiBon

Anyone know if one needs to create an account prior to getting a bike or is it similar to London where you turn up with your card?

cython

You need an account for a yearly pass, otherwise you can get a three day pass from certain machines, as far as I know. Full details are easily available on the website: http://www.dublinbikes.ie/Subscription

Miklos

You can rent a bike on a three day pass if you sign up at the stand, or if you want to sign up properly I think you need to do it online and have a card sent to you.

HivemindXX

Miklos wrote: »

You can rent a bike on a three day pass if you sign up at the stand, or if you want to sign up properly I think you need to do it online and have a card sent to you.

Just to add, you should be sent a code which you can type in to the machines as a stopgap measure until the touch card arrives. So if you choose to get an annual membership you shouldn't be stuck waiting for the card to arrive.

Annual memberships are cheaper if you are going to be here for more than 15 days (ie: it costs 5 times what a 3 day pass costs)

AndrewJRenko

Just to note that not all terminals sell the three day pass - about half of them accept an ATM card, so you need to make sure you go to the right ones.

Idleater

Another note that you can consider is you can add the Dublin bike account to a leap card. Not sure if you can sign up with that option or even if you have one but it is handy to reduce the number of cards to carry around.

Borderfox

Seen a lad on one of the Dublin Bikes going through Dunshaughlin the other day, took a picture and sent it to DCC. Are they allowed out of the city?

FixitFelix

Borderfox wrote: »

Seen a lad on one of the Dublin Bikes going through Dunshaughlin the other day, took a picture and sent it to DCC. Are they allowed out of the city?

Why??

HeidiHeidi

Borderfox wrote: »

Seen a lad on one of the Dublin Bikes going through Dunshaughlin the other day, took a picture and sent it to DCC. Are they allowed out of the city?

I saw a photo of a lad doing the Wicklow 200 on one a couple of years ago!

I presume you can take them where you like as long as you pay the fee once the "free" time period is up.

Borderfox

The guy doing the Wicklow 200 got permission from DCC to use it for an extended period

stryker mcqueen

Borderfox wrote: »

Seen a lad on one of the Dublin Bikes going through Dunshaughlin the other day, took a picture and sent it to DCC. Are they allowed out of the city?

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

tomasrojo

I think provided you return the bike by close of business, it's your own business where you go on it. I've only taken one out to M50 territory myself.

tomasrojo

Idleater wrote: »

Another note that you can consider is you can add the Dublin bike account to a leap card. Not sure if you can sign up with that option or even if you have one but it is handy to reduce the number of cards to carry around.

I did this, from the context of having both cards. Dublin Bikes send you a 12-digit code (or something about that length), and you wave your Leap card over any Dublin Bike terminal, type in you PIN and in the 12-digit code. And that's it.

michaelm

Anyone know the thinking behind only some stations being card enabled? Have used the bikes loads of times in London and Paris and you can have a bike from any station within a minute or so (with your card). On Saturday coming out of the U2 concert, no taxis or buses so went to hire a bike, went to 2 terminals, neither card enabled. Makes little sense for a visitor to the city. Yes you can go online and find the map to where they are available but really, did it save the project that much by only having some enabled?

SHOVELLER

Saw someone cycling the wrong way up Francis Street and then after putting the bike back at the station puts the seat down to the bottom and turns it around:eek:

WTF

HeidiHeidi

SHOVELLER wrote: »

Saw someone cycling the wrong way up Francis Street and then after putting the bike back at the station puts the seat down to the bottom and turns it around:eek:

WTF

Is that not to signify that the bike is crocked in some way? (like a puncture or something)

ED E

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

Is that not to signify that the bike is crocked in some way? (like a puncture or something)

That is the case with Boris Bikes anyways, didnt know it was customary here too.

Idleater

ED E wrote: »

That is the case with Boris Bikes anyways, didnt know it was customary here too.

I figured that out after I "got the last bike" at a station a couple of years ago.

Since then I have suggested to them annually about adding a "report defect on my last bike" menu button on the kiosks. That or in their handy app :rolleyes:

ED E

Their stands have a "its faulty" button thats active for 10s after docking, our system could do with the same.

Idleater

ED E wrote: »

Their stands have a "its faulty" button thats active for 10s after docking, our system could do with the same.

I've tried to search for this and failed. Any more info?

cython

Idleater wrote: »

I've tried to search for this and failed. Any more info?

Are you searching for it in the context of Dublin or London? As I'm pretty sure the poster was referring to the latter:

TfL wrote:

Faulty or damaged cycles
If your cycle breaks down:

Return it to the nearest docking station and secure it in a docking point
Press the fault button on the docking point within 10 seconds - this lets us know the bike needs repairing or replacing
Or call the Contact Centre on 0343 222 6666* (see opening times)
Or report it online
Please note, you will need to wait five minutes before hiring another bike within the same bike access period. You will also need a new cycle release code every time you want to use a cycle.

If you hire a faulty cycle:

Secure it back in the docking point
Press the fault button
Get a new release code at the terminal. There is no further charge for this, provided your access period is still valid
Choose another cycle

SHOVELLER

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

Is that not to signify that the bike is crocked in some way? (like a puncture or something)

Didnt look crocked as they cycled at speed in the wrong direction.

Arcade_Tryer

Signed up recently. Fantastic public service.

One minor inconvenience. I rocked up to Eccles Street station yesterday and there were no spaces available to dock my bike. Fair enough. Found the next nearest station about 500 yards back down the road in the direction I had came, which was less than half full. Docked my bike and walked back from whence I had came and continued on my journey, albeit at the expense of an added 10 minutes walk. Happy to be corrected if wrong, but do the council attempt to correct situations like this if passing by? As in moving some bikes from full capacity stations to nearby empty ones? Would it make sense for a larger sample?

ED E

Idleater wrote: »

I've tried to search for this and failed. Any more info?

Red button on the top of the keypad.

tomasrojo

Clever use of the limited access to DB data:
http://schemestats.bike/blog/post.php?s=2017-07-24-triple-peaks-and-clear-commutes-a-look-at-dublins-bike-sharing-scheme

Conclusions

• Dublin's bike scheme is used extensively to get people to and from work
• The central axis of commuting activity runs from the north and west of the city towards the south-east quadrent
• Weekday activity is composed of a reliable triad featuring the morning and evening commutes and a significant tertiary peak for lunch
• For the weekdays studied, estimated peaks of bikes in circulation during the week is 400 to 500.
• Weekend activity is composed of a single gradual increase in activity from mid-morning through to the evening.
• During the weekends studied, estimated peaks of bikes in circulation is 150-300, with Saturdays being busier than Sundays.

tomasrojo

Also:

The overall trend is a minor surprise for me as a person living in Dublin for years: I always think of the city centre as an area centred on perhaps the Ha'penny bridge or College Green. This may be the case, but from the perspective of cycling commutes it is more centred on Merrion Square or Lower Baggot Street. Perhaps it reflects the greater concentration of office space in this part of the city, however that's just a hunch.

Thargor

Twisting the saddle around is the signal the bike needs maintenance in Paris aswell.

Must say Paris is a joy to use compared to Dublin, the stations are literally everywhere, I was only there for a week last year but after the third day it just became second nature to hop on one when you came out of a cafe or museum, you almost develop a sixth sense about where a station will be there are so many of them, then you can just shoot across the city on any of the main arteries and know there will be a station free at your destination instead of having to plan ahead and wonder if it would be less hassle to walk like here.

magicbastarder

Perhaps it reflects the greater concentration of office space in this part of the city, however that's just a hunch.

i assume they controlled for the geographical spread of the stations?

spotted this evening - a chap on a dublin bike watching planes take off, at the st. margarets end of the runway. i suspect i'd want better lights than on one of those bikes cycling home from there.

tomasrojo

magicbastarder wrote: »

i assume they controlled for the geographical spread of the stations?

Don't think so. Think they just pinged the server for data every minute and mapped the changes in total numbers of bikes parked at each stand.

Some of the bias away from the centre could be down to public transport users getting off at the earliest stop where they can find a stand. Would lead to a bias towards the west in the morning too (not many people arriving on public transport by sea), which is seen here.

buffalo

Thought this might be the same author as above, but apparently not: Usage patterns of Dublin Bikes stations

https://medium.com/towards-data-science/usage-patterns-of-dublin-bikes-stations-484bdd9c5b9e

Nothing really new if you've read the article by Philip Lowney

Arcade_Tryer

Thargor wrote: »

Twisting the saddle around is the signal the bike needs maintenance in Paris aswell.

The saddles could also do with being a bit longer too. Suffering due to lack of cadence on Dublin Bikes...