Limerick Bike Scheme

zulutango · 05-08-2015 11:31am

I'm coming across a few buckled wheels lately, and a fair bit of damage to the bells. Not good.

Jofspring · 05-08-2015 4:05pm

Have seen the guy driving around town in the van fixing bikes and picking them up so they are doing it. How people are managing to do so much damage to the bikes I don't know. Maybe people doing damage to them as they are parked up.

phog · 05-08-2015 4:14pm

The only issue I had with the bikes was a loose saddle but that was because the previous user hadn't pushed in the lever fully and I never checked nor needed to adjust the saddle height.

I'd assume there's a certain amount of vandalism at the bike stands but there's also a chance that some users might not be as careful with these bikes as they would if they owned it.

styer · 20-08-2015 10:40am

Hi Guys,
I've signed up to the bike scheme, but living out in Raheen I don't use them as frequently as I would like, I think they are a great alternative to Buses/taxi's/cars. I often walk into town if I'm meeting someone in the evening, but its a long enough walk. I've read through most of the thread and like a lot of people they are hoping for stations at Ivans, the Gaelic grounds, Castletroy, Cresent, shopping centre, etc, does anyone know if there are actually any plans to expand the service to the suburbs. At the moment I think that unless you are travelling form say the Loche bar to Mary i most of the stations are very close and confined.

Anyone know of any official word?

Poxyshamrock · 30-08-2015 11:34pm

FAO anybody who uses the Newtown Mahon station by CBS, it's out of order since Thursday. It's a popular one in the mornings so just a heads up.

styer · 18-09-2015 4:04pm

For anyone that may be interested I got this reply form the bike scheme on future expansion of the scheme..

"Thank you for getting in touch and we hope you enjoy using Coca-Cola Zero Bikes. Bikeshare schemes are usually focused on short internal trips within a City centre. In an ideal situation they rely upon users self-distributing the bikes between the different bike stations. This Self-distributing means that there would be a flow of people taking bikes out from the station and a reasonably equivalent number of people bringing bikes back to the station. Such an arrangement ensures both bike availability for other people who want to hire bikes from the station and empty spots for people who want to return bikes. However, in practice there is rarely such a balanced flow and more bikes get hired from one station than get returned or, alternatively, there are more people seeking to return the bikes to a station than there are spaces available. To deal with these imbalances, a system of manual bike distribution has to be put in place. These requires a fleet of trucks and drivers who load up excess bikes from one station and move them to another station which is short of bikes. This manual redistribution is expensive to operate. There is a significant cost for trucks and drivers, particularly for an operation that runs 7 days a week from 5.00 am to 12.30am. In addition, the trucks don't have the advantage of the bikes in getting quickly through traffic - the trucks have to contend with the same traffic delays as other road vehicles. As bike stations move further out from a central area, the flow of bike users generally becomes more unbalanced at each station, requiring a lot of bike redistribution by truck. Given the increasing operational costs associated with this redistribution, the schemes in the cities of Cork, Galway and Limerick have adopted a prudent approach, focussed on the central area of the cities as the initial schemes. However, it is the National Transport Authority's intention to review the geographic area of the bike schemes following an initial period of operation and, if the schemes are successful, to examine the potential for further expansion of the schemes."

sioda · 18-09-2015 5:06pm

Keep meaning to email about the stand at cbs to see when or if it's coming back online

Poxyshamrock · 18-09-2015 5:42pm

sioda wrote: »

Keep meaning to email about the stand at cbs to see when or if it's coming back online

I know! I haven't really used the scheme since they closed that.

FobleAsNuck · 18-09-2015 6:55pm

no station at Crescent means I'm never going to use those bikes

Poxyshamrock · 19-09-2015 12:41pm

FobleAsNuck wrote: »

no station at Crescent means I'm never going to use those bikes

I'd say it won't be long before they stick one at the Crescent.

pigtown · 19-09-2015 6:00pm

Would people mind if this thread was also used to discuss cycling infrastructure in the city?

I see that the final section of the riverside route between the city and UL is going ahead next month. The path will close to the public and a new two lane shared bike/walking route will be built. It will be lit up until 10.30 pm and there will be cctv and exercise stations along the route.

Also, all the roadworks around Annacotty/Monaleen are due to the upgrading of the junctions to make cycling and walking safer and more appealing. They are almost finished building a fully segregated Dutch-style roundabout near the Annacotty roundabout, giving cyclists right of way.

panda100 · 20-09-2015 12:17pm

I live up near Mary I and the one way traffic system on the final section of the south circular road is really driving me nuts. There are two bike schemes located on this stretch with no other stations any where close to the dock road or Mary I. That means if you want to return a bike, and not break the law by cycling the wrong way up a one way street, you have to go all the way up o'connell avenue and all the way back down the north circular road. There is certainly a case to be made of installing a two way cycle lane on this stretch. There are already cyclists frequently cycling on the pavement and against the traffic, which is unsafe. It also makes no sense to have two stations on a one way street!

steveon · 20-09-2015 12:40pm

panda100 wrote: »

I live up near Mary I and the one way traffic system on the final section of the north circular road is really driving me nuts. There are two bike schemes located on this stretch with no other stations any where close to the dock road or Mary I. That means if you want to return a bike, and not break the law by cycling the wrong way up a one way street, you have to go all the way up o'connell avenue and all the way back down the north circular road. There is certainly a case to be made of installing a two way cycle lane on this stretch. There are already cyclists frequently cycling on the pavement and against the traffic, which is unsafe. It also makes no sense to have two stations on a one way street!

Mary i is on the south circular rd not the north which is across the river. If u live up by mary i simply go down new street and dock at the mount school it takes 5 mins to get from there to mary i ....i walk it every day

panda100 · 20-09-2015 1:21pm

steveon wrote: »

Mary i is on the south circular rd not the north which is across the river. If u live up by mary i simply go down new street and dock at the mount school it takes 5 mins to get from there to mary i ....i walk it every day

I always get confused between my north and south

I still think there is a case for a two way cycle lane considering the amount of cycle traffic that this road see's.

steveon · 20-09-2015 1:28pm

panda100 wrote: »

I always get confused between my north and south I still think there is a case for a two way cycle lane considering the amount of cycle traffic that this road see's.

There is rarely room in this street for a single lane of traffic and for people to park outside there homes as alot have no gardens where your talking about and as its a one way street the bikes have to follow the road laws which means a one way . no need to waste tax payers money for a bike lane on a stretch of road that takes 5 mins to walk fron st clements to.the roundabout beyond mary at the.end of new street.

Im all for bike lanes but that is ridiculous

wingnut · 20-09-2015 1:32pm

panda100 wrote: »

That means if you want to return a bike, and not break the law by cycling the wrong way up a one way street, you have to go all the way up o'connell avenue and all the way back down the north circular road.

Used to annoy me walking to Mary I because if the opened the convent through way you could save a 5 min walk. Never annoyed me on bike because because it only takes a minute or two to cycle around and back.

You can always walk the bike up the one way if you want to stay legal.

Poxyshamrock · 20-09-2015 4:24pm

wingnut wrote: »

Used to annoy me walking to Mary I because if the opened the convent through way you could save a 5 min walk. Never annoyed me on bike because because it only takes a minute or two to cycle around and back.

You can always walk the bike up the one way if you want to stay legal.

I think they'll be opening the convent gates soon! Will be very handy!

Parchment · 20-09-2015 8:20pm

FobleAsNuck wrote: »

no station at Crescent means I'm never going to use those bikes

I see this as being a huge flaw in their layout.

Parchment · 20-09-2015 8:22pm

pigtown wrote: »

Would people mind if this thread was also used to discuss cycling infrastructure in the city?

I see that the final section of the riverside route between the city and UL is going ahead next month. The path will close to the public and a new two lane shared bike/walking route will be built. It will be lit up until 10.30 pm and there will be cctv and exercise stations along the route.

Also, all the roadworks around Annacotty/Monaleen are due to the upgrading of the junctions to make cycling and walking safer and more appealing. They are almost finished building a fully segregated Dutch-style roundabout near the Annacotty roundabout, giving cyclists right of way.

I cycle from Limerick city to Castleconnell on a regular basis and once youre out past Chawkes petrol station its a pleasure to cycle the rest of the road. Mostly due to the low volume of traffic since the motorway opened.

pigtown · 20-09-2015 8:52pm

From the council's August report;

the council’s design team is currently preparing designs
for cycleways from the Limerick institute of technology to
the city centre and also from mary immaculate college to
the city centre

All of the other infrastructure is being developed by Smarter Travel and the bike scheme is run by the NTA but the council are developing these routes. Here's hoping they are learning from the other's experience.

zulutango · 22-09-2015 5:46pm

Today was the first time I experienced a queue. I've seen a big uptake in the last few weeks too.

panda100 · 01-10-2015 10:12am

So last night I cycled into town to have a few beverages and parked back up at the Punches Cross station at around 11pm. While I was getting off the bike and crossing the road I placed my beloved pink bell helmet in the basket. This morning when I work up I couldn't find my helmet anywhere and realised I had left it in the basket (due to stupid tipsy panda brain!).

To my absolute delight and surprise, considering that this type of bell helmet cost about €100, my cherished helmet was still waiting for me this morning at 9.30am at the station. Thank you people of Limerick for not robbing me of one of my absolute favourite possessions

Poxyshamrock · 01-10-2015 12:04pm

Delighted you got your helmet back but slightly worried that you were cycling while under the influence. :eek:

pigtown · 27-10-2015 6:31pm

Some stats about the scheme from the Irish Independent.

6,800 cyclists in Cork, 2,000 in Galway and 2,300 in Limerick have taken out annual subscriptions.

Cork
202,702 trips taken.The most popular journey is from Bandfield to St Patrick's Street.

The busiest station is Fitzgerald Park, which has been used more than 18,000 times

Limerick
31,368 journeys taken. The most popular is between Mount Saint Vincent and O'Connell Street, with 606 trips.

The busiest station is Mary Immaculate College with almost 4,300 trips.

Galway
17,348 have been taken. The most popular trip is from Fr Burke Road to Eyre Square, with 355 journeys made.

The busiest station is Cathedral, with 2,127 trips.

phog · 27-10-2015 10:23pm

Mary I being the busiest would suggest a station at the other 3rd level colleges would increase usage of scheme

dunworth1 · 30-10-2015 1:00am

The uptake is low enough. And i would assume that the lack of stations outside of the city centre is the reason.

None station by lit/Thomond park
None at the parkway
None at the crescent

I would put Money on the uptake being much higher if stations were in those locations

I'm still amazed that no station was put out at the crescent it would be ideal for most people jump on a bike from town to the crescent drop the bike off go shopping grab another bike and cycle back to town.

I do wonder if bus eirreann had something to do with no station in the crescent as it's one of the busiest routes in the city.

schemingbohemia · 30-10-2015 12:31pm

dunworth1 wrote: »

The uptake is low enough. And i would assume that the lack of stations outside of the city centre is the reason.

None station by lit/Thomond park
None at the parkway
None at the crescent

I would put Money on the uptake being much higher if stations were in those locations

I'm still amazed that no station was put out at the crescent it would be ideal for most people jump on a bike from town to the crescent drop the bike off go shopping grab another bike and cycle back to town.

I do wonder if bus eirreann had something to do with no station in the crescent as it's one of the busiest routes in the city.

Sometimes there isn't a conspiracy involved.

The way these schemes work is you need clusters of stations at 250-350 metres apart, so if you put a station at the Crescent that would mean another 6 to 8 stations required (probably more) which increases the costs significantly.

Jofspring · 30-10-2015 1:59pm

Why would you need to that many extra stations? If let's say they put two at the crescent. You could pick up a bike at the crescent and the next stop is right outside scoil Carmel, or Mary I. That's only about 5 minutes of cycling, 10 minutes maximum. Why would another 6+ stations be needed?

pigtown · 30-10-2015 3:21pm

Because if you cycle out to the Crescent and find that all of the docking stations are full then you cant leave your bike there and go about your business, you need to be able to leave it at another docking station within a reasonable walking distance. Otherwise you won't take the risk.

schemingbohemia · 30-10-2015 4:01pm

Jofspring wrote: »

Why would you need to that many extra stations? If let's say they put two at the crescent. You could pick up a bike at the crescent and the next stop is right outside scoil Carmel, or Mary I. That's only about 5 minutes of cycling, 10 minutes maximum. Why would another 6+ stations be needed?

Basically what pigtown said.

It's the guts of 2km from the Crescent to scoil carmel and Mary I - 250metres into 2km =?

You need to have natural "churn" of bikes, ie bikes coming and going, otherwise the cost of moving them falls to the operator and these schemes work when cyclists do most of the moving of the bikes naturally.

FobleAsNuck · 30-10-2015 5:03pm

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Basically what pigtown said.

It's the guts of 2km from the Crescent to scoil carmel and Mary I - 250metres into 2km =?

You need to have natural "churn" of bikes, ie bikes coming and going, otherwise the cost of moving them falls to the operator and these schemes work when cyclists do most of the moving of the bikes naturally.

while I agree in principle, asking people to ditch cars and buses in favor or bikes will only work when you actually can get into and from most desirable spots using one. people from Dooradoyle / Raheen (hure areas) won't walk to Mary I to get onto a bike

schemingbohemia · 30-10-2015 5:27pm

Jofspring wrote: »

Why would you need to that many extra stations? If let's say they put two at the crescent. You could pick up a bike at the crescent and the next stop is right outside scoil Carmel, or Mary I. That's only about 5 minutes of cycling, 10 minutes maximum. Why would another 6+ stations be needed?

FobleAsNuck wrote: »

while I agree in principle, asking people to ditch cars and buses in favor or bikes will only work when you actually can get into and from most desirable spots using one. people from Dooradoyle / Raheen (hure areas) won't walk to Mary I to get onto a bike

There's no prohibition on people buying their own bike as far as I'm aware.

I'd be hopeful the scheme would gradually extend over time to the Crescent and further but the multiplier effect of going further out and needing multiples of the stations and bikes already there make it a difficult ask.

It took time to extend in Dublin.

FobleAsNuck · 30-10-2015 5:54pm

I have my own bike, but I wouldn't dare to leave it anywhere in town - now waiting for you to advice me to buy another cheap one for trips to town.
Apart from that, this defies the purpose of public scheme.

dunworth1 · 30-10-2015 6:26pm

schemingbohemia wrote: »

There's no prohibition on people buying their own bike as far as I'm aware.

I'd be hopeful the scheme would gradually extend over time to the Crescent and further but the multiplier effect of going further out and needing multiples of the stations and bikes already there make it a difficult ask.

It took time to extend in Dublin.

but if its doing poorly like the figures above states

i see to choices rapidly expand to actual popular areas
or pretty much abandon it.

i live just outside the city about a 20 minute walk but if i wanted to use one of the bikes i'd have to walk for 15 minutes to the nearest station

and i just dont see the point in unhooking the bike for a 3 minute cycle into the city centre

zulutango · 30-10-2015 7:02pm

FobleAsNuck wrote: »

I have my own bike, but I wouldn't dare to leave it anywhere in town - now waiting for you to advice me to buy another cheap one for trips to town.
Apart from that, this defies the purpose of public scheme.

There's free secure bike lockers in the multi-storey car parks in Anne Street and Howley's Quay. I used them a fair bit and they're great.

Insect Overlord · 30-10-2015 7:09pm

zulutango wrote: »

There's free secure bike lockers in the multi-storey car parks in Anne Street and Howley's Quay. I used them a fair bit and they're great.

I've been meaning to find out how those work. Do you bring your own padlock or chain or what?

zulutango · 30-10-2015 7:10pm

dunworth1 wrote: »

but if its doing poorly like the figures above states

i see to choices rapidly expand to actual popular areas
or pretty much abandon it.

i live just outside the city about a 20 minute walk but if i wanted to use one of the bikes i'd have to walk for 15 minutes to the nearest station

and i just dont see the point in unhooking the bike for a 3 minute cycle into the city centre

It just goes to show how badly designed modern Limerick City is. We really shouldn't have sprawling suburbs like Raheen and Castletroy. For our population we're way too spread out and this makes cycling uptake and public transport provision very difficult. The only way forward for Limerick is to look at condensing its small population into a tighter area and that probably means incentivising more people to live near or in the city centre.

As it is I live about 20 minutes walk from the centre, but I'm still a regular user of the scheme.

zulutango · 30-10-2015 7:11pm

An File wrote: »

I've been meaning to find out how those work. Do you bring your own padlock or chain or what?

It's like a shopping trolley. You put 1 euro in and then the locker opens. You put your bike in, close the locker, take away the key. When you return and re-open the locker the euro is returned to you.

Insect Overlord · 30-10-2015 7:13pm

zulutango wrote: »

It's like a shopping trolley. You put 1 euro in and then the locker opens. You put your bike in, close the locker, take away the key. When you return and re-open the locker the euro is returned to you.

That's so simple it's brilliant. Thanks!

Poxyshamrock · 16-11-2015 4:22pm

31,000 trips so far...not bad!

http://m.limerickleader.ie/news/business/business-news/31-000-trips-taken-on-public-bikes-in-limerick-since-roll-out-1-7067576

zulutango · 16-11-2015 5:41pm

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

31,000 trips so far...not bad!

http://m.limerickleader.ie/news/business/business-news/31-000-trips-taken-on-public-bikes-in-limerick-since-roll-out-1-7067576

Alan Owens concludes the article by saying that "it is likely that a connection with UL will be establsihed once the Smarter Travel route from the city along the old towpath route next to the canal is completed next year." But he doesn't provide any source to support this. I'd be very surprised if it happens that soon. As noted here previously outlying stations don't really work too well in these schemes.

zulutango · 16-11-2015 6:55pm

I wonder why there is such a gap between uptake in Cork and Limerick. Obviously, Cork has the bigger population but the uptake is proportionally much greater.

Perhaps more people live centrally in Cork? There's a staggeringly low number of people living in Limerick City centre (about 3000).

Also, the traffic congestion is worse in Cork so there's a greater incentive to leave the car at home

Then again, Cork City has UCC in the centre so a large amount of students are probably using the bikes. Our biggest third level institution isn't served by the bikes at all.

Cork
202,702 trips taken.The most popular journey is from Bandfield to St Patrick's Street.

The busiest station is Fitzgerald Park, which has been used more than 18,000 times

Limerick
31,368 journeys taken. The most popular is between Mount Saint Vincent and O'Connell Street, with 606 trips.

The busiest station is Mary Immaculate College with almost 4,300 trips.

what_traffic · 16-11-2015 7:11pm

Limerick numbers beat Galway - but Galway only has 13(15) active stations v's 21(23) for Limerick.
More reading on this here
http://irishcycle.com/2015/11/13/galway-bicycle-share-failings-blamed-on-removal-of-key-station-and-on-way-streets/

Hard to compare when none of the 3 cities have the same number of stations and bikes.

Galway is to have 8 additional stations. See:
http://irishcycle.com/2015/08/31/8-new-galway-bike-scheme-stations-says-minister/
After that can then compare Galway and Limerick as both will have 23 stations but still will have local issues like One Way Streets, location of 3rd level colleges, population etc so it will still not be accurate to compare directly.

Poxyshamrock · 16-11-2015 7:57pm

Cork has an awful lot of European nationals (French, Spanish, German) living there who are more likely to make use of the scheme than their Irish counterparts. As mentioned, the fact that UCC has a station helps too.

thesimpsons · 17-11-2015 6:42pm

with Mary I proving to have the largest uptake would it not follow that LIT and UL would merit extensions of the scheme.

Jofspring · 17-11-2015 7:40pm

From cycling the bikes does anyone else feel they wouldn't be very suited for long distance? Have only taken them around town but not sure i'd fancy cycling from UL to town on one.

zulutango · 17-11-2015 7:50pm

thesimpsons wrote: »

with Mary I proving to have the largest uptake would it not follow that LIT and UL would merit extensions of the scheme.

If you were putting them in UL it would make sense to put a few stations around the campus. That way the bike sharing within the campus (and there would certainly be plenty of this) would ensure a regular rotation of bikes between the stations, such that people who are cycling from town could go to another station if the first one they came across was full. The reason given for not having stations at UL is that if somebody cycling from town arrived at a full station they'd have nowhere to go, so the only real solution is to put a few out there.

Poxyshamrock · 17-11-2015 8:14pm

thesimpsons wrote: »

with Mary I proving to have the largest uptake would it not follow that LIT and UL would merit extensions of the scheme.

Mary I happens to be situated in an affluent suburb as well so I imagine it's a lot of residents that use it as well.

panda100 · 17-11-2015 9:50pm

Poxyshamrock wrote:

Mary I happens to be situated in an affluent suburb as well so I imagine it's a lot of residents that use it as well.

I used this station frequently until recently and the majority of people using it appeared to be local residents/workers more than students. There was always a queue at station from half 8 on with workers cycling into town. Similarly lots of peopke docking their bikes their after 5. There's a lot of estates around there with people working in city I say.

pigtown · 29-11-2015 12:17am

I was in Cork during the week and I can see why it's so successful there. There are plenty of proper segregated bike lanes throughout the city centre. The train station is linked to the centre by a two-way segregated cycle path, making it safe and easy to use. The proposed upgrade for Davis Street and Parnell Street has provision for extensive bike lanes but they are not physically separated from car traffic.

Also, the most popular station was Fitzgerald Park. This area in the Mardyke is a bit like the university here. It's a bit out of town, with lots of walks and trees by the river. It is linked to the city via the Mardyke Walk, and a segregated bike path along the quays.
The upgrade to the Shannon river path that's going ahead would in fact be a nicer route than the Mardyke Walk, and the new bike path that runs from the university to the Parkway Roundabout is a good comparison to the path along the quays. If the university is ever added to the bike scheme then I can imagine that it would be incredibly successful.

I think what Limerick really needs is a bike 'highway', a fully segregated bike path that links Grove Island to Raheen and possibly out to the new Mungret Park, and then Ballysimon to Coonagh. This would connect pretty much the entire city and would go a long way towards getting people cycling.

Limerick Bike Scheme

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