Limerick Bike Scheme

wingnut · 06-11-2011 1:33pm

To echo sentiments already I think the city is too small for the scheme.

What Limerick DOES need is a safe supervised place to leave your own bike in the city centre. In Dublin some of the multi stories have set aside an area for bikes in front of the security stations. I think this is a great idea.

I would have no problem paying 50c or so to leave a bike in town and have peace of mind. I live in the county, its a nice 30min cycle into town but I don't do it because I have decent bike and don't want it nicked/saddle nicked spat on etc which have all happened in the past.

http://www.dublincitycycling.ie/blog/index.php/2009/10/new-cycle-parking-facility-on-drury-street/

Poxyshamrock · 06-11-2011 2:02pm

Yeah, it would be great if someone like Tony Clarke turned some spaces in his carpark to bike spaces. I'm sure 5 car spaces would create room for at least 15-20 bikes!

niceview · 06-11-2011 2:43pm

Kess73 wrote: »

Limerick is a very small city that has traditionally had one of the highest unemployment % in Ireland even during the so called boom years, and right now it is close to twice the national average in terms of unemploytment. It is also the city with the highest % of social housing in Ireland, and the city with the highest % of unit closures in the city centre. I see those things as being major obstacles to the bike idea compared to rolling it out in Galway or Cork.

Do unemployed people or people living in social housing not use bicycles? Should they not be afforded the opportunity? And before you say that argument is related to cost, it is €10 for an annual subscription in Dublin and €2 for up to three hours use. A lot cheaper than a bus and healthier too.

http://www.dublincitycycling.ie/public-bike-scheme/introducing-dublin-city-councils-dublinblikes

And if someone does not have a credit card they can use a smartcard which is an option anyone can avail of.

That point is a ridiculous one.

highlydebased · 06-11-2011 3:05pm

Well it says Cork would need "235-265 bikes to cater for an estimated 2,250 subscribers"- surely Limerick would have less again than this so it's not like there would be a bike per head of population, so I think thats an appropriate number for them to have.

I'd certainly be all for it.

Icky Thump · 06-11-2011 7:38pm

as a pure guess and not knowing how many stations and such they plan to have or area they would cover id say they would only need about 100-150 bikes in limerick and that would probably be plenty.

the arguement that limerick is too small is stupid. surely a smaller area is easier to control and keep track of the bikes. there are plenty of cycle routes in the city and plenty of routes to go for a random cycle.

stop being negative

Story_Bud · 07-11-2011 1:47pm

Why are people so negative .. i cycle on my bike and it is annoying when cars beep at me when i am on the road! Where am i meant to go ? i find it a great way to get around limerick and as it is very small it doesnt take that long to travel from one side to the other! I have had my bike stolen in carherdavin but you gotta take it on the chin .. it happens everywhere and i feel confident that when i leave my bike in limerick that it will be safe!

thesimpsons · 07-11-2011 2:39pm

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

Yeah, it would be great if someone like Tony Clarke turned some spaces in his carpark to bike spaces. I'm sure 5 car spaces would create room for at least 15-20 bikes!

agree - would love to be able to cycle to town but don't feel bike would be particularly safe in the new bike racks round town, and don't want dogs p*ssing up against it either. A supervised area which is ticketed in and out same as cars are would be addition to city centre.

Icky Thump · 08-11-2011 5:15pm

all that is really needed is have indoor carparks cater for bikes aswell. surely they wouldnt take up alot of space. as someone said above 2 car spaces could cater for a good few bikes. you dont exactly need 100 spaces. you could charge a quid to park your bike for the day and people would pay it easily.

idealy you would be able to leave your bike into a cage type room (thinking of costelloes:D) and you get a ticket when you leave it in and must show your ticket when you are getting it back out any business in town with an empty store room could facilitate this on the side of whatever kind of business they run.

there are so many empty shops around im suprised someone hasnt tried this already.

as for the bike rental. hopefully it wil make the ciy more aware of the need to be bike friendly as in have a place to park your bikes.

i wouldnt even mind if there was a security camera on the bikes so we could identify anyone who tries to steal them or mess with them

Poxyshamrock · 16-11-2011 1:33am

Anyone at the meeting on Monday?

Cpt_Blackbeard · 16-11-2011 8:38pm

It should be a great way of getting students from UL and LIT into the city centre. All you really need is one station in the city centre (Outside Penney's or by Burger King?), one in the crescent, one in UL, one in LIT and one in Corbally. That should cover most areas around the city.

Poxyshamrock · 17-11-2011 1:53am

Don't think UL would work as it is too far out! Same reason Heuston in Dublin doesn't have them!

Amazotheamazing · 18-11-2011 8:09pm

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

Don't think UL would work as it is too far out! Same reason Heuston in Dublin doesn't have them!

UL is hardly that far out, it's only a 10/15 min cycle.

Anyhow, Limerick is too different to Dublin to copy the plan as is.

Insect Overlord · 18-11-2011 8:11pm

I think a maintained cycling path from town to UL would be brilliant. The canal walk out to Plassey is under-utilised, imo.

Poxyshamrock · 18-11-2011 8:45pm

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

UL is hardly that far out, it's only a 10/15 min cycle.

Anyhow, Limerick is too different to Dublin to copy the plan as is.

I agree but if someone cycles to UL and finds that all the stands are full then where do they leave their bike? They'd have to build stands at groody, the parkway and other places and all the way out from the city!

Limerick_Lass · 19-11-2011 3:40am

Oh this is brilliant news!

Mrmoe · 19-11-2011 11:47am

I think this is a great idea and would definitely use it. I would try to cycle as much as I can anyway but the weather would be the biggest impediment. If it was raining in the morning and I would get the bus but this would leave the option of the bike in the evening when it was fine and dry. Theft would be an issue but it is definitely something to introduce on a pilot scale at least. It's a pity it wasn't introduced 10 years ago.

Poxyshamrock · 13-08-2013 2:25pm

Sorry to bump an old thread but Limerick City Council now have some maps of the proposed locations on their site courtesy of Arup.

http://www.limerickcity.ie/Transport/NTARegionalBicycleShareScheme/

Nice mix of locations.

wingnut · 13-08-2013 2:48pm

Interesting. I still think it'd of limited use around what is a compact city centre. Would be really useful if they had stations in Castletroy, Raheen, Corbally, Caherdavin etc.

pigtown · 14-08-2013 10:16am

I hope that further expansion is planned in order to reach UL, LIT, and Raheen in the coming years.
Any idea when it's due to be in place?

letsdothis · 15-08-2013 3:16pm

Delighted this is happening and I'd really love to see it work out. However, I think the mix of locations is a bit odd and the scope is not wide enough. Has anybody thought of who might use them and why? I personally think this needs to take in Raheen and Castletroy if it's to work well but it's almost a waste of time if the northside and southside suburbs and Corbally are not included. The Treaty Stone, Strand Hotel and King John's Castle isn't far enough.

In terms of the proposed locations, having one on The Crescent and THREE on O'Connell Ave is ridiculous. Without much extra cost (in terms of maintenance), they could at least expand to The Crescent Shopping Centre and Ballincurra Road. The scope for this, in my opinion, needs to go to The Parkway, Roxboro Shopping Centre, The Crescent Shopping Centre, Ivans, Westbury general areas at least for it to be viable. All of these locations can easily be cycled to in 10-20 from the city centre. Most of these schemes that I've tried (Dublin, London, Luxembourg) give a 30 minute free allowance. There's nothing in this proposed scheme that would really take more than 10 minutes. I must send an email to ARUP FWIW. Anybody know why it is so limited? The biggest maintence cost with this schemes is having a van go around and move the bikes between hubs. In Limerick, this should be possible with one van for the entire urban/suburban area.

wingnut · 15-08-2013 5:18pm

Would be handy if they had one park and ride style location where there was a rack outside of the paid parking area of the city.

I think the suburbs would work well as there would be a steady flow of people looking to go in and out. One thing stopping cycling into town at present is concern for my bike when it is locked up.

If they don't look at having a substantial rack at UL and the Crescent they are really missing a beat.

As stated three racks on O'Connell avenue is crazy. It is nearly easier to walk from one of town to the other between cars chopping lanes and pedestrians jaywalking. It will be such a waste of a good idea if they don't look beyond the city center.

jimmyjim11 · 15-08-2013 5:57pm

From there website

Please address any comments or queries to ntabicyclesharescheme@arup.com; this
email address will remain active until Friday, 30th August, 2013.

fleabag · 15-08-2013 7:38pm

Brilliant! I would love this, really hope it happens. I live out in the sticks and would come into Limerick just to ride a bike round and see the place. You can't take it all in walking.

fi314 · 19-08-2013 2:25pm

http://www.thejournal.ie/limerick-bikes-1043862-Aug2013/

News getting national attention!

Echoing what has been stated in above posts the locations have to be reconsidered.

I moved to limerick city centre just over a year ago and had such great intentions of healthy living that I instantly bought a bike. This bike only makes an appearance whenever I want a weekend cycle mainly to Adare or Kilaloe. I work in city centre and it takes me longer to cycle/lock than it does to walk.

I note that the scheme has been rolled out to Cork, Galway and Limerick. Does anyone know if separate analysis was done for each city? It would be interesting to see the analysis for limerick.

letsdothis · 19-08-2013 5:56pm

I contact ARUP with my thoughts and some suggestions for alternative hubs and suburban areas that it might service (a bit like I posted above but with more detail). Hopefully some others that have posted here might do the same.

Poxyshamrock · 19-08-2013 6:25pm

There's a public consultation tomorrow for anyone that's interested. It's on in City Hall from 2pm to 6.30pm. I'm sure ARUP will have a representative there!

I emailed ARUP to suggest a bike stand at LSAD. It could prove to be a very useful facility for students.

Also, as well as the Bike Scheme, Limerick Smarter Travel are in talks with car park owners in the City Centre in hope that they'll install bike stands and bike lockers. There is a great example of a bike park in Drury Street car park in Dublin 2.

wingnut · 20-08-2013 1:35pm

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

Also, as well as the Bike Scheme, Limerick Smarter Travel are in talks with car park owners in the City Centre in hope that they'll install bike stands and bike lockers.

That would be great. Would actually be able to cycle into the city then. No way I would leave my bike locked up there ATM.

Poxyshamrock · 20-08-2013 2:16pm

Yeah, I'm the same. I cycle to college but I'm reluctant to bring my bike to town and park up.

wingnut · 20-08-2013 7:06pm

Went in to city hall today to make my case. The guys involved were very interested and took the points on board. The guy in charge felt that the crescent, UL etc would be too far to cycle for the casual cyclist and that the close city center spots would be more suitable for the initial offering to ensure success.

I can see where he is coming from but don't agree. I still feel it may backfire in that people may not use the service because the journeys are too short. Maybe I am overestimating the ability of the casual user but I don't think that the Crescent etc would be too far a distance for a station.

I did meet some Councillors who were very interested in the idea of using an old building for bike parking, as part of a FAS scheme etc. This would be separate to the Limerick Bike Scheme.

All in all very positive developments but I really hope the scheme gets expanded at some stage at least to UL and LIT. The colleges are planning on opening campuses in town so it would seem like an obvious use case.

fl4pj4ck · 20-08-2013 7:43pm

city to Crescent SC is like 15 minutes tops, dunno what he was on about

wingnut · 20-08-2013 10:10pm

fl4pj4ck wrote: »

city to Crescent SC is like 15 minutes tops, dunno what he was on about

Yeah I was thinking the same. I used to do Corbally to Mary I in 15 minutes handy enough but I did cycle a lot back then (mountain bike by the way).

Its 3.4 km from the Crescent to Arthurs Quay. The most casual cyclist will be doing 13+ kmph. Even with traffic lights etc a casual cyclist would definitely do it in under 30 mins, an experienced cyclist under 15 without much effort.

Maybe some more mails etc will sway them in the direction of more dispersed locations. I was really surprised UL wasn't going to have a stand given the plans to bi locate some of the campus into the city.

The vibe I got was this is aimed at tourists and casual users and that commuters will have their own bikes in an out. Its a pity as I think the UL / Crescent routes would be very popular.

jmch81 · 20-09-2013 9:23am

An announcement today:

http://www.thejournal.ie/bike-schemes-cork-galway-limerick-1092133-Sep2013/

source · 20-09-2013 11:02am

23 docking stations? That seems like more than was initially announced, have they expanded the Limerick scheme?

fl4pj4ck · 20-09-2013 11:03am

that would probably include 15 of them on O'Connell St.
(hoping to be wrong)

stevestevenson · 20-09-2013 12:27pm

I presume they'll have docking stations in O'Malley Park - given most of the bikes will end up out there anyway

jmch81 · 20-09-2013 1:01pm

update:

Link

Cant wait to get on a Coke Zero bike! :rolleyes:

A big brand to have sponsoring it. Fair play to getting someone that size.

Poxyshamrock · 20-09-2013 10:50pm

Really looking forward to this.

steveon · 20-09-2013 11:12pm

Nice to see and we mite actually see someone using the bike lanes.....and it would be nice to see it extended out onto the old dublin to nenagh road where there is fab bike lane that I never seen one bike using yet.

thesimpsons · 21-09-2013 9:52am

steveon wrote: »

Nice to see and we mite actually see someone using the bike lanes.....and it would be nice to see it extended out onto the old dublin to nenagh road where there is fab bike lane that I never seen one bike using yet.

used it a few times but the surface in some spots is fairly dire so between that and the road debris its not great. definitely think that not adding the crescent and UL and LIT would be a big mistake.

steveon · 22-09-2013 9:24pm

thesimpsons wrote: »

used it a few times but the surface in some spots is fairly dire so between that and the road debris its not great. definitely think that not adding the crescent and UL and LIT would be a big mistake.

Is it that bad wasnt €50,000 spend on it to do it up???? Been always saying that bike lanes should not be at the same level as the road due to debris and broken glass being blown in there by cars and trucks defeating its purpose. But what really baffles me is the inconsistancy of design of bike lanes around the city, some are level with the road, others are not...some are denoted with a red markings and bikes drawn on them and others are not....Id love to know why this is the case.???? as it makes no sense to me as surely they should be all the same...but once again def should not be at street level...and furthermore can anyone explain to me why the bike logos are mostly removed (looks like a blow torch was used) along the footpath heading from Huntsfield gardens towards the cresent shopping centre.....Im not a cyclist myself but support the movement fully!

redron74 · 22-09-2013 10:30pm

steveon wrote: »

Is it that bad wasnt €50,000 spend on it to do it up???? Been always saying that bike lanes should not be at the same level as the road due to debris and broken glass being blown in there by cars and trucks defeating its purpose. But what really baffles me is the inconsistancy of design of bike lanes around the city, some are level with the road, others are not...some are denoted with a red markings and bikes drawn on them and others are not....Id love to know why this is the case.???? as it makes no sense to me as surely they should be all the same...but once again def should not be at street level...and furthermore can anyone explain to me why the bike logos are mostly removed (looks like a blow torch was used) along the footpath heading from Huntsfield gardens towards the cresent shopping centre.....Im not a cyclist myself but support the movement fully!

And the bike lane on Childers Road is dangerous for pedestrians: in order to get from Norwood Park onto the designated pedestrian footpath, you must cross the bike lane. If you're coming out from the pedestrian exit (opening in the wall) near the Parkway SC, your view of the traffic on the bike lane is blocked by the wall! I don't understand why the bike lane is inside the footpath. Apart from the safety aspect, it just doesn't make any logical sense.

steveon · 23-09-2013 2:35pm

redron74 wrote: »

And the bike lane on Childers Road is dangerous for pedestrians: in order to get from Norwood Park onto the designated pedestrian footpath, you must cross the bike lane. If you're coming out from the pedestrian exit (opening in the wall) near the Parkway SC, your view of the traffic on the bike lane is blocked by the wall! I don't understand why the bike lane is inside the footpath. Apart from the safety aspect, it just doesn't make any logical sense.

Ive seen more people cycling on the path than in the bike lane there and vice versa so appears the locals agree with you 2 lol

Poxyshamrock · 07-05-2014 3:59pm

Sorry for digging up an old thread.

List of the the finalised locations for the Limerick bike scheme

Should be up and running by August.

Limerick Dude · 08-05-2014 8:58am

I know they wanted to do it on a small scale initially but surely having a dock at LIT and UL would have been a no-brainer.

apc · 08-05-2014 11:38am

Agreed also should be put in the parkway and crescent shopping centres and suburbs

1huge1 · 08-05-2014 8:31pm

apc wrote: »

Agreed also should be put in the parkway and crescent shopping centres and suburbs

The Crescent is on the list, or am I getting it mixed up? Is there another crescent around O Connell ave or something?

steveon · 08-05-2014 8:39pm

1huge1 wrote: »

The Crescent is on the list, or am I getting it mixed up? Is there another crescent around O Connell ave or something?

The cresent is located at the top of o connell street where the monument outside the old Jesuits Church!

thesimpsons · 08-05-2014 10:26pm

some of the locations appears very close together, within a few minutes walk of each other - Bishop Quay/Bedford Row/Roches St. are they they that close together in Dublin?

Poxyshamrock · 08-05-2014 11:29pm

I'm disappointed that they didn't decide to put one by LSAD and Grove Island. I think the locations would have worked well.

Insect Overlord · 09-05-2014 12:25am

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

I'm disappointed that they didn't decide to put one by LSAD and Grove Island. I think the locations would have worked well.

I hope they plan to expand the range of locations if the first wave of stations are as successful as they should be. My uncle has insisted for years that Limerick is ideal for cycling commutes, and I'd probably agree with him. Apart from the rain, like. Obviously. :pac:

Limerick Bike Scheme

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