Dublin gears up for bike scheme expansion

THE Dublin Bike Scheme will expand threefold as part of ambitious plans to be rubberstamped in the coming weeks.

Work to treble the number of bikes from 550 to 1,500, and more than double the number of bike stations from 44 to 100, are expected to begin before the end of the year.

The new bike stations will initially be installed in the Docklands and Heuston Station areas in this first phase of a five-year expansion plan to increase the number of bikes to 5,000 and the number of bike stations to approximately 300.

News of the expansion have been heralded as a major vote of confidence in the scheme, which is regarded as the most successful of its kind in Europe.

Artane Whitehall ward councillor, Andrew Montague (Lab), who first pitched the idea for a city bike scheme back in 2004 and is chair of the Transport Committee, said the scheme has proven its critics and cynics wrong.

“In the three years it’s been running just two bikes were stolen and we got both of those bikes back,

? Cllr Montague told Northside People.

“The scheme has also significantly improved safety in the city as the number of fatalities went from 32 in 2009 to 11 in 2011 which proves that the more cyclists in a city – the safer the city becomes because drivers are forced to slow down.

?

According to Cllr Montague, the long-term ambition for the scheme is to have bike stations radiating from suburban areas such as UCD, Sandymount and Inchicore in the south to DCU Ballymun and Santry in the north of the city.

Around 70,000 subscribers have signed up to use the bikes since the scheme began operating in September 2009.

The bikes and their pick-up and drop-off stations have thus far been funded by outdoor advertising company JC Decaux, which won the contract to provide the bike scheme in return for advertising space in the city.

However, the expansion will be funded through a

?¬500,000 grant from the National Transport Authority (NTA).

An Taisce, the National Trust for Ireland, welcomed the extension of the bike scheme and the way in which it will be funded this time around.

“It is most welcome that the new bike scheme is not going to be funded by yielding public space to a private advertising company,

? a spokesperson for An Taisce stated.

“An Taisce, along with others, fought the original scheme as it represented very poor value for the city, while road safety was being potentially jeopardised [by billboards].

“Arising from a relatively small grant of

?¬500,000 from the NTA, Dublin will soon have a world class communal bike scheme without further defacing its environment.

?

Responding to criticism in relation to the deal with JC Decaux, Cllr Montague said the scheme would still be

“just a pipe-dream

? were it not for the commercial involvement.

“None of this would have happened without that money in return for advertising space,

? he said.

“It wasn’t a viable option this time as there isn’t the room for three times more advertising in the city.

?

A spokesperson for Dublin City Council confirmed that it has prioritised the area around Dublin Docklands and Heuston Station in its incremental plans to expand dublinbikes.

“The proposed expansion to the Docklands and Heuston will double the number of bike stations from 44 to approximately 100 and treble the number of bikes from 550 to approx 1,500, said the spokesperson.

“The council anticipates that construction will commence before the end of 2012.

?