Dublin Bikes [many] months on.

jack presley

If one more of those Dublin Bike users comes towards me on the footpath, he's getting clotheslined!

Get off the path!!!

BostonB

jack presley wrote: »

If one more of those Dublin Bike users comes towards me on the footpath, he's getting clotheslined!

Get off the path!!!

ditto pedestrians on the cycle path....

jack presley

BostonB wrote: »

ditto pedestrians on the cycle path....

Feel free to clothesline them too then!

dolliemix

In Japan everyone cycles on the footpath

BostonB

dolliemix wrote: »

In Japan everyone cycles on the footpath

Must be crowded...

dolliemix

yeah its crazy!

dandruff_ie

jack presley wrote: »

Feel free to clothesline them too then!

Dude you watchin way to much tv lol

I take your point however the streets are crazy I dont know how many people have walked right out in front of me pushed buggies out while on the road thats without the cars and the buses

ArmaniJeanss

The London scheme has 5000 bikes initially and looking at their map it seems to have a couple of hundred stations. I know London has a bigger population but the scheme really does kick our ones ass numbers wise. And in London despite their bigger population its far more likely that you live and work in the suburbs and have no need of the bike scheme anyway. Yet their scheme is initially 10 times bigger?

Map. https://web.barclayscyclehire.tfl.gov.uk/maps
How is it being funded, is it central government funds or is there a JCDecaux-style contract in the background?

It seems ridiculous in the Dublin scheme that something as trivial as 4 new stations and 100 new bikes leads to silly debates in the council chambers.
Ideally we'd all love this scheme to be extended to 2000 bikes, 200 stations, going up the quays to Heuston, rathmines, phibsboro, phoenix park etc.
Sadly looks like it'll never happen if it takes a year to get 4 new stations.


Edit. Seems that Barclays Bank are paying €5M a year to have their brand on all the bikes and swipe cards, which together with the €45 subscription is covering a chunk of the costs.

BrianD

dandruff_ie wrote: »

Yes i use the bikes a lot and some are good and some not so good however I would like some way I could tell the company what was wrong like with a text message

not a 50cent text lol just a normal one

like yesterday the front wheel was very low it was the last one on the stand and i only spotted it a good bit up the road

so if i could have text it in with the bike number and site the roaming guy could have picked it up

just an idea

I e-mailed them a while ago and suggested that it would be great to modify their interface to allow fault reporting. The sytem will know where you have just docked a bike (and probably the serial number). All they have to do is have a simple screen to report a fault and have a couple of multi choice questions e.g wheel > puncture etc.

BrianD

jack presley wrote: »

If one more of those Dublin Bike users comes towards me on the footpath, he's getting clotheslined!

Get off the path!!!

Fair point, it seems very common with users of Dublin Bikes.

Seaswimmer

Has anyone noticed there is much less moving around of bikes on the weekend. Usually the dame st/fownes st/chatham st/exchequer st stations are completely full and remain so. also it would be a nice feature to be able to check availability on ALL stations and not just the ones in the immediate vinicity as it would help to know where there is space to drop a bike off. however only minor complaints- great scheme..

dandruff_ie

BrianD wrote: »

I e-mailed them a while ago and suggested that it would be great to modify their interface to allow fault reporting. The sytem will know where you have just docked a bike (and probably the serial number). All they have to do is have a simple screen to report a fault and have a couple of multi choice questions e.g wheel > puncture etc.

yes even better again that is a great idea i will email them with the same idea see if they take notice of us

28064212

I really think DB are missing out on an opportunity to have a station in the Phoenix Park. Even if they don't have ones on the way out there, one in the Park would get a huge amount of use in isolation from the rest of the stations

petermijackson

28064212 wrote: »

I really think DB are missing out on an opportunity to have a station in the Phoenix Park. Even if they don't have ones on the way out there, one in the Park would get a huge amount of use in isolation from the rest of the stations

It's not in JCDecaux's best interest to have more users - more subscribers yes more user's no as this increases their overheads. As I have stated on this thread before they would be in more convenient areas for mass participation if they were interested in increasing numbers. EG : O'Connell Street only has on station - the main route through the city (one station).

28064212

petermijackson wrote: »

It's not in JCDecaux's best interest to have more users - more subscribers yes more user's no as this increases their overheads. As I have stated on this thread before they would be in more convenient areas for mass participation if they were interested in increasing numbers. EG : O'Connell Street only has on station - the main route through the city (one station).

O'Connell St has two. Well actually, it has none, but there's two just off it, Prince's St and Cathal Brugha St. And I would say a Phoenix Park station would be one of the highest earners, because it would have a much higher percentage of "3-day" renters at €2, rather than the yearly subscribers at €10

markpb

28064212 wrote: »

I really think DB are missing out on an opportunity to have a station in the Phoenix Park. Even if they don't have ones on the way out there, one in the Park would get a huge amount of use in isolation from the rest of the stations

The scheme only works well when people use their bike for a short amount of time. Phoenix park would encourage people to use bikes for a longer amount of time, reducing the amount of people who can use the bikes. It's a scheme for helping people get around the city centre, not a tourist scheme.

petermijackson wrote: »

It's not in JCDecaux's best interest to have more users - more subscribers yes more user's no as this increases their overheads. As I have stated on this thread before they would be in more convenient areas for mass participation if they were interested in increasing numbers. EG : O'Connell Street only has on station - the main route through the city (one station).

Dublin City Council who choose where the stands will go, JCD just pay for an operate the scheme.

petermijackson

markpb wrote: »

Dublin City Council who choose where the stands will go, JCD just pay for an operate the scheme.

I'm sure it's in the contract that they can't just put them anywhere - JCD must have some input into it

Casey_81

dandruff_ie wrote: »

Ok well I did not know that ........

at least that is some thing

perhaps it just wear and tear, but every bike I've rented this week has had something wrong with it. from wonky saddles that wont tighten, almost flat tyres, breaks not working properly etc..

I usually only notice these things when I'm half way down the road.. very annoying. I have turned the saddle around when bring them back to the station.

Has anyone else had similar experiences or is it just my bad luck?

seamus

The main problems I've experienced are wonky bottom brackets - the cranks grind or knock when cycling - and loose headsets. Every second bike seems to have either or both of these problems. Doesn't make the bikes unusable though.

Other than that they seem generally OK. The clamp on the saddle seems to be cheap as ****e though. I've never had one that opened/closed in any kind of satisfying manner.

high heels

You know you can tighten the saddle clamp?

When it is open twist clockwise and it will make the clamp smaller thus tightening the saddle.

Casey_81

high heels wrote: »

You know you can tighten the saddle clamp?

When it is open twist clockwise and it will make the clamp smaller thus tightening the saddle.

Yeah thanks, that works most of the time, but I have come across some bikes where the saddle clamped was completely worn out so that didnt work

Run_to_da_hills

I wonder what kind of a prize they will offer?

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0814/transport.html

monument

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

I wonder what kind of a prize they will offer?

http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0814/transport.html

The city council press release undervalued the subscriber numbers by 7,000 and a spokesman was strangely coy about the amount of subscribers when I was asked about it -- http://dublinobserver.com/2010/08/one-millionth-dublin-bikes-journey-expected/

rameire

Just on the six one news about a year in for the bikes.

over one million journeys
on one day alone they recorded 6,000 journeys.
only two bikes stolen, and they were recovered.
vandalism rates are low.
20,000 annual members
10,000 short term members
the subscription in the first few weeks were very high and exceeded the initial 5,000 members they thought would do the year.

4 new bikes stops will be in place before the end of the year.
and an extra 100 bikes will be rolling around.

Oliver1985

rameire wrote: »

Just on the six one news about a year in for the bikes.

over one million journeys
on one day alone they recorded 6,000 journeys.
only two bikes stolen, and they were recovered.
vandalism rates are low.
20,000 annual members
10,000 short term members
the subscription in the first few weeks were very high and exceeded the initial 5,000 members they thought would do the year.

4 new bikes stops will be in place before the end of the year.
and an extra 100 bikes will be rolling around.

I think everyone is suprised at how well its done!!!
More stops and more bikes great news, I remember i was in town a few months after it started and was amazed how many people were using it !!!

monument

rameire wrote: »

Just on the six one news about a year in for the bikes.

over one million journeys
on one day alone they recorded 6,000 journeys.
only two bikes stolen, and they were recovered.
vandalism rates are low.
20,000 annual members
10,000 short term members
the subscription in the first few weeks were very high and exceeded the initial 5,000 members they thought would do the year.

4 new bikes stops will be in place before the end of the year.
and an extra 100 bikes will be rolling around.

Here's the full stats the council released yesterday. Note there's differences in the numbers you're quoting and that they released, but it would not be the first time the council has released different sets of numbers:

Total number off members: 44,097
Total long term (one year) members: 28,169
Number of short term (3-day) members: 15,928
Total number of journeys: 1,101,877
Average length of journey: 16 minutes
Percentage of total free journeys (less than 30 mins): 95%
Average number of subscribers per station: 1,072
Average number of subscribers per bike: 95
Number of journeys taken on busiest day: 5,765

Aard

They're incredible statistics. Perhaps the bike scheme could work in Cork and other cities, instead of farfetched ideas of Gluases and the like

L1011

Galway could definitely benefit from something similar; the topography of Cork would make it problematic though.

Casey_81

MYOB wrote: »

Galway could definitely benefit from something similar; the topography of Cork would make it problematic though.

Yeah I'd imagine that you'd be wrecked cycling in cork.. would need a different model of bike with better gears to deal with all the hills.

Poster King

The most interesting thing I heard yesterday was an interview with a city council official who says that a new report is close to completion that envisages the scheme being expanded to something like 3000 bikes in the not too distant future. Did anyone else hear this? I might have the figure wrong. He wouldn't give details of where the scheme would be expanded to, but at that number of bikes, you're looking at over 250 stations which would bring the bikes to a huge area of the city.