The DublinBikes bicycle-hire scheme, operated by advertising company JCDecaux, is to be discontinued by Dublin City Council after 18 years.
The loss-making scheme has not expanded in eight years and the council said it will end its contract with the company next year.* It then plans to establish its own scheme, increasing the number of bikes by more than double.
The scheme, which allows subscribers to take and leave bikes at designated “stations”, largely in the city centre, suffered from a reduction in subscriptions during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as competition from “stationless” bike-rental services.
JCDecaux owns the 1,600 bikes and their stands at 115 hire stations across the city. The company’s agreement with the council expires in September 2027.
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Under the council’s new scheme, it will own the stations and possibly also the bikes. A contract for the operation and maintenance of the service will be offered.
The council confirmed: “It is intended there would be one operator across the city and that there is a combination of classic (non-powered) bikes and e-bikes, with a fleet or around 4,000 bikes.
DublinBikes was introduced in 2009, with JCDecaux funding the scheme in exchange for advertising panels on the city streets. Additional revenue was generated through subscriptions and hire charges.
Despite its instant popularity, the scheme was not profit-making. In 2014, a three-year sponsorship deal was struck with Coca-Cola.
In 2017, the council secured a new sponsor, takeaway delivery company Just Eat. It switched sponsorship partner in 2020 to Now TV, in a deal worth €2.25 million over three years. In late 2024, after almost a year without sponsorship, the council agreed a deal with insurance company RedClick.
Despite additional finances generated by the sponsorship deals, the scheme continues to run at a loss. City councillors have frequently called for it to serve the suburbs as well as the city centre.
The annual membership charge increased from €25 to €35 in 2020. It has remained at that rate for six years. Members can use a bike for free for the first 30 minutes, with the next half-hour costing 50 cent and charges thereafter increasing on an hourly basis.
The average journey time is 15 minutes and, according to the council, “annual subscribers rarely pay any additional fees”.
The council has not said whether it intends to buy the existing on-street bike-station infrastructure or the 1,600 bikes from JCDecaux. The company did not respond to queries on Friday.
In addition to the JCDecaux scheme, stationless bike-rental schemes are operated by Bleeper and Moby under licence from the council. These schemes provide about 900 bikes.
*An earlier version of this article stated that the scheme would end this year.
