MORE THAN 2.5 million trips have been taken on DublinBikes since the bike rental scheme was launched two years ago this week – and the latest figures show just more than 93 per cent of these journeys were free.
The scheme has attracted 63,072 subscribers, of whom 37,417 paid the €10 annual fee (mostly Dubliners) and a further 25,655 (mostly tourists) availed of €2 three-day tickets. The total number of journeys made was 2,529,693 as of last Monday, and their average duration was 13 minutes – well within the half-hour allowed for a “free ride” before hire charges kick in.
The busiest day was on July 13th last, when 6,281 bikes were used, with a “rotation rate” for each bicycle of 9.8 users – a figure described as “phenomenal” by Dublin City Council cycling officer Ciarán Fallon.
“Successful schemes such as Lyon, Paris and Seville have daily bike rotation rates of five, four and 5.5 users respectively,” he said. “London is busy, but is not breaking any records. We don’t know of a busier system than ours.”
Mr Fallon said the key to expanding the scheme was to “keep a dense network of [bike] stations”. Otherwise the natural circulation of bikes “tends to drop off”, which had proved problematic elsewhere.
“At present the most easterly station is at the Custom House. The next phase takes DublinBikes into the north and south docklands reaching right down to the Point/O2”, he said.
Another phase would move westerly to Heuston Station. “This is at preliminary design stage,” Mr Fallon said. “Then, when we complete the inner core, we will move outside the canals in phases.”
The council has adopted a five-year plan which would see bike stations as far south as Clonskeagh and as far north as Whitehall.