It’s time – get on your bike!!
Daragh | September 13, 2009Today (Sunday Sept 13th) sees the long awaited launch of Dublin’s answer to the wonderfully successful Paris Velib bicycle rental scheme.
Having discovered this service in Paris a few years ago, I can vouch for this being an amazing transitional day for the city, be you a cyclist or not (I’m not!).
The service works like this, there are 40 bicycle stations throughout the city. These are located in close proximity to each other, every station has a minimum of 15 stands and there are a total of 450 bikes meaning that access to bikes should be relatively easy.
The best news about the scheme however, especially in the challenging economic climate, is that it’s free! Yes, that’s right, you can have your own personal bike to zip around the city all for free. There are certain conditions that have to be met, only the first 30 minutes of the rental is free, but this shouldn’t matter. From personal experience, you will very seldom cycle for more than 30 minutes around the city, and if you do need to, you can easily drop your bike back at a station, wait a few minutes, and then continue on for a new 30 minute segment, all for free.
All the details relating to the scheme, including pricing options etc are located on the newly created dublinbikes.ie. I know that everyone is going to be sceptical of this scheme, and I can see why, but having used it around Paris in the past, I can tell you that this will be a very successful and welcome addition to the Dublin transport area.
One last thing, for those in cars, and with a tendancy to wander off footpaths onto roads without warning, please be careful. This is a new thing for the city, and it will take a little time for everyone to get used to each other!
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