An established scheme: dublinbikes Damien Ó Tuama Mobilities Consultant
1 My Background
Talk Structure - dublinbikes a brief history / some figures about the scheme - Some findings from my research - Brief conclusions! - Q&A later
2 dublinbikes: a brief history & some figures
1996 Green Party White Bike Stunt in Dublin city
dublinbikes launched in Sept 2009 450 bikes / 40 stations 10/yr annual subscription By 2010, 550 bikes / 44 stations
2014, 1500 bikes / 110 stations 20/yr annual subscription 42,000 annual subscribers (mid- 2014) 8 million journeys over 5 year period (Sept 2014) Coca-Cola Zero sponsorship By April 23 rd 2015 53,484 subscribers 10,000,000th trip taken! Busiest Usage Day Ever was 2 nd October 2014 with 15,441 journeys taken (http://www.dublinbikes.ie/) Cian Ginty s blog has lots of data: http://irishcycle.com/dublinbikes/
3 Experiences & Ripple Effects
3.1 - Experiences Prising open dublinbikes users journey experiences Qualitative methods
dublinbikes - user demographics used by higher income individuals (Murphy and Usher, 2013 ) thus resonating with the socioeconomic profiles globally (Fishman et al., 2013) the majority of long-term subscribers are male (67%) majority of users (~59%) are between 25 &36; 23% between 37 & 48 cohort; ~5% in 48+ cohort (Murphy and Usher, 2013)
Freedom from bike theft from vandalism of bikes from maintenance from storage headaches provided by the bicycle basket!
Well for me it is that it gets me from A to B faster than any other way to work So I love the system. I don t necessarily love cycling or bikes that much, but I love the system that is available to people. (Int17, Joan, 30s, academic biochemist) [I]n relation to taxi, it would be [the] cost of the taxi and lack of flexibility or inflexibility because the cars are governed by the one way traffic system so getting from A to B can involve going to C to D to Z to get back to B which is a cost factor. (Int24, Frank, 40s, business man (and former architect))
Traffic experiences Re: navigating the city There is an increased awareness of cyclist-unfriendly one-way streets [N]ot enough of the streets are open up to bicycle traffic in the opposite direction to the [motorised] traffic. So we should have more of that where bikes can go [the other way]. (Int06, Seánín, 50s, tour guide)
3.2 Systems Effects What (if any) were the systems effects or ripple effects of introducing this new mobility system?
Infrastructures & Speed Reduction Grand Canal Cycleway At perimeter of DB zone. Dovetails with scheme North Quays Cycleway DB expansion puts extra pressure on Council 30kph zone Easier for Cllr. Montague to argue for limit with DBers about!
Opportunities seized to improve life for dublinbikers?
Discourses Corporate associations
The Apprentice opening sequence
Politics and Advocacy Re-energising advocacy According to Will Andrews (former Chairperson of Dublin Cycling Campaign, the intensive uptake of dublinbike use by the business community enabled campaigners to demonstrate that cycling was an activity for those not ostensibly interested in health / environmental benefits and, more generally, that cycling was very efficient as a transport mode in the DB catchment, and that the Dublin centre was well suited to cycling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujbir8lwwlm#t=75
4 Conclusions Useful to think of public bikes as a mobility system - not just a bunch of bikes and docking stations! This new system is giving a very sizeable population new (mainly positive but not only positive) experiences of being an urban cyclist. There are broader systems effects of introducing the DBs which are now playing out Linked to these are opportunities for the City Council / cycling advocates to help re-establish a strong cycling culture in the city.
Thank you! Damien Ó Tuama - dotuama@tcd.ie