COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 26, 2016

QUESTION NO.13

QUESTION: Councillor D. Looney

To ask the Chief Executive to confirm the status of the proposed extension of the Dublin City Bike Hire Scheme to SDCC, or a standalone scheme within SDCC; to provide details on the funding allocated and spent so far on feasibility and other studies; to state which areas of SDCC have been considered; and to make a statement on the matter.

REPLY:

National transport policy seeks to reduce private car dependence from 65% to 45% for commuting by 2020 and to increase cycle mode share from 2% to 10% nationally. Increasing cycling and walking is also pivotal to achieving some of the goals in national health policies by promoting physical activity. A public bicycle sharing scheme is an innovative scheme for making available rental or free bicycles in an area. It can provide an additional public transport mode for users of the transportation system. A public bicycle sharing scheme can provide an effective substitute for at least some of the many short trips made by single occupancy cars in urban areas. It can also form the last part of a trip to work or education along a public transport corridor.

The success of “Dublin Bikes” has prompted the consideration of introducing similar public bicycle sharing scheme elsewhere. The National Transport Authority (NTA) have prepared a number of studies to assess the potential of introducing public bicycle sharing scheme in the cities of Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford, resulting in a number of reports including the following:

- “Proposals for Introducing Public Bike Schemes in Regional Cities - Technical Feasibility Study” (June 2011); and

- “Proposals for Introducing Public Bike Schemes in Regional Cities –Funding and Procuring - Options Report” (June 2011).

In 2012 the NTA prepared a further draft report titled 'Report on the feasibility of providing bike rental schemes within the Metropolitan towns outside Dublin City Centre’.

This report identified Tallaght as a potential location for a public bicycle sharing scheme. Furthermore the report indicated that a public bicycle sharing scheme in Tallaght could generate greater use of, and vibrancy within, the town centre by providing easy access between origins and destinations such as Tallaght Hospital, Tallaght IT and the retail / commercial core. It is envisaged that this project could contribute to national policy by creating a strong cycling culture in Ireland creating the conditions whereby cycling will become the preferred transport option for short trips, and the bicycle will become the transport mode of choice for all ages.

The NTA funded South Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to prepare a feasibility study to exam the possibility of introducing a public bicycle hire scheme in Tallaght and Dun Laoghaire. The NTA provided SDCC with approx. €15,000 for that purpose. Accordingly the a consultant was procured in accordance with the “Framework Agreement for Consultancy Services to provide Design, Construction Management and other services for Transport Projects Funded by the National Transport Authority” to carry out a feasibility study into the provision of a public bicycle hire scheme for the towns of Dún-Laoghaire and Tallaght in 2013 and 2014 respectively. The brief included the following in relation to Tallaght:

This report was completed. It outlines a number of options in relation to the provision of a public bicycle hire scheme in Tallaght. In the intervening period the public bicycle hire scheme has been rolled out in the regional cities. Following discussions the NTA have indicated that they wish to consider the roll out of the regional cities public bicycle hire scheme and assess its effectiveness over the next number of months before considering funding a similar scheme in Tallaght.