dublin + bikes = success!

The Dublin City Council bike rental scheme has received so many applications in its first two weeks that it has run out of subscriber cards.

The council had originally targeted 5,000 subscribers in the first year of the Dublin Bikes scheme, but was overwhelmed with 11,000 applications in the first fortnight of operation, according to a council spokesman. He confirmed that the scheme, which is administered by advertising company JC Decaux for the local authority, had temporarily run out of cards. New cards for the scheme are expected to arrive within the next week.

New applicants for the Dublin Bikes scheme received letters last week informing them that the supply of cards had been exhausted.

They have instead been given 60-day cards and will receive a further 60 days to their annual subscription once their card arrives.

Under the terms of the deal, JC Decaux is supplying 450 public hire bikes and a network of 40 docking stations in exchange for 72 advertising panels in city centre locations.

Subscribers pay an annual fee of €10 to join the scheme and can use the bikes free of charge for journeys of less than half an hour in duration, or for a small fee for longer trips.

It was reported last week that one bike had been stolen and two were not returned by subscribers. However, all three bikes have since been recovered.

Sunday Business Post