Isn’t it mad when we do something that proves successful and it’s acknowledged as such; and it’s flat lined. “Almost 290,000 trips were recorded in the first twelve months of the Coke Zero bike-share scheme in Cork city centre” yet the newly styled shared cycling community is left deflated with the following: “A spokesperson for the NTA said that no changes are currently planned for the Cork bike share scheme.”
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| De bikes boi! |
Apparently they wish to focus on Limerick and
Galway where the scheme has unfortunately said to be less successful (depending
on your definition of success of course). Now on the one hand I think it’s
great they still plan on focusing on those cities to try establish why the
scheme hasn’t proven as successful as the Cork scheme. But why do we in Cork
have to remain static?
31 stops. Almost 290,000 journeys. Consider that
since this initital article rolled out in July 2015,
200,000 journeys were made in Cork. Think about that. It’s a resounding thumbs
up from the public to this scheme. The National Transport Authority (NTA) don’t
seem to share the public's enthusiasm. In the July article “The NTA says the possibility of extending the scheme to other
urban centres will be looked at later this year. The success or otherwise of
the initiative in Galway, Cork and Limerick will inform that decision.”
Evidently it
won’t since Cork has been incredibly successful and (as pointed out above) the
“NTA [have] said that no changes are currently
planned for the Cork bike share scheme.”
Expanding the scheme in my opinion is essential
to increasing it’s success. “Bernie Connolly, development coordinator at CEF,
said "extensions west to CUH, north to Blackpool and south to Blackrock are
essential to fulfilling its potential” and I couldn’t agree more. I would even add to
that with suggesting that any new office blocks that are being built should have a bike share
station outside them or in close proximity should they not have a station within 50 or 100 meters. The new Albert Quay office block for example? I mean I
can’t imagine how mad traffic is going to get there if even going by the last
census figures where 69% of people commuted by car? Offer them the choice. What’s the worst that could happen?
An extra
driver or two have to be hired to move bikes between the popular stations more
frequently or at peak times?
Extra
subscribers from Blackrock, Mahon, Wilton, Bishopstown, Blackpool?
Less cars on
our roads?
Healthier
citizens?
Some extra
temporary construction jobs to increase the size of existing stations and build
new ones?
Those are
just the immediate benefits that come to mind. Oh and of course, additional
visibility for our generous bike share sponsor! But more needs to be done on
the figures from the last census where it showed only 6.8% of people commuted
using public transport and while there was a jump in the number of people
cycling, the main cause of this is the increase of cyclists in Dublin. Cork saw
a 20% jump but as pointed out here it’s from a low base. But if you put in some stations that are even part way to suburbs, you could persuade people to ditch the car on fine days. Even with the good weather, this can be the city centre roads:
It will
be interesting to see the figures from this years census when they're released later this year. I
think an expanded, well run bike share scheme in a city like Cork could start
dramatically pushing up the numbers cycling which in turn hopefully will lead to more people
demanding safer and better cycling facilities in our city. An example I use for this is Bucharest. A place that probably wouldn't jump to the front of your mind if I asked for a city with some superb cycling facilities. But, in a city where bike share is starting to take off, you have some fantastic protected and separated cycle lanes:
Having
visited some cities where bike share schemes do run to the immediate suburbs, Lyon is one
for example, there can be an issue of station overload on weekend evenings in
the city centre as people come in from the suburbs and vice versa when people
leave the city centre for the suburbs later in the evenings. But (and this is
obviously a big but) surely if a city is willing to expand a service it should
back it up with an additional resource or two at busy times to cover demand and remove extra bikes? I
know, I know. . .wishful thinking. I suppose all we can do for now is try keep
up the pressure on the NTA and keep pushing for an expansion in our city.
Don't forget to check out the Coke Bike Scheme here if you're not yet registered!
