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New bike docking station in Belfast vandalised just two days after being installed

City 'isn't ready' for bike hire scheme thanks to poor infrastructure say fearful riders...

A bike docking station in Belfast has been vandalised just two days after being installed as fears grow that the city is not yet bike-friendly enough to sustain the hire system

The city will launch a new Boris Bike style scheme later this month, and almost 600 people have already registered their interest ahead of the launch on 26 April.

There will the 300 bikes to hire, but only during the hours of 6am and midnight, and there will be 30 docking stations around the city for use by locals and tourists alike.

The Coca-Cola Zero-sponsored Belfast Bikes are similar to London’s, with a small rack at the front to hold belongings.

Anne Madden, of sustainable transport charity Sustrans, told the BBC she praised the move.

"The bike has come of age in Belfast and about time, too, " she said.

"More people are turning to the bike as a way of getting around and for health and fitness.

"Cycling Ulster, the governing body for cycling in here, have told us they've seen a seven-fold increase in their membership in the last five years.”

But she said that more needed to be done before people would feel ready to take to two wheels en masse.

She said: "Cycling in Belfast has, until recently, not been properly catered for. Feeling safer comes with better infrastructure - it is slightly chicken-and-egg."

Jude Collins, who has previously cycled in the city, told the broadcaster he agrees with the concerns. He said while he  "loves the idea", he would not want to cycle in the city.

"It sounds wonderful and it's flourishing in Dublin, Paris and other cities throughout the world," he said.

"But it's the safety of it. I'd be afraid to cycle in Belfast. Will there be the secure bike routes for people to use the scheme?"

The Coke Zero sponsorship will provide £300,000 over three years, with a £400,000 contribution from the council.

Coverage is still patchy too, with no docking stations in east or west Belfast. The furthest south is at Bradbury Place and the furthest north at Carrick Hill.

We recently reported how anyone aged 14 and over who can ride a bike will also be able to apply for free on-road training.

The bike share scheme will initially comprise 300 public bikes and 30 bike docking stations in the city centre. Users can pay £20 for a year-long subscription or £5 for a three-day pass. The first 30 minutes of every journey are free with incremental charges from then on.

Frank O’Donnell, general manager of Coca Cola HBC Ireland and Northern Ireland, said that the firm’s investment in what will become known as Coca‑Cola Zero Bikes was part of a wider commitment to help encourage active healthy lifestyles.

Transport minister, Danny Kennedy, said: "As 'pedal power' continues to grow here, we must all harness the momentum and continue to develop each opportunity to make cycling an everyday, safe, accessible and fun activity for all.

"Charges for the bike hire scheme are very competitive and I am confident it will provide an attractive, sustainable and inexpensive transport system for local people and visitors."

Belfast city councillor Deirdre Hargey said the pricing had been set so as to be as affordable as possible to as many people as possible with the aim of encouraging people to make short trips around the city by bike.

Last year, Londoners and visitors to the city were able to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the launch of the Barclays hire scheme by borrowing bikes for free. It was also revealed that July had seen the highest ever monthly usage with 1,170,000 hires.

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11 comments

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Exup | 8 years ago
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As Col Sam Trautman said "I hope there is a good supply of bodybags."
Unfortunately, Belfast car drivers are generally not too bike friendly and when this is operational it will be like bringing the lambs (on bikes) to the slaughter.

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kie7077 | 8 years ago
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£5 minimum is a bit steep, I'd expect that to kill off enthusiasm from casual users.

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Dnnnnnn replied to kie7077 | 8 years ago
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kie7077 wrote:

£5 minimum is a bit steep, I'd expect that to kill off enthusiasm from casual users.

You need to put down £10 to use Glasgow's scheme, and then registering with a debit card delays your registration for three days! Not great for a weekend away then...

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mrfree replied to Dnnnnnn | 8 years ago
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It's not a bike rental, there's other places for that. This is a city bike scheme designed to encourage people to cycle and ditch their cars. Not for tourists.

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MartyMcCann replied to mrfree | 8 years ago
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mrfree wrote:

It's not a bike rental, there's other places for that. This is a city bike scheme designed to encourage people to cycle and ditch their cars. Not for tourists.

Agreed, but the big problem in relation to this scheme is the location of the docking stations. They are all too close to the city centre to encourage ditching of cars. For example the Ormeau Rd is one of the main thoroughfares into Belfast and also where many of the potential target groups live (ie students and young professionals who work in the city centre). The docking station is at Cromac Street near the city centre which means anyone looking to use a bike would have to walk or drive there down the Ormeau Rd and by the time they had made that journey they would be literately minutes from where they were going anyway. Placing a station just a couple of miles up the road towards Rosetta would mean the bikes would more likely to be used as well as eventually even cutting down on traffic on some of the busiest roads (since both Ravenhill and Ormeau Rds meet there). It would be the same for some of the other roads as well- the advantage of keeping as many cars out of the centre as possible has been lost.

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Kim | 8 years ago
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Thugs in black cabs have lot to answer for in Belfast...

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wycombewheeler replied to Kim | 8 years ago
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Kim wrote:

Thugs in black cabs have lot to answer for in Belfast...

cabbies are vandalising docking stations to keep their roads free of bikes?

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Metaphor | 8 years ago
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Bring back hanging.

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truffy replied to Metaphor | 8 years ago
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Ramuz wrote:

Bring back hanging.

For the vandalism or the poor choice of photo? I guess either would do

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kwi | 8 years ago
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Or even this. //sluggerotoole.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/10842312_10152963743177013_6859593430840328796_o.jpg)

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Luminosity | 8 years ago
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While I'm sad the idiots did this, I'm equally disturbed by how little value Road.cc places on using quality imagery. Can you not afford £29 for a half decent image like this one? http://goo.gl/FCrXJu

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