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Liverpool to remove 1 in 4 of its Citybike docking stations

Council says 20 per cent of docking stations account for 80 per cent of hires as it looks to cut costs

Liverpool City Council is to remove around one in four of the docking stations belonging to its Citybike bike-sharing programme, saying that they are not being used enough.

The 33 docking stations in question each see an average of less than one hire a day, according to the council, which is looking to save £100,000 after bringing the scheme, originally operated by Hourbike, in-house in August.

It has said that it is looking to expand the scheme to other parts of the city, as well as finding a corporate sponsor.

According to the council, 80 per cent of the hires made under the scheme  are done via just 20 per cent of the 120 docking stations.

By removing those which see fewer than 25 hires each month, the council says it will save the annual cost of repair and maintenance on them.

The council's cabinet member for highways, Councillor Steve Munby, said: “Citybike has been a huge success in terms of the number of people using the cycles to get around Liverpool, evidenced by the number of people we see riding around on them, particularly in the city centre.

“But there is a fine balance between making the scheme attractive and affordable to users, against the ongoing costs of maintenance of the bikes and the docking stations and that is why, in common with other local authorities that run bike hire schemes, we have had to subsidise it.

“We know the scheme brings huge benefits and that people use them to get to work or for leisure and that they are great for tourists to explore our city so we are committed to its future and are looking at ideas to expand it, such as to neighbouring boroughs.”

The number of bikes available under the scheme will remain unchanged at 1,000 as they are distributed around other docking stations.

The Citybike scheme -- the name was chosen after the public were asked to put forward suggestions, with Scouse Cycles a popular choice - was launched in March 2014 by world and Olympic champion turned cycling campaigner Chris Boardman, who lives across the Mersey on the Wirral.

> Chris Boardman helps launch Liverpool's City Bike scheme - urges locals to embrace it

To date, around 300,000 hires have been made with the bikes clocking up a combined 1.4 million miles and the council says that year-on-year usage is increasing.

The complete list of the 33 locations from which docking stations are being removed is: 

ASDA Hunts Cross

Hillfoot Avenue, Hunts Cross

Woodend Avenue, Hunts Cross

Brownlow Hill West (next to the multistorey car park)

Lime Street Station (at Skelhorne Street/Copperas Hill)

Renshaw Street

Childwall Abbey Road, Childwall

Liverpool Hope Campus, Childwall

Calderstones Park, Yewtree Rd

Calderstones Park Cafe

Tesco, Mather Avenue, Allerton

Lifestyles Alsop, Walton

Lifestyles Walton

Lowestoft Drive, Cressington

Everton Road Hostel

Liverpool John Moores, Byrom Street, Everton

Mere Lane Health Centre, Everton

Gardner’s Drive, Kensington

Kirkdale Railway Station

Silvester Street, Kirkdale

The Rotunda, Kirkdale

Lifestyles Ellergreen, Norris Green

Tesco, Old Swan

Estuary Boulevard, Speke

Estuary Business Park, Speke

Speke Boulevard

Speke Retail Park

Speke Road, Garston

Speke Road Matchworks

Speke Road – New Mersey Shopping Park

Lifestyles Peter Lloyd, Tuebrook

Newsham Park, Gardner’s Drive

Picton Clock, Wavertree

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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12 comments

Avatar
frogg | 7 years ago
0 likes

another proof of the 80/20 law ; this law applies to so many things , it's amazing. 

 

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet replied to frogg | 7 years ago
1 like

frogg wrote:

another proof of the 80/20 law ; this law applies to so many things , it's amazing. 

 

My favourite 80/20 is headphones. Idiots paying £00s for really, really basic technology and then arguing the toss, pretending they have a superhuman frequency spectrum of hearing.

The Beats idiots are the worst though. £300+ for stuff that sounds no better than £20 stuff. Koss Portpros blow beats away.  

Avatar
ConcordeCX replied to frogg | 7 years ago
2 likes

frogg wrote:

another proof of the 80/20 law ; this law applies to so many things , it's amazing. 

 

it applies to exactly 80% of everything 

Avatar
ClubSmed | 7 years ago
1 like

Having not read any further than this road.cc report I don't necessarily see an issue with this.

If the bike docks were put in the wrong location in the first place, and it has been evidenced that they are not effective then it makes sense to move them. It is stated above that they are not reducing the number of bikes and are looking to put in docks in other areas of the city that I assume are more sensible/ effective locations.

"It has said that it is looking to expand the scheme to other parts of the city"
"we are committed to its future and are looking at ideas to expand it"
"The number of bikes available under the scheme will remain unchanged at 1,000"

Avatar
Ush replied to ClubSmed | 7 years ago
2 likes

ClubSmed wrote:

Having not read any further than this road.cc report I don't necessarily see an issue with this.

Like public transport a communal bike scheme becomes appealing when it allows you to get anywhere.  It's as though they decided to remove roads from places where only a few people go now-and-again.

Just because something is not used 100% all the time does not mean that it is not essential to the overall function.

Avatar
fixit | 7 years ago
0 likes

stupidity is invincible...

Avatar
Helmut D. Bate | 7 years ago
1 like
Avatar
brooksby replied to Helmut D. Bate | 7 years ago
1 like

Helmut D. Bate wrote:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle

Thank you; I'd never heard of that before.

Avatar
mikewood | 7 years ago
5 likes

Pareto predicted this....

Avatar
brooksby replied to mikewood | 7 years ago
0 likes

mikepridmorewood wrote:

Pareto predicted this....

That's s very cryptic comment: care to elaborate?

Avatar
richiewormiling | 7 years ago
3 likes

Sad to see them go. Liverpool just isn't ready for a communal bike scheme, roads are just not up to it. Nightmare cycling in Liverpool, so i wonder what the scheme is for apart from box ticking.

Avatar
scouser_andy replied to richiewormiling | 7 years ago
2 likes

richiewormiling wrote:

Sad to see them go. Liverpool just isn't ready for a communal bike scheme, roads are just not up to it. Nightmare cycling in Liverpool, so i wonder what the scheme is for apart from box ticking.

 

This x 100. I go back to Liverpool regularly to visit the relatives. You rarely see people riding as a means of transport and a lot of journeys are made by car. Until you provide a reason for people to shift out of car seats and on to saddles, the demand simply won't be there. That can only be done by making it a pleasant and efficient mode of transport comparable with driving, through properly thought through infra. That hasn't happened yet.

The move by the council was understandable, yet predictible. It could have been avoided.

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