Source: Sam Boal

DUBLIN BIKES, THE system of shared short-term bike hires in the capital, is set to be expanded to the suburbs.

At a meeting of Dublin City Council last night, agreement was reached on sites for four new metropoles (double-sided advertising hoardings) in the south Dublin area which will be used to fund the expansion.

Labour councillor Andrew Montague has professed himself “delighted” with the news, and said he hopes the expansion will be in place “before next summer”.

The move will see new bike berths popping up in areas such as Finglas, Ballymun, Ballyfermot, and Terenure. The exact placings for the new terminals have not yet been finalised.

“It’s very hard to find places to put advertising,” says Montague (the four metropoles will be applied in the region of Donnybrook Village).

Getting the sites is challenging. But I think we have to be a bit more ambitious. WE have 1,500 bikes at present, we should really have 10,000 and be expanded to the other councils outside the city.

The government won’t pay for this, so I think we need to advertise more, get more signs, and make it happen.

South Dublin councillor for Fine Gael Paddy Smyth echoed Montague’s delight at the decision, although he sounded a note of condemnation that the scheme has to be funded by advertising at all.

“It’s all good news really, if I had one problem  it’s that advertising is being neglected at Luas and Dart stops,” he said.

But my issue with the whole process comes back to cycling and how it is prioritised. When it came to the Luas expansion, if it was expected to be funded in this way, by advertising, you’d have been laughed out of the place.

Cycling always seems to ‘suck hind teat’ when it comes to public funding. But it is public transport. It should be treated that way.

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