Analysis of real experiences using different sized bike sharing schemes in Irish cities

Abstract

The first Irish public Bike Sharing Scheme (BSS) was launched in Dublin in 2009. Dublinbikes has been internationally recognised as one of the most successful bike-sharing rental schemes in the world. For this reason, among others, the cities of Cork, Limerick and Galway launched their own BSSs at the end of 2014. The objective of this paper is to compare the performance of the four BSSs during the first two years of implementation in each Irish city according to endogenous factors, such as the physical design of the schemes, and exogenous factors, such as city size and population density. In terms of population, Limerick and Galway are small cities, Cork is a medium-sized city and Dublin is a large city. In consequence, the results cover the main relevant aspects of BSSs according to the size of the scheme, pointing out similarities and differences among BSS of different sizes. The main findings indicate that the number of daily rentals per bike is a good metric from the point of view of the transport operator. However, a higher density of bikes, stations and docking points does not imply greater usage, whereas the size of the deployment area could be a key factor in improving bike usage. Finally, a synopsis of the essential aspects to consider when designing a BSS deployment based on types of users in small cities is provided.