Plans for Limerick cycle share plan are on track
A cycle lane in the city in use this Monday afternoon - a public bike scheme is currently in the pipeline. Picture: Mike Cowhey
IF a public bike hire scheme were to happen in Limerick, a fleet of 150 bicycles would be needed.
Documents from the National Transport Authority have outlined a number of proposed sites for such a scheme, which it is predicted will attract 1,500 members.
If a scheme like this is to come to Limerick, then private sponsorship will be needed.
To this end, the NTA has issued a call for expressions of interest in sponsorship, relating to the scheme.
The winning company would get naming rights to the scheme itself, and a variety of other benefits including advertisements at bike and bus stands around the city.
Other cycle hire schemes around the world have naming rights. Most notably, Barclays Bank sponsor the British capital London’s scheme.
In supporting documents given to interested companies, the National Transport Authority says the scheme would be deployed manly in the city centre, including Colbert Station.
However, the document added there will be a “spine towards the north west to the city to include the Institute of Technology”.
The bike scheme would complement other initiatives, including bus priority lanes, real time passenger bus information, and walking initiatives.
It is noted that in the city centre, cycle parking is “scarce and very little used”.
“However, bikes parked to street furniture suggest stands are needed in other places”.
At present, just three per cent of the city’s population use their bicycles to get around.
One of the reasons for this, the authority says, is because “it is relatively cheap and easy to park a car in the city centre”.
Added to this, they state “there is a considerable number of multi-lane one-way streets making journeys by bike more difficult”.
The Limerick Walking and Cycle Strategy provides for improvements in a number of routes by 2020.
These include journeys from Corbally to UL, the Childers Road, and a cycle-way between Limerick and Nenagh.
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Weather for Limerick
Tuesday 21 May 2013
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Temperature: 10 C to 16 C
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