Bike hire service starts next week - Irish Times

WITH THEIR three gears and basket, the new bicycles unveiled yesterday as part of Dublin’s newest cycling scheme will win nobody the Tour de France.

The silver unisex bicycles were unveiled yesterday and will be available to the public next week.

They are meant for short journeys and the tariffs are set accordingly.

/> Each person has to offer a deposit of €150 either through a credit card or a banker’s draft.

It costs €10 for a long term hire card and €2 for a three-day ticket.

A short hop lasting a half an hour is free, but four hours costs €6.50 and it is a hefty €2 for every half an hour after that. The purpose is to deter people from holding them for hours at a time.

There will be 450 bicycles at 40 different locations in the area between the two Dublin canals.

Each bicycle will come with a lock and there will also be an alert if a bicycle is not put back on its security stand properly.

The scheme is organised by Dublin City Council and the French advertising giant JC Decaux who will provide and maintain the bicycles in exchange for a 15-year permission to use advertising space in Dublin.

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0908/1224254067494.html