Bike-sharing removes five tonnes of carbon from Dublin each year - research

Bike-sharing is cutting out five tonnes of carbon annually in Dublin, new research shows.

As national bike week is underway, the research – a collaboration between Trinity College, Dublin City Council and bicycle company Bleeperbike – explored the use of stationless bike-sharing.

BleeperBike is Ireland's first stationless bike-sharing scheme, and was first set up in 2016. Stationless bikes are equipped with a smart lock fixed above the back wheel of the bike, which controls usage of the bike by communicating with the scheme's app.

As the smart lock is permanently on the bike, the bikes can be picked up and left anywhere that traditional bike parking is permitted. BleeperBikes therefore do not require custom-built docking bays.

The research examined the usage of the bike share scheme using tracking data collected from the bikes and from a survey of Bleeperbike customers.

The data was used to determine how cyclists use the infrastructure provided in the city as well as to show researchers and city authorities where the largest flows of cycling occur.

Associate Professor in Trinity’s School of Engineering, and project coordinator, Brian Caulfield, said: “When introducing a new mode of transport, it is important to understand which modes of transport are being replaced or used less.

“The research shows that 7.5% of the 6,000 weekly trips made via Bleeperbike could have happened by car or taxi, which saves an estimated five tonnes of carbon per year.

“On average each Bleeperbike trip burned 140 calories, and the average distance cycled was 2.4 km. This research collaboration is very exciting due to the rich data source it provides.

“Trip distances, durations and start and end points are recorded using the bikes as remote sensors – enabling research based in Trinity to map usage patterns and explore how cyclists interact with the built environment.

“Globally shared mobility services such as Bleeperbike, Uber and Yuko are changing how we look at traditional modes of transport. This is seen in the results from our research in that almost 40% of Bleeperbike users don’t own a bicycle.”

This service offers them a cheap and easy way to cycle in the city and, in many cases, this is the first step to bike ownership and increased cycling.

Senior transport officer with Dublin City Council, Maggie O’Donnell, said: “Bleeperbikes provides an excellent data source within this research collaboration, providing information on cycling patterns and end points for trips. This presents a transparency layer on the performance and usage of our cycling infrastructure network, highlighting areas for new development.”

The research will be presented at Velo City 2019, an international cycling conference which is being hosted by Dublin City Council on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Convention Centre Dublin.