Bike share scheme - On your bike, Minister Ross

Two cheers for the National Transport Authority, city council, and operators An Rothar Nua for the outstanding success of the Coca Cola Zero bike sharing scheme in Cork.

Since the service began in 2014, the number of subscribers has grown to 12,000 and the number of trips taken has breached the 1m mark, making it more successful than similar schemes in Dublin, Limerick, and Galway.

A third cheek depends on the NTA giving serious consideration to expanding the scheme and taking seriously campaigns for new stations in Blackpool, CUH, CIT, Blackrock, and Mahon, serving Blackrock Castle and Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

It also depends on city authorities making Cork more cycle-friendly. As the Cork Cycling Campaign says, there is no single continuous cycle route across the city which makes the success of the scheme all the more remarkable.

Nationally, there is little to cheer about. Ireland’s first National Cycle Policy Framework was launched in April 2009 with the aim of ensuring that by 2020, 10% of all journeys would be by bike.

There is little hope of achieving that target as government spending on cycling infrastructure has plummeted over the past three years.

Despite a rise in the number of people switching to bikes for everyday commutes, the current figure for cycling stands at less than 2% of all journeys.

It is time for Minister for Transport Shane Ross to get on his bike and change that.