Article: Bike share scheme starts to gain traction

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Bike share scheme starts to gain traction

Bike share scheme starts to gain traction
Adam Carey
February 10, 2012

AFTER a flat start, Melbourne's bike share scheme has finally got some air in its tyres, with new data showing there has been a jump in the number of people using the chunky blue bikes to get around the inner city.

But the trial scheme is not yet in the clear, with annual subscriptions stubbornly languishing at very low numbers, and the state government continuing to subsidise the sale of cheap helmets at 7-Eleven stores to the tune of $2 million.

The scheme had its best day ever on January 14, when 733 rides were recorded, thanks in part to the Australian Open.

In total, the bikes were used 16,090 times last month, up from 12,879 trips in the same month last year, and 7982 trips in July.

In the past six months, the average number of daily bike rentals has doubled, from a meagre 257 in wintry July, to 519 last month, when the weather was mostly obliging for cycling.

But in the same six-month period, the take-up of annual subscriptions dwindled from a high of 199 in August to 106 last month, suggesting tourists rather than city workers and residents might be behind the rise.

''VicRoads are confident that bike share will help to encourage a culture of cycling in Melbourne and better integrate cycling with other modes of public transport,'' said VicRoads' regional director for the metropolitan north-west, Nial Finegan.

The bikes are most popular at tourist spots in the city such as Federation Square, along the Yarra River and in bayside suburbs.

At Federation Square, The Age watched two people hire a bike in about 45 minutes yesterday.

Visitor Annika Rittenhouse, from San Francisco, enthused about the convenience of accessing a bike, but complained about the difficulty of finding a helmet.

''They are really easy to find around the city and then to bike them around and put them in a different spot, it's really convenient,'' she said.

But the search for a helmet was annoying.

''I don't understand why there isn't a helmet stand by the bikes. It would make sense to pay for the bike and helmet together.''

The scheme is on a five-year trial before a decision is made on whether to keep it.

Since its launch in the winter of 2010, it has been criticised for having too few parking docks dotted around the city to make it truly convenient, and for requiring riders to have their own helmets.

There are 50 docking stations in the CBD and inner suburbs. Riders pay a $52 annual subscription, or a daily fee of $2.60 or weekly fee of $8.

With PAUL PURCELL

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/bike-share-scheme-starts-to-gain-traction-20120209-1rwsx.html#ixzz1lv2lsYx2