A new report has recommended a significant expansion of a “bike bunker” programme in Dublin to deploy 300 of the locked bike shelters around the city by 2026.
It follows positive public reaction to a pilot scheme which the report said demonstrated “substantial demand” for secure parking spaces for bicycles in the capital.
The report, commissioned by Dublin City Council, recommends that the running of the scheme should be outsourced to a private contractor who will have responsibility for allocating spaces, processing payments and maintenance of the bunkers.
Councillors will be informed at a meeting of the council’s traffic and transport committee next week that lessons learned from the scheme to date show the council does not have sufficient staff to progress the scheme or to maintain it.
Council officials will tell elected representatives that the situation “is unlikely to change”.
There are currently 12 bike bunkers – secure hangars which can accommodate around six bicycles each – in areas such as Portobello, Stoneybatter, The Liberties and Broadstone.
They are mostly situated in quiet residential neighbourhoods with terraced houses where there are limited spaces for storing bicycles and where there is low demand for car parking permits.
Users pay a rental charge of €100 per year – twice the cost of a residential parking permit.
The report showed the annual cost of similar storage shelters for bicycles in other European cities ranges from €15 in Brussels to €123 in the Islington Council area of London.
The initiative was first trialled in Dublin in 2015 but its planned expansion has been stalled for a number of years, although almost 2,400 people have applied for a bike bunker space.
The cost of expanding the bike bunker scheme is estimated at €1.5million for the first three years which includes the cost of purchasing around 150 bike bunkers.
The report by Arup also recommended that the alternative parking facilities, such as Sheffield stands, should be provided in parts of the city where there is a high demand for on-street storage of bicycles.