Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

news

£1,000 per trip cost for Scotland's first public bike hire scheme

Dumfries & Galloway Council promises major marketing push in the spring

Scotland’s first cycle hire scheme, launched in Dumfries in September, has seen slow uptake in its first two months of operation, with 47 users making an average of three journeys each. With the scheme costing £155,000 to put in place, that means that each trip to date has cost more than £1,000.

Councillors in the town in southwestern Scotland have acknowledged that the approach of winter means that usage levels are unlikely to improve any time soon, and have pledged to give the scheme a marketing boost next spring to encourage people to use the bikes, which are available free of charge at nine locations.

The initiative, called Dumfries Bike2Go project was launched by Scottish Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson in September.

In all, 142 journeys were made using the bikes in September and October, with 1pm-6pm being the peak period for use, with the most popular hire location being Dock Park. The highest use by an individual member was in excess of 20 journeys.

A council spokesman, quoted on the BBC News website, underlined that the figures to date were a reflection of the scheme being in its infancy and the time of year it was launched in.

"Obviously the recent weather hasn't been conducive to cycling unless the rider is pre-prepared with clothing suitable for cycling in wet weather,” he said.

"We are working to build the number of users and a marketing campaign in the spring will encourage increased use of the bikes,” he added.

The cost per journey should reduce in time as a proportion of the £155,000 start-up cost of the scheme, but compares unfavourably to the £140 million Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme in London, where more than a million journeys have now been made, bringing the current cost per trip there to below £140.
 

Latest Comments

 
Logo

Looks like your ad blocker is on.

×

We rely on ads to keep creating quality content for you to enjoy for free.

You can subscribe to road.cc to support us and turn off ads for good

Continue without supporting us

Choose your Ad Blocker

  • Adblock Plus
  • Adblock
  • Adguard
  • Ad Remover
  • Brave
  • Ghostery
  • uBlock Origin
  • uBlock
  • UltraBlock
  • Other
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock Plus icon
  2. Click the large blue toggle for this website
  3. Click refresh
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock icon
  2. Under "Pause on this site" click "Always"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Adguard icon
  2. Click on the large green toggle for this website
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ad Remover icon
  2. Click "Disable on This Website"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the orange lion icon
  2. Click the toggle on the top right, shifting from "Up" to "Down"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ghostery icon
  2. Click the "Anti-Tracking" shield so it says "Off"
  3. Click the "Ad-Blocking" stop sign so it says "Off"
  4. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock Origin icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the UltraBlock icon
  2. Check the "Disable UltraBlock" checkbox
  1. Please disable your Ad Blocker
  2. Disable any DNS blocking tools such as AdGuardDNS or NextDNS

If the prompt is still appearing, please disable any tools or services you are using that block internet ads (e.g. DNS Servers).

Logo