The cost of a Dublin Bikes subscription is set to increase substantially

It’s still not particularly expensive, mind.

The cost of an annual Dublin Bikes subscription is set to increase by 50 per cent over the next year as Dublin City Council seek a more affordable way of managing a scheme that has been in existence since 2009. According to the Irish Times, Dublin City Council can no longer afford to subvent the scheme and need to raise the annual subscription charge as a result. The Dublin Bikes scheme is currently funded through a combination of subscription and sponsorship and having paid €376,211 towards it in 2015, Dublin City Council want to raise the price of an annual subscription from €20 to €25 this year and to €30 next year. That would mean that the price of an annual subscription in 2017 would be three times the price of the €10 subscription fee when the scheme was introduced in 2009 and a 50 per cent increase on the current price of an annual subscription. There would be no change to the current hourly rates or to the €5 three-day subscription fee. There are plans in place to extend the Dublin Bikes scheme to the Dublin suburbs, plans that would cost an estimated €100 million over a ten-year period. Dublin City Council are proposing that some of the funding would come from advertisements in busy traffic routes in Dublin, such as College Green Plaza.