Belfast Bikes were launched to great fanfare only last month

A Belfast bike share scheme that launched just three months ago is already so popular that there are 1,000 rentals in a day, it can be revealed.

There are currently 300 Coca-Cola Zero Belfast Bikes at 30 stations across the city centre - but the massive success of the scheme means more could be wheeled out.

Belfast City Council heard last night that the scheme had been "extremely well received".

In the first week of operation, the scheme out-performed the start of Glasgow's - and even beat the famous 'Boris bikes' in London.

By the third week of operation in Belfast, there were more than 4,486 individual users.

The scheme has been so popular that some of the docking stations are not equipped to cope with the high demand and the council is preparing to expand the number of stations across the city.

Council heard that bike stations at Mays Meadow, serving Central Station, and Alfred Street/Linenhall Street are so over-subscribed that extra capacity is badly needed.

The bike stations at Botanic Avenue and Bradbury Place are also among the most used of the 30.

DUP councillor Brian Kingston commended the success of the scheme at the July meeting of Belfast City Council last night.

"We can see how successful the scheme is going so far," he said.

"We are getting over 1,000 bike rentals a day some days and we are now looking to extend to around Queen's, Titanic and the hospitals. There is also a strong desire in the lower Shankill area."

Some of the other areas proposed for docking stations include Crumlin Road Gaol, Royal Victoria Hospital/Gaeltacht Quarter and Holywood Arches.

The council has also received requests from the public to expand the scheme and a number of large companies have made approaches about seeking to buy corporate memberships for staff.

Council officers are currently looking at their options for expansion.

When the scheme was launched in March there were some initial teething problems with registering, while the bike station at Central Station was out of order for a couple of weeks due to vandalism attacks.

However, there have not been any other reports of serious issues with the scheme since then.

The Coca-Cola Zero Belfast Bikes were launched on March 27 as part of Belfast City Council's investment programme.

There are currently 300 public bikes at 30 bike docking stations in the city centre. Users can pay either £20 for an annual subscription, or £5 for three-day casual use, while the first 30 minutes of each trip is free of charge.

Background

The Coca-Cola Zero Belfast Bikes were launched on March 27 as part of Belfast City Council's investment programme.

There are currently 300 public bikes at 30 bike docking stations in the city centre. Users can pay either £20 for an annual subscription, or £5 for three-day casual use while the first 30 minutes of each trip is free of charge.

Belfast Telegraph