With 1,000 members and 12,000 kilometres clocked up by users of the Shannon Bike Share Scheme in its first four weeks of operation, Shannon Chamber is delighted to hear that, despite the initial impact of negative anti-social behaviour by a minority, the bikes are back in use in Shannon.
Chamber CEO Helen Downes is complementary of the tremendous work undertaken by CoMotion to improve and safeguard the system against any further disruptions to the service which so far has reduced Shannon’s carbon emissions by 1.3 tonnes.
Changes introduced include the introduction of ID verification to the registration process. All users must now verify their identity before they can access the scheme. The process only takes a few minutes by following these simple steps on CoMotion’s website which includes completing a registration form, uploading an image of the user’s photo ID and taking a selfie.
A fair usage policy and additional charges for longer journeys have been introduced. While users can still avail of the €1 unlock fee and 1 cent per minute for the first 30 minutes of the journey, a 10 cent per minute will apply thereafter.
CoMotion is working with local stakeholders to improve the locations of parking bays and add additional stands over the coming weeks. Additional branding will be added to the bikes to help identify the bike numbers and make it easier for the public to report instances of anti-social behaviour.
The bikes will have larger capacity batteries which will extend their hours of usage and more information on battery levels will be added to the dashboard with one white light indicating that the bike should be returned to a parking bay as soon as possible.
CoMotion has opened its new headquarters in Shannon Business Centre which will be manned by full-time staff.
“The level of usage since their introduction clearly indicates that the scheme is needed and welcomed and it behoves everyone in the community to respect the bikes and ensure that they are used as intended, to increase the take-up of cycling in the community and to make Shannon easier to traverse,” added Ms Downes.
