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Underused Citybike Stations removed
CityBIKE Docking Stations in Liverpool which are used less
than once a day are being removed in a drive to reduce
costs. There have been around 300,000 rentals to date, with usage up
significantly year on year, and those using the bikes have cycled a total of 1.4
million miles so far. But the size and scale of the operation means that, in
common with other bike hire schemes, it requires an annual subsidy to cover the
costs of repairs and maintenance; and data shows that 80% of the hires come
from just 20% of the Docking Stations.
A total of 33 stations which have less than 25 hires a month are being removed,
following a decision in August 2017, to bring the scheme under Council control from
operator Hourbike and save ₤100,000 a year.
Councillor Steve Munby, Cabinet member for highways, said:- "Citybike has
been a huge success in terms of the number of people using the cycles to get
around Liverpool, evidenced by the number of people we see riding around on
them, particularly in the City Centre. But there is a fine balance between
making the scheme attractive and affordable to users, against the ongoing costs
of maintenance of the bikes and the Docking Stations and that is why, in common
with other local authorities that run bike hire schemes, we have had to
subsidise it. We know the scheme brings huge benefits and that people use them
to get to work or for leisure and that they are great for tourists to explore
our City so we are committed to its future and are looking at ideas to expand
it, such as to neighbouring boroughs."
There will be no loss of bikes from the network as they will simply be deployed
elsewhere.
The Docking Stations being removed are:-
► ASDA Hunts Cross.
► Hillfoot Avenue, Hunts Cross.
► Woodend Avenue, Hunts Cross.
► Brownlow Hill.
► Lime Street Station.
► Renshaw Street.
► Childwall Abbey Road, Childwall.
► Liverpool Hope Campus, Childwall
► Calderstones Park, Yewtree Road.
► Calderstones Park Cafe.
► Tesco, Mather Avenue, Allerton.
► Lifestyles Alsop, Walton.
► Lifestyles Walton.
► Lowestoft Drive, Cressington.
► Everton Road Hostel.
► Liverpool John Moores, Byrom Street, Everton.
► Mere Lane Health Centre, Everton.
► Gardner's Drive, Kensington.
► Kirkdale Railway Station.
► Silvester Street, Kirkdale.
► The Rotunda, Kirkdale.
► Lifestyles Ellergreen, Norris Green.
► Tesco, Old Swan.
► Estuary Boulevard, Speke.
► Estuary Business Park, Speke.
► Speke Boulevard.
► Speke Retail Park.
► Speke Road, Garston.
► Speke Road Matchworks.
► Speke Road - New Mersey Shopping Park.
► Lifestyles Peter Lloyd, Tuebrook.
► Newsham Park, Gardner's Drive.
► Picton Clock, Wavertree.
CityBIKE in numbers:-
► 35 – average rental time in minutes.
► 32,800 – active users.
► 307,000 – rentals to date.
► 1.4 million – miles cycled to date.
► 9am and 5pm weekdays / 12pm to 4pm weekends; most popular rental times.
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