The Cycle Continues - Ongoing thoughts on TFI Bikes in Cork

I’ve cheered it on, I’ve written it off. I‘ve used it, I‘ve ignored it. I wanted to use it but couldn‘t and I had no use for it but used it anyway. To say that I have some history with TFI Bikes, the public bike rental system here in Cork, would be somewhat of an understatement! However, as the system approaches its tenth year of operation here in Cork, it‘s time to look at how it has developed and what its current state is like, as written by a heavy user of the system, in every sense of the word.

When the system first launched under the Coca Cola Zero Bikes brand on December 18th, 2014, it was far smaller that it is now, or even than it was supposed to be at the time. Only 16 of the planned 31 stations were operational, with the rest coming online later in 2015. I‘d signed up immediately when the website went live and started using the system immediately once it went live, even though it took a while for my local station at Camden Quay to come online, only doing so on January 21st, 2015. For someone like me, who doesn‘t have a driver's license (probably better for all involved), the system really opened up the city to me. There were some teething troubles, such as the elastic strips on the handlebar baskets that wore out quickly and were eventually replaced with wireframe baskets. The station network was also severely limited at the start but all in all, Coke Zero Bikes promised to be a major improvement for Cork.

Everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked… Oh, wait, wrong script.

Then, the first problems started to appear. Communication had never been the strong point of the system. News & Service Updates were hidden away in a small section of the website and a planned presence on Facebook and the at the time Muskrat-free Twitter never materialised. More worryingly though, the state of repair started to decline across the system. Damaged and vandalised bikes became a common sight on the streets of Cork. Smashed taillights or front lights bent saddles and even some dislodged handlebars were not unusual to see. The state of repair of the stations went downhill as well. Damaged touch screens, when they were replaced at all, were usually fixed in place with loads of sealing foam slapped liberally over the entire station, including the display. Bike stands went down and stayed offline for months, or even over a year in some cases.

Then, things got worse. At around the time that it seemed that Coca Cola Zero Bikes in Cork was about to hit rock bottom, news emerged that Telfourth Ltd., the company behind the operating consortium An Rothar Nua, was locked in an intellectual property dispute with Tracetel, the manufacturer of the docking station hardware, a dispute that got so bitter that even the French Ambassador to Ireland got involved in 2018. Between the legal dispute and the ongoing poor state of repair across the system, user numbers started to decline, and I myself stopped using the bikes for a while, although that was also partially due to the fact that I both lived and worked in Ballincollig at the time and had little reason to head into the city for a while. Shortly afterwards, news broke that Coca Cola were not going to renew their sponsorship for thebike share system and to be honest, for a while, it looked like the end was nigh for Coke Zero Bikes. 

However, there was still life in the system. Already in 2019, the National Transport Authority stated that they were actively looking for new stations around CIT and Model Farm Road, subject to the availability of funding. Two new stations actually went online in that year, next to the new south entrance to Cork‘s Kent railway station. Interestingly, these new terminals lacked any Coke Zero Branding, bearing insgtead the distinctive green branding of Transport for Ireland. It wasn‘t until 2021 though that any real progress was made on the expansion of the station network, with work on the stations on Model Farm Road and CIT finally kicking off in spring of that year. In addition, some stations that had been offline for months came back online, while at other stations, some bike stands that had been out of action for months or even years also suddenly became available again. However, in what seemed at first to be a final, cruel twist of fate, the number of available bikes in Cork suddenly cratered, without any communication from Transport for Ireland or Telfourth LTd./An Rothar Nua.

It was the arrival of these newly rebranded bikes that heralded the much-needed revival of TFI Bikes.

It was at this time though, that new bikes were beginning to appear on the streets of Cork. While they retained the same general shape of the original Coke Zero Bikes, they sported a new distinctive green and black „TFI Bikes“ branding and also featured some small but welcome design changes. All redesigned bikes were equipped with the new wireframe baskets from the start, while the rear mudguards had been increased in size and now also included aprotective housing fo the tail light, Finally, the innovative but wonky continuous transmission including its weird „display“ had been replaced by a simpler but still continuous system. As these new bikes were rolling out and bringing the numbers back up, Transport for Ireland also finally announced that they would be operating the system under the TFI Bikes brand, rather than looking for another sponsor. The state of repair of the individual stations also improved noticeably. Gone were the putty-covered botch jobs, replaced by brand new touch screens that were finally properly mounted. All of this was a great sign, but I‘d seen it before, when the system had first opened. There‘s a reason why I closed my blog post on the then-ongoing rebrand with the sentence „it‘ll require more than the occasional lick of paint to keep TFI Bikes attractive.“ 

So, has the system lived up to that? Yes and No. Now, to make things clear, my time between the rebranding in October 2021 and now has been somewhat limited due to that accident in May 2022 and the ensuing health issues, surgery, hospital stay and recovery, and I only really started using those bikes again in earnest in early June 2023. Since then, I‘ve used these bikes between two and four times a day during my work week, both to bridge the gap between the stop of the 220 on Grand Parade and my office near Kent Station, as well as for heading into town during my lunch breaks. So I usually stick to a handful of stations, mostly Kent Station East & West, Grand Parade, Emmet Place, and the occasional foray to Patrick Street or Pope‘s Quay. 

Grabbing a slice of pizza for lunch has become a whole lot more convenient thanks to TFI Bikes and the new bike lanes in the city.

Let‘s get the negatives out of the way first. Communication on side of both the operating company and Transport for Ireland is still absolutely atrocious! Service updates continue to be hidden away in an inconspicuous corner of the website, while the same section is hidden behind a menu on the iOS app. There is NO communication whatsoever on any major social media platform. Although, I do have give credit here, at least the service notifications are now up to date and made in a timely manner. As for the „hardware“, the bikes are once again showing signs of wear and tear, although it is nowhere near the same level as it was during the „dark times“ from 2017 onwards. To be honest, the biggest problem for me at the moment are the touch screens on some stations. They just fon‘t respond to any input at all sometimes. I‘m not sure whether this is an issue with the display, or with the software, and it doesn‘t appear to be a permanent issue. Whilst I had major issues with the station on Emmet Place for a number of weeks, the issue seems to have moved on to the station at Father Matthew Statue, outside of Merchant‘s Quay shopping centre.

However, there are also a number of positives this time around. For starters, the level of vandalism that the bikes are subjected to appears to be significantly lower than it used to be. I haven‘t seen a busted tail light in months, and the saddles all seem to be mostly still in shape as well. This extends to the general state of repair of the network. Maintenance seems to have a significantly higher priority than it used to. While there‘s still the occasional lemon to be had, the general state of the bikes is much higher than I would have expected. It is also not unusual to walk up to a TFI Bikes station and see technicians working on the station itself or on one of the stands. What‘s more, the operators have even started acting in a proactive manner when it comes to certain maintenance issues. Over the last few months, the rear tyres, which were liable to pictures and deflation, have slowly been getting replaced by solid tyres that, while slightly less comfortable, are much more reliable. And honestly, I‘d rather deal with a slightly sore derrière rather than having my rear wheel swerve all over the road.

The new bike lanes along Patrick's Quay are simply amazing, and make both my commute and lunch breaks a whole lot easier!

Finally, there‘s the improved general infrastructure in the city. As much as I like cycling, I doubt I‘d have gotten back in the saddle if it weren‘t for the South Mall cycle lane, which provides a comfortable and secure link between Grand Parade and Parnell Place. I‘d cycled along South Mall previously, and while it‘s certainly doable, it‘s not something I‘d recommend. Then, there are the North Quays cycle lanes. After years, Cork City Council finally managed to connect the existing cycle lanes on Pope‘s Quay with the stub between Brian Boru Bridge and Penrose Wharf, creating an unbroken corridor from Griffith Bridge to just short of Kent railway station, with a small side spur on Christy Ring Bridge. These changes finally allow me to do my entire work commute without having to mix with cars.

The new lanes also finally tie the excellent Pope's Quay bike lanes into a coherent network.

And these efforts are all beginning to bear fruit. Ever since I started cycling again back in June, the number of TFI Bikes I‘ve seen on the roads has been increasing. It used to be rare to even see one other such bike, whilst nowadays, it is common to see at least half a dozen on a single trip, in addition to the regular bike traffic on the road. I‘ve actually missed some of the extremely short green cycle light phases at intersections because I arrived at the back of a queue of bikes waiting to cross that very same intersection. And just recently, I‘ve had my first queue to check out a bike at a TFI Bikes station, something I‘d never seen before. I‘d really love to see the current usage statistics for the Cork system, because there must have been a considerable increase. However, all this leads me to one big question, one that has been bothering me for a long time:

This was a new experience for me this year. I've never seen so many other TFI Bikes on the road, and I've also never been part of a herd off them, or had to queue at a station to rent one. I love to see it.

Why. Is. NOBODY. Talking. About. TFI Bikes??? Seriously. For years, a number of cycling action and advocacy groups have been active here in Cork. They’ve been championing and lobbying for improved cycling infrastructure, calling out shortcomings, pushing for projects like the Lee 2 Sea Greenway, as well as running a bewildering array of community initiatives, from the logical to the bizarre. However, never once have I seen any noise made about the system, apart from decrying it’s supposedly piss-poor state of repair. Just look at Twitter/X/Elon Musk’s skid mark, and you’ll see no mentions of it at all, except for a few posts from my own private account. Now, I get that Elon the Muskrat has turned Twitter into an environment so toxic that it makes the Chernobyl exclusion zone or Lake Karachay seem like a tropical paradise by comparison, but it’s the same on Instagram, Mastodon, Life Invader, sorry, Facebook and all of the other social media platforms I checked. What’s going on there? You’d think that cycling campaigners would welcome any initiative that increases the number of cyclists on the road, especially one that is as affordable as TFI Bikes.

If you’ve read this and want to sign up for TFI Bikes, the annual subscription costs 10€, while the first 30 minutes of every bike ride are free. To sign up, simply go to www.bikeshare.ie. While I focused on TFI Bikes here in Cork, because that’s where I live, the system is also available in Waterford, Limerick and Galway. Please note that a 150€ hold will be placed on your credit or debit card when you sign up, however this will not actually be deducted unless a bike ends up being damaged or lost while you’re renting it. Oh, and if you use it, please make some noise about it on social media!!!