Bolt earmarks €5m to invest in Irish e-bike rental schemes

European mobility company Bolt could invest up to €5 million in e-bike sharing schemes in the State this year as it expands into new towns and cities.

Bolt has earmarked the money for investment in several schemes it hopes to put in place this year. On Monday, the company announced a 100-bike rental service in Sligo, and is in talks with local authorities to put several more in place in the coming months.

If the tenders are successful, it could lead to up to 50 jobs at the Irish operation, a significant expansion from the current total of five.

The funding is a result of the recent €150 million investment made by Bolt founder Markus Villig to expand the company’s fleet in Europe.

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The expansion of the e-bike rental services is part of Bolt’s strategy to move Irish people away from private car use and towards different mobility options, including electric bike rentals, taxis and potentially shared cars in the future. The company also plans to add e-scooters to its fleet in Ireland once legislation has passed to permit the legal use of the vehicles on Irish roads.

Aisling Dunne, head of public policy for Bolt Ireland, said many journeys across Ireland are under 4km, making them a potential target to swap cars use for more sustainable options.

“It’s great to see micro-mobility solutions coming to our large towns and not just being focused on the three or four main cities,” said Ms Dunne.

“To see e-bike schemes being rolled out beyond Dublin is really something we want and we’re working hard to do. Sligo is obviously our first market and we have others likely to follow.”

Users can rent a Bolt bike using the Bolt app, scanning the QR code to unlock it, with a per-minute rental fee. The bikes have high-precision GPS to help users find the bikes on the street, and they can be returned to virtual stands that are shown on the app. The virtual parking bays have the advantage of being cheaper and easier in providing a large number of parking locations that are convenient for users.

“In reality, people should be always within 100 to 200m (656ft) max of their closest bike. That provides much greater flexibility than having to put in place the docks that are a massive piece of infrastructure and require a lot of investment, but still have a regulation parking framework so that they don’t create a hazard on paths and create an impediment for for pedestrians,” said Ms Dunne.

“If you want to encourage people to make that modal shift out of the car, and into a more sustainable transport mode, it has to be easy. It has to be convenient, and it has to be affordable. And if it isn’t those three things then it’s going to be very hard to move people away from the private car.”