Stop the Government Scrapping Our Regional Bike Infrastructure

Dear Public Representative,

We are writing to you as concerned professionals and workers connected to the regional public transport network across Munster and Connacht. We are taking this step because strict statutory gag orders and commercial penalties prevent staff from speaking publicly about a catastrophic policy decision currently being finalised inside the Government in Dublin.

On November 4, 2026, the Government is scheduled to publish a retender specification that will quietly seal the fate of our regional bike schemes in Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford. Unless regional public representatives intervene immediately, the Government intends to dismantle and scrap over a decade of publicly funded docked bike stations, replacing an affordable public utility with privatised, venture-backed dockless commercial operators.

We urge you to review the following four documented facts:

1. THE DESTRUCTION OF WORKING PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE: Over the past decade, millions of euro of taxpayers' money has been invested in 96 ground-anchored physical docking stations across Cork, Galway, Limerick, and Waterford. These stations are built with industrial-grade, marine-treated materials engineered to withstand Atlantic coastal weather. They have operated reliably for ten years and remain fully functional. The Government plan is to pay private civil engineering contractors an estimated 1.0M to 1.5M euro to unbolt, excavate, and destroy these stations, grinding off anchor bolts and repaving streetscapes at public expense. During formal tender proceedings, prospective operators asked why the State would not permit an incoming operator to reuse this functional, publicly owned infrastructure. The Government explicitly refused in writing. In the wake of the 336,000 euro Leinster House bike shelter and the 1.4 million euro Merrion Street security kiosk, spending public funds to demolish over a decade of working public street infrastructure is indefensible.

2. PULLING POPULAR E-BIKES OFF STREETS INTO WAREHOUSES: Public electric bikes introduced on the streets in Cork have proven exceptionally popular with everyday riders. Yet under the Government tender plan, instead of expanding this successful service across Galway, Limerick, and Waterford, working public e-bikes will be withdrawn from city streets. Hundreds of publicly funded electric bikes will be locked away in commercial warehouses for up to 18 months at public expense, causing irreversible battery cell degradation before bikes ever complete a continuous year of service.

3. THE 18x TO 130x FARE INFLATION: Moving from the public scheme to commercial dockless operators terminates the 10 euro per year unlimited pass. Annual commuter passes jump to 186 euro for pedal bikes and over 1,300 euro for electric bikes, while metered casual trips at 1 euro unlock plus 0.20 to 0.29 euro per minute cost commuters upwards of 2,400 euro per year with zero operational subsidy.

4. PAVEMENT DUMPING AND DISABILITY IMPACT: Commercial dockless bikes inevitably block narrow footpaths, pedestrian crossings, and wheelchair access corridors, abandoning the 100 percent pavement order delivered by physical docking stations.