Update on e-bike service planned for Ballina

Ballina may soon be home to an e-bike service similar to the Lime Bike offering in Castlebar and Westport.

Lime Bike, who run the service in those towns, provides a fleet of electric-assisted bikes for local commuting and leisure available for hire for a low cost.

At today’s meeting of the Ballina Municipal District, area engineer Orla Bourke said in response to a notice of motion raised by Cllr Annie May Reape that it is currently proposed to extend the shared bike scheme to Ballina.

She explained that Ballina is included in a currently published Tender for the provision of this scheme and there have been many expressions of interest since publication, with the Tender closing next Friday, March 27.

Cllr Reape said she was happy with this response and said an e-bike scheme had huge potential for Ballina.

“You see these Bikes everywhere and we’ve been asked to try and bring them to Ballina. It would be nice to see use being made of the connectivity between our recreation areas and encourage Active Travel, this is very positive,” she said.

Cllr John O’Hara supported the motion.

“If there is a traffic jam, we can just jump on the bike,” he joked. “It would be great to see this coming to the town.”