Laois going Electric with bike rental scheme in Portlaoise

Portlaoise visitors and locals are about to be offered electric bicycles for rent.

Laois County Council has announced that the new bicycles will be available to unlock and cycle by the end of July.

The bikes will be parked around Portlaoise, but will only be available to users who have preregistered with a payment card on an App, and will be charged per minute of use. There are stands already going up on the Abbeyleix Road, while new bike lanes are being built on the Mountrath road.

An official has confirmed the latest update to the Leinster Express / Laois Live.

"Parking stands have and are continuing to be installed at a number of locations throughout the town in advance of the scheme going live. The E Bike scheme is on schedule to launch before the end of this month," a spokesperson said.

A bicycle parking stand in Market Square, Portlaoise. Photo: Leinster Express

Portlaoise Tidy Towns gave a tantalising hint of the bike scheme.

"Lots of bike racks added to 20 locations around town . Exciting bike news coming soon," they said.

Chairperson Vincent Booth is delighted with its introduction.

"It's fantastic, we are delighted. We are fully supportive, it feeds into our actions to achieve Low Carbon status for Portlaoise. It will improve people's wellbeing and make Portlaoise a welcoming environment to shop, live and work. They work in other towns like Castlebar and Carlow so why not Portlaoise," he said.

A similar scheme in Carlow town gives a hint of how the Portlaoise version will work.

There they introduced an E-bike rental scheme last October, with one bike per 500 residents, which would mean some 50 bikes required for the population of Portlaoise.

Supplied by the Irish company Bolt, the 50 bikes serving Carlow are at 30 points around the town including the train station, shops and church.

Users have to be registered with a payment card on an App to borrow one, on a running at a charge of 18c a minute.

A 2021 survey on cycling in Portlaoise commissioned by Laois County Council showed that 102 adults cycled to work and just 68 students cycled to school.

Bike parking spaces at Laois County Council's carpark beside Portlaoise train station. 

As the pilot Low Carbon Town, Portlaoise is getting Government funding for bicycle lanes on the Abbeyleix Road, and more on the Dublin Road. The town is also getting a bicycle / pedestrian path along the Triogue river from Green Mill Lane through the town to the Southern link road, which has shared bicycle lanes.

Portlaoise is also set to get an internal public bus service, possibly with electric busses.