New public bicycle hire initiatives have been rolled out in Blackpool, Lancashire, and Dublin, Ireland, to provide local residents and tourists with a cheap and easy method of travelling.

The dublinbikes scheme, which was launched on 13 September, forms part of a deal between Dublin City Council (DCC) and outdoor advertising company JC Decaux and offers 450 bicycles at 40 locations across Dublin, including a number of stations that offer credit card payment facilities. DCC's Andrew Montague, who represented Lord Mayor Emer Costello at the launch of the scheme, said: "The network is designed to facilitate people using the bikes for short journeys in the city centre area. This also facilitates each bike being hired several times a day.

"We're aiming to see each bike used about nine times per day - about 4,000 bike journeys. Trips of up to 30 minutes are free and that's how we'd encourage people to use dublinbikes." In addition to the first 30 minutes being free to use, a long-term hire option is available for an annual fee of €10 (£8.86) or a three-day ticket, which costs €2 (£1.77).

Meanwhile, the Blackpool scheme has been jointly funded by Cycling England, Blackpool NHS and the local council as part of a £1m, three-year intiative to help boost tourism and establish it as one of 11 Cycling Towns across the UK. A total of 60 bicycles have been made available at a number of locations around the promenade and pleasure beach areas, although plans are in place to increase that number to 500 by May 2010 at 100 hubs across the town.

Blackpool Council's cabinet member for tourism and regeneration, Maxine Callow, said: "Our dedication to cycling initiatives is a massive step forward in Blackpool's efforts to boost tourism in the town and enhance our reputation as a family-friendly holiday destination." A day ticket costing £8 will allow users unlimited access to any of the bikes at any location in Blackpool, or a top-up card will enable people to cycle for £1 per hour with the first 30 minutes free.

Blackpool has suffered a dramatic fall in the number of people visiting the seaside town over the past 14 years. The town now attracts less than 10 million people a year, compared with around 17 million during the mid-1990s. According to VisitBritain, the number of UK holidaymakers visiting the town in 2008 was down 26 per cent on the previous year.