Micromobility giant Bolt has appointed John Buckley as its operations manager for rentals in Ireland following the launch of its €5m e-bike scheme in Sligo.
Buckley joins the Estonian-founded firm from Bleeper, where he was responsible for the management and supervision of all aspects of daily operations for public bike share schemes in the Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council areas, comprising of more than 800 bikes and 120,000 customers.
He will be responsible for the management of Bolt’s first Irish e-bike rental service, consiting of 100 e-bikes in Sligo, and the rollout of further e-bike and scooter services throughout Ireland in the coming months.
Bolt is preparing to invest €5m in expanding its e-bike and scooter operations in Ireland as part of its bid to build a multimodal platform. It currently operates in more than 200 cities in 20 European countries.
"As we aim to bring a multi-modal mobility app to cities across Ireland, John will be integral to guiding the strategy behind our electric bike and scooter roll outs, ensuring Bolt thoughtfully and safely integrates with the infrastructure, transport system and wellbeing of the public," said Tomas Veloso, director of rentals for Bolt.
In Association with
Of his appointment, Buckley said: "Bolt is at an exciting point in its development in Ireland, with really ambitious plans for growth.
"I’m eager to unlock the positive benefits micromobility options can bring to the country, whilst staying acutely aware of any concerns held by Irish cities and towns about the introduction of new transport modes.”
Bolt estimates that it has more than 75m customers in 45 countries across Europe and Africa. It currently offers taxi hailing services in Dublin and Cork, headed by James Bowpitt, in addition to the Sligo e-bike rental services.
Up to 2,000 bikes were made available immediately following Bolt's latest fundraising round and an investment of €150m by founder Markus Villig to expand its light vehicle fleet across Europe.
Bolt said it plans to add 50 employees and expand its head office in Dublin should all its current tender applications be successful, and the company is keen to add e-scooter services when the pending legislation is enacted.
(Pic: Bolt)
