The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross T.D. today confirmed an additional €400,000 of funding is being made available to Dublin City Council for investment in cycling safety infrastructure.
Speaking at today’s announcement Minister Ross commented –
“I want to encourage more people to cycle and I realise that safety is a concern to many, so I am continuing to invest in safety measures for cyclists. This €400,000 will improve safety for cyclists at 40 key junctions across Dublin City Centre and is a great example of my Department and the National Transport Authority working with local authorities to improve cycling and walking infrastructure generally.”
This investment will be used to fund Dublin City Council’s installation of smart cyclist detection equipment at 40 key junctions around Dublin. This new traffic management feature aims to make busy junctions safer for cyclists by using smart technology to regulate traffic more effectively. In particular these measures will help alleviate concerns of cyclists regarding collisions and crossing times at busy junctions.
Minister Ross stated: “This funding is in addition to the €110million I have already secured for the development of cycling and walking infrastructure across the country over the next 4 years. Furthermore, significant investment is planned under the BusConnects programme in Dublin, which will deliver around 200km of, where possible, segregated cycle paths.”
The Department is also a key sponsor of Velo-City 2019 and is working closely with Dublin City Council (DCC), who will host the event. The Minister said “I am delighted to support this prestigious event and look forward to welcoming the conference, delegates and sponsors back to Dublin in June of next year.”
The Minister also wished the NTA’s Smarter Travel Team success for their ‘Reboot your Commute’ campaign that is launching tomorrow and thanked the National Transport Authority and DCC for their continued commitment to improving infrastructure.
I would like to share with you my opinion of the proposal to ban electric rickshaws from the streets of Ireland, this has been confirm for the Minister Shane Ross.
This is no the best action, considering that the rickshaws are already part of the culture of the city.
The use of electric rickshaws needs to be regulated and most of the European countries have done it already, so why not Ireland?
We would like to improve our rickshaw community in Dublin. We have already started the way, the bicycles are here and the drivers too.
We have started a clean and sustainable transport method. We are environmentally friendly and we decrease carbon emissions in the city.
A typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. An electric rickshaw emits 0. Shocking, right?
Why ban a green and clean transport method? It would be much better work together with the government for a regulation, get a cleaner city and enjoy the fact that people spend less time stuck in the traffic.
Of course, there are things to improve, we do not want rickshaws with light issues or participation on traffic violation and for sure we do not want to be related with drugs.
Could be great make rickshaw the image of Dublin at night, as we contribute so much for the tourism.
Mr. Ross, did not think about the human factor neither. What about all those people that are behind each bicycle. There is a different story for each of them. Most of them are from another continent, students who travelled 10.000 km for learn English, Business, IT or hospitality here in Dublin.
There are around 600 rickshaws drivers just in Dublin, 600 people, 600 faces with names that just count with rickshaw for a living, as they have to pay the rent (one of the most expensive rents in Europe) and survive here.
I didn’t know with who share my thoughts, so maybe this article that is about the same person that want to ban a green and clean transport method is the right place.
Maybe you could get an interesting article related with this information.
Thanks for your time