Last week Cyclist.ie made a submission to the National Transport Authority in regard to the “Connecting Ireland Bus Proposals”.
As per the NTA website:
Connecting Ireland is a major public transport initiative developed by the National Transport Authority (NTA) with the aim of increasing connectivity, particularly for people living outside our major cities and towns. The plan aims to improve mobility in rural areas, and it will do this by providing better connections between villages and towns by linking these areas with an enhanced regional network connecting cities and regional centres nationwide.
You can read about the proposals themselves here. We would encourage all of our readers to check out the public transport proposals in their own area and keep in touch with us in 2022 as the plans develop.
Note that our own submission concentrated on multi modal travel, which is not currently reflected in the proposals. You can read our own submission in full below.
Cyclist.ie wishes to sincerely thank its volunteers for the work involved in preparing and making this submission.
1.0Introduction
Cyclist.ie, the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network (ICAN), is the Federation of Cycling Advocacy Groups, Greenway Groups and Bike Festivals on the island of Ireland. We are the Irish member of the European Cyclists’ Federation. Our vision is for an Ireland with a cycle friendly culture, where everyone has a real choice to cycle and is encouraged to experience the joy, convenience, health and environmental benefits of cycling.
Cyclist.ie supports improved public transport networks and we are happy to see these proposals for increased routes and increased frequencies for public bus routes across the national network. However, while commending these proposals we would also wish to see a clear emphasis on multi modal transport as part of these network proposals.
2.0Comment
We are delighted to see measures such as the integration of bus services with train services being proposed. Examples, such as the new bus service from Carlow train station to Arklow station which allows passengers to transfer from one rail line to another is innovative and praiseworthy. The initiative from Leitrim of integrating regular bus services with private services, for example those operated by the HSE, and Health Charities shows a level of joined-up thinking at work.
However, we are disappointed that these Connecting Ireland proposals have not included any reference to the perfect opportunity to integrate cycling with public transport, and provide wider multi-modal options for rural dwellers in particular. We would seek that this consideration must be factored into the further development of these connecting Ireland bus proposals.
There are a variety of ways of approaching this question, including the following:
2.1 Provide bike parking at local bus stops: Rural dwellers may not live along an actual bus route and may need to travel some distance to actually board any offered service. A bicycle, whether a standard bike, Ebike, or cargo bikes is an ideal and environmentally friendly way to do this. Facilities such as these are a norm in many northern European countries – see image below from Holland.
Dutch style rural bike parking at bus stop
2.2 Provide Safe & Secure Bike Parking at the Major Transport Nodes As in all other jurisdictions which have reached high levels of bicycle usage, one of the major infrastructural supports for this is safe, secure, and adequate bike parking at bus stations and train stations. Examples such as those below, relatively common in other countries might be taken on board?
Dutch example of architecturally designed secure bike parking building in Dordrecht
Simple Bike lock-up at Llandudno in Wales
2.3 Provide Bike on Board Services Many bus companies throughout Europe already provide opportunities to transport bikes on their coaches. It is only a matter of appropriate design to facilitate this option. See image below from Koblenz in Germany
2.4 Provide a carrier or trailer service. Front carriers for bikes are a relatively common feature in North America. Options such as below could easily be trialled?
3.0Summary
In essence Cyclist.ie maintains that as part of the improvement in the national bus network, the full integration of cycling with public transport needs to be addressed. We realise from webinar presentations made and Q&A sessions that this issue has not been fully taken on board up to now.
With the level of ambition of the present government in relation to increasing active travel countrywide, and the need to meet our climate change targets under the Climate Action Plan, this Connecting Ireland plan needs to understand the criticality of linking the different active sustainable travel modes into a seamless multi-modal network. This can enable multi modal travel options nationwide.
Cyclist.ie has a new Executive Committee following its Annual Members’ Meeting of Wednesday 1st December 2021. It comprises some members who were on last year’s Executive Committee (EC) and some brand new faces. All in all, we have great regional and gender balance on the new EC – and terrific expertise and experience on board.
We are also delighted to announce that we have a new Chairperson, Neasa Bheilbigh from Galway, and a new Vice-Chairperson, Dave Tobin from Limerick.
We wish them both the very best, and indeed all of the new EC members. You can read more about each of the EC members here.
After a hiatus of almost two years, the Erasmus+ project that Cyclist.ie is part of through our partnership with An Taisce Green Schools, recommenced with a training and learning tour of Lithuania in the middle of November. In this article, Dr. Damien Ó Tuama, National Cycling Coordinator with Cyclist.ie and An Taisce, reflects on the visit and on reconnecting with a wonderful team of advocates from the four participating countries.
The Erasmus+ Project
For those less familiar with it, Erasmus+ is the EU’s programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. The programme places a strong focus on social inclusion, the green and digital transitions, and promoting young people’s participation in democratic life. You can find out more about Erasmus+ here.
This particular Erasmus+ project, entitled “Sustainable Mobility, Sustainable Community”, combined themes of social inclusion, intergenerational relationships, community building and sustainable mobility. The partners comprised organisations from Ireland, Denmark, Lithuania and Spain (the lead partners). You can read more on the background to the project on a Cyclist.ie web article from April 2019 covering the first of the four exchanges visits (the lovely training and learning visit to Corella in Spain), and you also can check out the overarching blog for the project here.
The learning and training visit to Lithuania had an action-packed and diverse schedule of outdoor and indoor events, with a lot of thought and preparation going into the programme. Huge credit must go to our principal contact in Lithuania, Reda Kneizeviciene, for curating the multi-day programme.
I highlight below some of the most memorable aspects of the visit to Lithuania, but note that it is certainly not exhaustive in terms of covering all of the events we took part in. Overall, we had three very full days of activities plus some extra events on our arrival and departure days.
Arrival Day – Tue 16 Nov
After visiting friends in Warsaw, I travelled overland from the Polish capital to Vilnius, the capital city of Lithuania. The bus trip took around 10 hours, and I received a lovely welcome at Vilnius bus station from Reda Kneizevičienė, the lead on the Lithuanian team, along with her son Jonas and nephew. Similarly, the partners from Spain and Denmark were met at the airport with warm welcomes before our reunion in the local hotel.
Damien Ó Tuama and Reda Kneizevičienė
Full Day #1 – Wed 17 Nov
One of the undoubted highlights of our trip was our visit to the Seimas, the Parliament of Lithuania. We were treated to a full guided tour of the building, including the old and new parliamentary chambers, before the conference commenced.
The title of the conference was “Examples of sustainable development in volunteering activities: when both the environment and the public benefit” and it was opened by Mr. Simonas Gentvilas, Minister of the Environment in the Lithuanian government. We were also lucky enough to meet the Speaker of the House, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, who is herself former twice world chess champion.
L-R: Reda Kneizevičienė, Tono Pena De Marcos (Vice-President, Biciclistas de Corella, and Coordinator of the project), Ms Viktorija Cmilyte-Nielsen (Speaker of the Seimas of the Lithuanian Republic) and Mr. Simonas Gentvilas (Minister of the Environment in the Lithuanian government) And the full team!
There were informed presentations given by representatives of each of the project partners, in addition to ones delivered by reps from the Transport Ministry, the City of Vilnius and the Lithuanian Cycling Community (itself a member group of the European Cyclists’ Federation – see here). The full programme for the conference can be read here and the YouTube video capturing all of the recorded presentations can be viewed here (with Damien’s presentation commencing at 2h 10min).
Damien Ó Tuama from Cyclist.ie and An Taisce addressing the conferenceJens Erik Larsen from Denmark addressing the conference. In the background is an image from 1990 on the day Lithuania gained its independence from the Soviet Union.
The formalities of the conference were followed by a much more informal – and ever so slightly bitterly cold – evening time bike tour of Vilnius. Lovely to see the old and new parts of the city, with an entertaining and knowledgeable tour guide. Very enjoyable indeed. Some pics from the trip are below. They include an image of a plaque on Paupio street within “The Republic of Užupis” in Vilnius – one of 25 plaques in different languages showing the Constitution of the district of Užupis.
The first 10 articles of the Constitution of the Republic of Užupis read as follows (see here for them all):
Everyone has the right to live by the River Vilnelė, and the River Vilnelė has the right to flow by everyone.
Everyone has the right to hot water, heating in winter and a tiled roof.
Everyone has the right to die, but this is not an obligation.
Everyone has the right to make mistakes.
Everyone has the right to be unique.
Everyone has the right to love.
Everyone has the right not to be loved, but not necessarily.
Everyone has the right to be undistinguished and unknown.
Everyone has the right to idle.
Everyone has the right to love and take care of the cat.
Following the bike tour, we had dinner in the lovely Socialinis Restoranas “Pirmas blynas” restaurant which is located in the basement of a church. It was set up by a Dutch chap (pictured below) with a culinary and social mission to employ people with intellectual disabilities. Fab food and atmosphere there and a terrific enterprise overall.
A group picture after dinner in the lovely Pirmas Blynas restaurant The location of the Pirmas Blynas restaurant.
Our day finished with a bus journey to the Suvalkija region, stopping off en route for a night-time visit to the stunning Trakai Island Castle.
Day #2 – Thursday 18 Nov
Our second full day in Lithuania was another action-packed one, with trips to a transport and technology museum, the Marijampolé Technical College, the school attended by the Lithuanian pupils taking part in the Erasmus+ project, a “Bunny Museum” and then, finally, a meeting in the hotel to review the 3 year project as a whole. The pictures below will illustrate some of these visits and meetings.
The Director of Marijampolé Technical College showing us the robotics laboratory. The Bunny Museum which draws upon the rich rabbit history of the region.Representatives from each of the partner organisations taking part in the final project meeting. The session focused on assessing the project as a whole and considered future possibilities for international collaborations.
Day #3 – Friday 19 Nov
Our third and final full day was spent in the more rural parts of the Suvalkija region and it commenced with a visit to a local community centre and a tree planting session in the Antavanas Historical Park.
We planted one oak tree for each of the partner countries – Ireland, Denmark, Spain and Lithuania. The planting is symbolically important to mark the Erasmus+ project itself and our learning and training visit to the country, but also as a part off-setting for the carbon cost associated with the groups travelling (by air) to Lithuania.
Rebecca from Biciclistas de Corella and Damien from Cyclist.ie planting the Irish tree!Further tree planting with Reda taking the lead.A final photo before leaving the lovely community centre – with Chifly (in green), Tono (in navy), Jens Erik (in grey) and one of the woman from the centre.
Our Lithuanian partners, LAG Suduva, have recently created a trail in the forest in the region – and next up was a visit there to check it out. It’s a 14-kilometer trail that will connect Kazlu Ruda with three more villages: Kadliskes, Jurés and Agurkiskes. For more information on this see here.
Launching the trail!
And some further shots from the local area.
One of the many wooden churches and buildings of the region. Jens Erik Larsen, one of the founders of the Euro Velo network of trans-continental cycle routes (see here), sharing with the local hosts his knowledge of the history of road traffic warning signage. In this case, Jens Erik reflected on the sign showing (scared) children racing across the road so as to dodge (speeding) motor vehicles.
Perhaps the most fascinating visit on our trip was to the Kardokai Village Nature School, where the pupils themselves took our Erasmus+ group on a walking tour. The school itself has been developed over the last four or five years or so, and has pupils up to the mid-teens at the moment. The class rooms comprise various interesting wood and straw bale built buildings – as well as clearings in the forest – and with the curriculum very much ecologically focused and with an emphasis on developing practical food growing, building and other skills. This visit was of particular interest to the Danish and Spanish school teachers in the group.
Many of the existing school classrooms / buildings, and those under construction, are geodesic domes – quite elegant structures.
The final formal event of our trip was a traditional Lithuanian Folk evening – a session of dance, music, cooking and dining! Some photos below will give a flavour.
Traditional Lithuanian dance with local musicians supported by Spanish, Danish and Irish band members!‘Eggie’, the Lithuanian student, giving his highly entertaining live translations of the descriptions of traditional Lithuanian weaving at the folk evening. Participants receiving their Certificates of Participation in the 4th Learning & Training stage of the “Sustainable Mobility, Sustainable Community” Erasmus + project after dinner. Congratulations Juan!
Departure Day – Saturday 20 Nov
Saturday was departure day for us all, but we managed to squeeze in a visit to and walking tour of Kaunas, the second city of Lithuania, en route to Vilnius.
Tono and Cristina from CorellaMore geodesic domes – and note the trick of using inflated car tubes under the ladder to prevent damage to the structures while they are under construction.
In Conclusion
This Erasmus+ learning and training tour, like the previous ones of the project, was a truly wonderful experience – action-packed with diverse activities each day, educational, sociable and very inclusive in every sense of the term.
I want to thank Reda Kneizeviciene once again for curating the whole programme under difficult Covid influenced circumstances – and also thank all of the other most hospitable Lithuanian hosts.
From a transport perspective, I was struck by the depth of car culture in Lithuania (and especially Vilnius) – similar to many other European countries including Ireland. There is still much to do to create the conditions to nurture a stronger everyday cycling culture in both urban and rural areas. It would be lovely though to revisit the country in the summertime to compare and contrast cycling numbers!
It was disappointing, of course, that pupils from Spain, Ireland and Denmark were not permitted to travel for this trip – they were certainly missed, especially by their Lithuanian counterparts – but very much understandable given the public health context.
From my own perspective, it was lovely to make friends and forge connections with brilliant activists and volunteers from all of the partner organisations – and I look forward to meeting them again in the not-so-distant future.
Our group in the (old) Lithuanian Parliament
Cyclist.ie would certainly love to be involved in other sustainable mobility related Erasmus+ projects in the future, so please get in touch with [email protected] if you are interested in possible collaborations.
Finally, thanks again to those whose photographs I borrowed for this article – especially Reda Kneizeviciene and our chief official photographer Juan Luis (‘Chifly’) from Corella! Much appreciated indeed.
