Over the coming days around 25 Irish delegates will begin their journeys to Nijmegen in The Netherlands for the largest cycling planning and advocacy conference in the world: Velo-city 2017. Approx 2000 delegates are expected at the four-day event with many more taking part in side-events and in the gigantic evening-time mass cycle through the city.
All posts by John Dawson
UN Global Road Safety Week
Dublin, 8 May 2017
Today marks the start of the UN’s Global Road Safety Week. All around the world, communities are coming together to organise events focused around the theme ‘Save Lives #SlowDown.’ “Speed is at the core of the global road traffic injury problem,” notes WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan. “If countries were to address just this key risk, they would soon reap the rewards of safer roads, both in terms of lives saved and increases in walking and cycling, with profound and lasting effects on health.” 54 people have been killed on Irish roads in 2017 already, of whom 21 were vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists, motor cyclists and pillion passengers). Approximately one third of all these accident fatalities are speed related. Drivers need to make the pledge and act to Save Lives
#SlowDown.
This week will see the Garda Traffic Corps out in force, carrying out extra speed checks around Dublin. Love 30 will be holding a series of events on the 9 th of May, asking drivers to make the pledge to ‘Save Lives #SlowDown.’ At 8.15am schoolchildren from Scoil Chaitríona on Mobhi Road will be out giving drivers their views on why they should slow down. At 11 am on Tuesday 9 th May, Love 30 and the Garda Traffic Corps will be Monck Place, a known ‘rat run’ in Phibsboro, asking drivers to make the pledge to ‘Save Lives #SlowDown’. At 1pm on Tuesday 9 th May, a cross-party Oireachtas group of cycling TDs and Senators will be showing their support for this campaign at the Leinster House gates on Kildare Street.
Welcoming the initiative, Inspector Ronan Barry of the Garda Traffic Corps called on everyone to take part this week. “Slowing down isn’t just for UN Global Road Safety Week,” he said. “We all need to take responsibility for saving lives on our roads.” Love 30 is a coalition of cycling and community groups who campaign for lower speed limits to make our towns and cities safer and more pleasant places to live, work and play. “We are one group out of thousands of groups, all around the world, calling on drivers to slow down,” says Love 30’s Mairéad Forsythe. “We must accept that speed is a critical factor leading to deaths on our roads and change our behaviour accordingly.” Dublin Cycling Campaign are also supporting this intiative. “In Dublin alone 3 cyclists have been killed off their bikes this year already,” said Colm Ryder of the Dublin Cycling Campaign. “It is a frightening situation that cannot continue. We are delighted that An Garda Síochána are carrying out these urban speed checks.”
Contact: Love 30, Mairéad Forsythe, 086-8337577
UN Global Road Safety Week: 8 – 14 May 2017: The #SlowDown campaign operates on the principles of the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020. On 11 May 2011, dozens of countries around the world kicked off the first global Decade of Action. From New Zealand to Mexico and the Russian Federation to South Africa, governments committed to taking new steps to save lives on their roads. The Decade of Action seeks to prevent road traffic deaths and injuries which experts project will take the lives of 1.9 million people annually by 2020. The Global Plan for the Decade of Action outlines steps towards improving the safety of roads and vehicles; enhancing emergency services; and building up road safety management generally.
It also calls for increased legislation and enforcement on speeding. More information
Love 30: Ireland has already seen 6 cyclists die on our roads this year, 3 of them in Dublin. Approximately one third of all accident fatalities are speed related. Drivers need to be cognizant of their speed levels and potential to kill or maim vulnerable road users (VRUs), particularly in urban areas. The Love 30 Campaign strongly supports the introduction of a 30 km/h speed limit on many roads in Irish towns and cities and, together with the Garda Traffic Corps, is supporting the UN’s Global Road Safety week with daily speed checks throughout the week across Dublin. More information
Open Letter to Minister Shane Ross
Eight Cyclist Fatalities in 2017, to mid-May
Cyclist.ie – the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network, of which Dublin Cycling Campaign is a lead member, wrote to Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport Shane Ross T.D. today seeking a meeting. The letter responds to the death of eight people riding their bikes on Irish public roads thus far in 2017. The text of the letter is below (and PDF below bottom).
Monday 22 May 2017
Dear Minister Ross,
I refer to my previous letter of 16 June 2016 and to my Cyclist.ie colleague Dr. Mike McKillen’s letter of 03 October 2016.
I am writing to you again on the matter of cyclist safety but, this time, after eight of my fellow cyclist citizens have been mowed down and killed by motor vehicles in 2017 – and it is only mid-May. In 2016 a total of 10 people riding their bikes lost their lives. The carnage can and must be halted!
There is something fundamentally wrong with our system and culture when the lives of mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, and sons and daughters are extinguished – at a rate of more than one per month – while they are engaging in a healthy activity that is promoted as government policy.
On behalf of those who use bicycles, both for everyday transportation/utility trips, and for recreational/tourism use, I am calling on you as the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to make – as a matter of urgency – a serious intervention before any other person on a bike loses their lives. We need leadership at this point to bring a halt to the death and misery inflicted by the utter dominance of motor vehicles on Irish roads.
As pointed out in our previous letters, your Department’s National Cycle Policy Framework (NCPF) of 2009 has all but been set-aside. All we hear about (for the last 2 to 3 years) is “an upcoming review” of same – with nothing forthcoming. Your department still has no National Cycling Coordinator in post, a basic pre-requisite for advancing a multi-faceted policy framework and a specific action of the NCPF (Objective #17.1). The promised National Advisory Forum has still not been established (Policy #17.2).
Furthermore, and to exacerbate these shortcomings, active travel is downgraded in the National ‘Building on Recovery’ Plan to a mere 1% of the proposed transport expenditure, despite the NCPF commitment of ‘adequate and timely funding’ (Chapter 4). This 1% figure compares very poorly to our European neighbours and to the UN recommended level of 20% of transport funding to go on non-motorised / active travel modes [1].
I am pleading with you to show real leadership in procuring a paradigm shift in how those who use active and healthy travel modes are treated on Irish public roads and, consequently, in how transport funds are spent. We strongly commend your support for lower vehicle speeds and for lower alcohol limits for drivers, but the parallel issue here – and the giant elephant in the room – is the need for transport to decarbonise and hence for capital expenditure on transport to switch away from endless demand-inducing road building and, instead, shift to investment in public transport, walking and cycling.
We would like to meet with you at the earliest possible date to discuss our concerns over the present level of cycling deaths, the need for adequate funding and resources, and the very real and relatively quick benefits to be gained from increased investment in cycling, as outlined in the NCPF.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours sincerely
Dr. Damien Ó Tuama
National Cycling Coordinator, Cyclist.ie – the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network
Vice-President, European Cyclists’ Federation
Paul Williams & Shane Coleman on cycle safety
Listen to the podcast
Related article in the Irish Times
Helmets, hi-vis & safety
Deborah Coleman, writing in the Independent rolls out the “no brainer” approach
Phil Skelton, of Safe Cycling Ireland, makes a different case, below
Cycling to work linked with large health benefits
Walking to work is also good for you, although it does not offer the same benefits as taking a bike, experts from the University of Glasgow found.
The new study on 264,337 people – 52% of whom were women – found cycling to work is linked to a 45% lower risk of developing cancer and a 46% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, compared to driving to work or taking public transport. Read more
See also: BBC
And: Independent
And helmets are no panacea either
Recreational Cycle Route Planning & Development Training Course
Sport Ireland Trails has developed a two day course on Recreational Cycle Route Planning & Development. According to Sport Ireland Trails, it will provide participants with the knowledge and skills to aid the development of recreational cycle routes in Ireland.
The course will run on 10 and 11 May 2017 at the National Sports Campus in Abbotstown. More information
Dublin to Host Velo-City Conference in 2019
Lord Mayor Hosts Velo-City Contract Signing with European Cycle Federation
Lord Mayor of Dublin, Brendan Carr welcomes Mr. Bernhard Ensink and Mr. Marcio Deslandes from the European Cycle Federation (ECF) to the Mansion House on Thursday, 6th April 2017 at 10.30 am to sign the contract that will bring the Velo-City Conference to Dublin in June 2019.
The Velo-City conference series is the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) annual global cycling summit organised by the ECF and selected host cities. Velo-City conferences are widely considered as the premier international cycling conference series and serve as a global communications and information platform to target and influence decision makers, and improve the policies, planning and provision of infrastructure for cycling and the daily use of the bicycle in an urban environment. The conferences traditionally involve experts, representatives of associations, institutions, policy-makers and social agents, universities and companies.
In August 2016, Dublin City Council made a formal submission to bid for Velo-City to take place in Dublin 2019. Dublin, along with Helsinki, were shortlisted as potential host cities for Velo-City 2019 in September 2016, an intensive site visit took place in both Dublin and Helsinki in November 2016, with Dublin announced as being awarded the bid in December 2016. The 2019 conference will take place in the Dublin Convention Centre from 25th – 28th of June in 2019.
Lord Mayor Brendan Carr said “I am delighted that Dublin has been chosen to host Velo-City in 2019. I would like to congratulate Dublin City Council and the other partner agencies who successfully bid to bring this prestigious international conference to Dublin city. Hosting Velo-City will accelerate efforts to further the development of Dublin as a world class cycling city.”
Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport, Shane Ross T.D., today congratulated Dublin City Council on winning the right to host Velo-city 2019. He said “I was hugely impressed with the Dublin City Council led bid and am delighted that Dublin has been chosen to host Velo-city 2019.
I was pleased to meet with the European Cyclist’s Federation CEO Bernhard Ensink and his colleagues on their recent visit to Dublin to assess the Dublin bid to host Velo-city 2019. I assured Mr. Ensink of the Government’s commitment to supporting this conference, and look forward to welcoming the 2,000 participants in June 2019.
Ireland, and Dublin in particular, is well positioned to attract international conferences of this scale with our increasing air connectivity and excellent facilities such as those available at the Convention Centre Dublin which will be the venue for this fascinating conference. I hope to see many more events of this scale being awarded to Ireland in the coming years.”
Bernhard Ensink, ECF Secretary General said “We are excited to bring participants from all continents in 2019 to Dublin. Velo-City 2019 Dublin will – as all our Global Cycling Summits do – offer a great opportunity for sharing the experience, knowledge and expertise about the promotion of cycling worldwide.”
Colm Ryder, Chairperson Cyclist.ie said “The international Velo City conference series is the most prestigious and largest cycling related conference in the world, with thousands of delegates from all parts of the globe attending. Dublin Cycling Campaign/Cyclist.ie, as the Irish member of the European Cyclists’ Federation the conference coordinator, is proud to be a partner in Dublin city’s successful bid to host this conference in 2019 and to welcome potential delegates.”
Dublin previously hosted Velo-City in 2005 and is the first city in the world to be awarded the conference twice. Hosting Velo-City in 2005 proved a catalyst for cycling growth in the city – the number of cyclists in the city increased by 150% since 2005, but also the conference showed that cycling was a real and viable mode of transport for Dublin despite its decline over the previous years. The experience that the delegates shared with Dublin and their insights really changed attitudes at a number of levels to cycling and showed that there was a need for strong policy decisions, ambitious targets and an integrated approach to encouraging sustainable travel.
The 2019 conference promises to double these efforts in terms of delivering Dublin as a word class cycling city. Dublin as a Smart City has also embraced Intelligent Transport solutions and is also exploring ways in which innovative technology can contribute to growing and promoting cycling in the city.
Dublin’s theme for Velo-City 2019 is Cycling for the Ages, which will encourage cycling by people of all ages, young and old, male and female and to promote the health, environmental, social and economic benefits of cycling. The theme will also show the evolution of cycling in Dublin through the ages and into the future.
Dublin looks forward to welcoming delegates from all over the world to share experiences, successes and challenges in promoting and developing cycling during Velo-City Dublin, 2019 and anticipate that, just as in 2005, hosting Velo-City will be a game changer for cycling in Dublin.
The Velo-City conference will attract 2,000 international delegates and as such will be a hugely beneficial event for the city and the country with an estimated €3.8 million boost to the economy.
Cyclists demand action over number of road fatalities
The Government is facing calls to do more to protect cyclists, as the death toll of those killed on bicycles in 2017 has already reached half of last year’s total. Read article
First UCC Campus Cycle Week in cooperation with Cork Cycling Campaign
University College Cork, the world’s first Green Campus, and Cork Cycling Campaign organised the first UCC Campus Cycle Week (6th-10th March) this spring, to start off the cycling season. Cork Cycling Campaign held an informal “Meet the Campaign” meeting for everybody interested, Miro and Darren offered a cycle safety course, and Victoria Cross Cycles offered their free BikeDoctor service. The main event was a roundtable discussion around cycling to UCC which ca. 20 staff and students attended over lunchtime, together with Cork City Council’s Cycling Officer, Anita Lenihan, and members of the Campaign and Stephan Koch in his function of UCC’s Commuter Plan Manager.
This setting was also used to officially launch the Cork Cycling Skills leaflet that Cork Cycling Campaign and the Transport and Mobility Forum got printed in large numbers with the support of Cork City Council. The flyer aims at giving cyclists advice how to safely navigate through road traffic and build up confidence to also tackle challenging situations on the roads. It is a reprint of the successful leaflet that Galway Cycling Campaign produced some years ago. Thanks to the colleagues in Galway for their kind permission. The launch got quite a bit of media attention (Irish Examiner, Cork’s 96fm).
We succeeded in making Cork Cycling Campaign more visible in town and in UCC, and a special thank you to our Vice-Chair Dean Venables who was the driving force behind this (also as a UCC staff member), as well as to Sarah Thelen for her support. We plan to have the next Campus Cycle Week next year.