Not a traffic warden in sight …
Category Archives: Irish Posts
Ireland, see also NI
Pre-Budget 2015 submission from Cyclist.ie – The Irish Cycling Advocacy Network
Cyclist.ie, the network of the cycling campaigns and bicycle festivals on this Island, makes this Pre-Budget Submission 2015 in an attempt to encourage fresh thinking about the purpose of a taxation system in relation to decreasing the societal impacts and latent costs to the Exchequer from motorised transport use and unhealthy lifestyles. Budgets should be striving to support healthier, cost-effective modes of transport with benefits across health, community and the environment sectors. Investment in cycling promotion is one of the most cost-effective actions that any government can make.
Dublin needs more benches, less pandering to cars, says expert
Prof Jan Gehl said Ireland and other former British colonies “have allowed traffic planners to exert undue influence, with silly ideas like every time a pedestrian approaches a crossing, they have to ‘apply’ to cross the street when it should be a human right”. Read article
Message sent to Road Safety Authority
Message sent on Wednesday 6 August to Road Safety Authority by Cyclist.ie – The Irish Cycling Advocacy Network in response to RSA press release issued Friday 1 August regarding rise in vulnerable road user fatalities
Michael Rowland (Director of Research)
Brian Farrell (Director for Communications)
Dear Michael and Brian
As a leader of a group of vulnerable road users, who are at all times in traffic (unlike pedestrians, and who generally choose when, where and how they cross our roads) could I plead with the RSA to alter its ‘blame-the victim’ approach to getting its message across. While I commend you for the generally better content and tone of the latest press release issue last Friday the RSA could do more to place the main responsibility on motorised drivers, particularly those who drive large vehicles – buses, coaches, HGVs, SUVs/4x4s.
Let’s be blunt about the fact: it’s the one tonne plus metal projectile with its driver that is the killer and maimer. We know from the international research literature that in the case of cyclists the majority of RTCs take place at junctions. The causal factor is driver miscalculation/error in approx. 90% of those analysed in Europe. Continue reading Message sent to Road Safety Authority
Irish Bike Importers / Industry Supporting Cyclist.ie
Cyclist.ie – the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network, wishes to acknowledge the generous support of cycling business / importer Eurocycles
Cyclist.ie’s work is succeeding in changing transport policy and practice so that the bicycle sits centre-stage in the thinking of transport planners and traffic managers. See Report to ECF for more information on our work. But we have much more to do! We look forward to collaborating with more players in the Irish cycle industry over the coming months and years.
The road less travelled: one family ditches the car
After our 1996 Toyota went kaput, we decided to go without. Commuting, ferrying kids, shopping and holidaying abroad? It’s all possible with a little ingenuity. Read article
Local Authority election 2014 on-line survey
This is an analysis of the small number of responses to the Local Authority election 2014 on-line survey. There were only 50 usable responses (some did it twice!) out of 1,922 candidates. We were unable to reach lots due to not having contact email address and poor party HQ cooperation in getting the invitation out to candidates. Independent/non-party candidates are particularly difficult to reach. This means we can’t draw too much from such a limited response. We are disappointed that party HQs quite clearly failed to forward the email invitation to their candidates.
Party affiliation
- 19 Green
- 8 Independent/non-party
- 8 Labour
- 9 People Before Profit
- 2 Sinn Fein
- 3 Fine Gael
- 1 Fianna Fail
Continue reading Local Authority election 2014 on-line survey
Limerick Smarter Travel Infrastructure – update
After years of consultations, documents, PR etc. it is good to see some bollards on the ground at last
The flagship project is the river / canal path between the city and the university – 3/4km; but the road route is also in for improvement; the key impediment for cyclists on this route are two of the largest roundabouts in Limerick.
Below are some pictures of the work-in-progress on one of these roundabouts; a few things worth mentioning: 1) a key idea is to improve the (currently narrow) bi-directional pedestrian / cycle path on the city – university route 2) two 3-lane approaches to the roundabout are being reduced to 2-lane 3) the roundabout diameter is being increased
To be somewhat cynical about it, you could say this work is really a partial roll-back of the excessively car-centric infrastructure built in an earlier time
This is a report I did for LCC on this roundabout – which deals with these issues and more: Groody Roundabout Cycle Audit
Related post: Council slammed over Smarter Travel
Cycling Campaigners Launch Promotional Videos
As part of hosting the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) annual delegate conference, the largest gathering of cycling experts and advocates from around Europe in 2014, the Dublin Cycling Campaign, in partnership with Dublin City Council, has launched a series of cycling promotional videos. The Dublin City Manager, Mr. Owen Keegan, launched the videos at a reception at the Wood Quay Venue at the Civic Offices in Dublin at 18:30 h.
A series of five promotional videos have been produced to promote everyday cycling as a normal way of life in our city. See example: http://www.dublincycling.ie/videos/dublin-cycling-stories-paul Continue reading Cycling Campaigners Launch Promotional Videos
Irish Cycling Campaigners Host Major European Cycling Advocacy Event ‘IRELAND IS OPEN FOR CYCLING’
Cyclist.ie, the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network, is hosting the European Cyclists’ Federation’s annual delegate conference in Dublin in the Wood Quay Venue of Dublin City Council where they will entertain
over seventy European cycling campaigners from twenty different countries, representing 50 million everyday cyclists across Europe.
This is the largest gathering of everyday cycling planning and advocacy experts in the Northern Hemisphere in 2014. During the course of the Dublin AGM, delegates will share expertise and ideas on how to recreate strong cycling cultures throughout Europe.