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. 

1.0 Introduction

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.

2.0 Comment 

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?

3.0 Summary

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.  

Colm Ryder
Cyclist.ie
[email protected]

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.

Earlier today, Tuesday 30 November 2021, Dr. Damien Ó Tuama, National Cycling Coordinator with Cyclist.ie and An Taisce presented at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment and Climate Action on the topic of electric vehicles. 

Also presenting were Dr. Colm Byrne from Irish Doctors for the Environment, Brian Cooke, Director General of SIMI (Society of the Irish Motor Industry), and Marguerite Sayers and John Byrne from ESB’s ECars Division.

The main point Damien made at the session was that the discourse around e-mobility and electric vehicles has largely if not almost exclusively been dominated by e-cars. What we hear much less about is the role of e-bikes, e-trikes and e-cycling in decarbonising transport.

The Irish Times’ coverage of the session can be read here while The Journal.ie’s coverage can be read here. 

The full video recording of the (3 hour) session can be found here.

The video of Damien’s opening statement can be found directly below (with the text of it further down this page). 

Opening Statement:

Good afternoon Chairperson and members of the Committee. My name is Dr. Damien Ó Tuama. I am the National Cycling Coordinator with Cyclist.ie – the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network and An Taisce – the National Trust for Ireland. Cyclist.ie is the member for Ireland of the European Cyclists’ Federation. My own background is in mobilities research. 

E-mobility is not just about E-cars

The discourse around e-mobility and electric vehicles in Ireland has largely if not almost exclusively been dominated by e-cars. What we hear much less about is the role of e-bikes, e-trikes and e-cycling in decarbonising transport. 

And this mirrors what we hear internationally. At the COP Climate talks in Glasgow, there was a near-exclusive focus on electric cars and total absence of active mobility discussions during the official Transport Day. However in the end, the following text was included in the declaration:

We recognise that alongside the shift to zero emission vehicles, a sustainable future for road transport will require wider system transformation, including support for active travel, public and shared transport, as well as addressing the full value chain impacts from vehicle production, use and disposal. [1]

In thinking about increasing the use of e-bikes, it is worth noting here that the highest proportion of trips nationally are between 1-3km, as per the most recent NTA National Household Travel Survey. [2] 

Electric Assist Bikes and E-bikes – Broadening the use of Active Travel

E-bikes or Electric Assist bikes work by assisting the person on bike with a compact electric motor. Their pluses are many:

• They enable users with quite basic levels of fitness to cover longer distances than on everyday bicycles, and this is particularly important in rural Ireland where distances between home and work/shops/GAA grounds other destinations are often longer than in cities. 
• They make life much easier in hillier towns and cities – I’m thinking in particular here of Cork City, Kinsale, Drogheda, County Wicklow or plenty of other places. And this has a relevance for low carbon tourism as well. 
• For parents wishing to ferry children around by bike, cargo bikes and e-cargo bikes make life much easier. We know that in Copenhagen there is approx 40,000 cargo bikes – used by many families there. [3] 
• For cycle logistics in town and city centres, e-cargo bikes and trikes allow for smaller goods to be transported easily thus taking many heavy goods vehicles out of town centres – and we are all aware on this Committee of how difficult it is to electrify large HGVs. Research commissioned by the European Union concludes that 25% of all goods and 50% of all light deliveries in urban settings could be serviced by cargo bikes. 
• For the mobility impaired, electric assist cycles open up and even transform their independent mobility opportunities. And older people. 

E-bikes are not just about decarbonising transport 

E-bikes provide the opportunity to:

• Decongest towns and cities because of the much smaller space required for moving and parked vehicles, hence improve the economic vitality of smaller towns
• Improve the liveability of towns with more space opened up for public space and businesses
• Improve public health through being active travel vehicles
• E-bikes use minimal resources compared to electric cars which are certainly not zero-carbon –  in terms of the mining the raw materials and rare earth elements in particular and energy used in manufacturing and disposal.

Policy Interventions

Amongst the policy interventions which will assist in the transition we are seeking are the following:

• As for everyday bikes, the most important intervention is the creation of safe cycle routes in all of our towns and cities and rural areas – and that means dedicated infrastructure and lower / safer speed limits – especially in rural Ireland (see Cyclist.ie Rural Vision doc [5]). 
• We need to think much more seriously about inter-modality – combining public transport with bikes or e-bikes for the same journey. This is particularly important in rural Ireland where the distances to public transport are much greater. We need high quality cycle parking and e-charging points at all PT stops/stations, public buildings and apartments etc.
• Increase the subsidies for e-bikes on a par with e-cars. SEAI grants [6] are needed for e-bikes / e-cargo bikes.
• Introduce a scrappage / trade-in scheme similar to France where old cars can be scrapped with a grant provided for an E-bike / cargo bike purchase [7].

In Conclusion

Worldwide, the transport sector is responsible for 24% [8] of direct CO₂ emissions from fuel combustion with the vast majority coming from cars, and these numbers are not decreasing [9]. We simply cannot afford to wait decades for fossil-fuel cars and trucks to be fully replaced by electric vehicles – a solution that will not in any case help solve other problems such as traffic congestion and sedentary lifestyles.

I’ll finish with a quote from Frans Timmermanns, the Executive Vice President of the European Commission with special responsibility for leading the Commission’s work on the European Green Deal. At the Velo-city 2021 conference in Lisbon in September 2021, he stated that

“The Bicycle is the most important instrument in meeting climate change targets.”

Our policies need to reflect that truth.

Footnotes

[1] https://ukcop26.org/cop26-declaration-on-accelerating-the-transition-to-100-zero-emission-cars-and-vans/  

[2] https://www.nationaltransport.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/National_Household_Travel_Survey_2017_Report_-_December_2018.pdf  

[3] https://cyclingindustry.news/cargo-bike-market-by-2030/ 

[4]  https://ecf.com/news-and-events/news/cargo-bike-crazy-potential-delivering-goods-bike-0 

[5] https://cyclist.ie/ruralvision/  

[6] https://www.seai.ie/grants/electric-vehicle-grants/  

[7] https://ecf.com/news-and-events/news/electric-bikes-replace-polluting-cars-france-introduces-innovative-scrappage  

[8] https://www.iea.org/reports/tracking-transport-2020 

[9] https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/transport-emissions_en 

Additional References

https://ecf.com/news-and-events/news/cop26-pro-cycling-campaign-backed-coalition-350-organisations-helps-achieve

https://www.interregeurope.eu/policylearning/good-practices/item/2867/last-mile-delivery-by-electric-cars-and-cargo-bikes-in-urban-areas/

Note

Image above from the ECF website – https://ecf.com/users/niccol%C3%B2-panozzo/trusted-content/webinar-cargo-bikes-cities. Used with thanks to ECF.  

Contact

Dr. Damien Ó Tuama
National Cycling Coordinator, 
Cyclist.ie http://cyclist.ie/ and An Taisce https://www.antaisce.org/
Vice-President, European Cyclists’ Federation (2016 – 2021) https://ecf.com/
E:  [email protected]

Tuesday, 14 December 2021 – 8pm online

The Dublin Cycling Campaign CLG Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday, 14 December 2021 at 8pm. The Dublin Cycling Campaign CLG is the legal entity under which Cyclist.ie and Dublin Cycling Campaign operate.

The AGM is open to fully paid-up members of the Dublin Cycling Campaign and Cyclist.ie. You can register for the event here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XNoO4A3CTLmO9lLVBzjcqQ

Agenda:

• Approve Minutes of 2020 AGM
• Review Financial Accounts
• Provide an update on Governance Issues
• Vote on any motions
• Elections – there are no open positions on the board therefore there will be no elections
• Submitting and voting on Motions

Member motions can be submitted by paid-up members and must be submitted to the Secretary ([email protected]) by 10th December 2021. Motions will be proposed and seconded by members. We will not accept any amendments to motions on the day so please make sure they are written as clear, actionable items for the board.

Key dates:

• Final date of registration – 12th December 2021. Only fully paid-up members of Dublin Cycling Campaign and Cyclist.ie as at 5pm on 10th December 2021 can attend and vote at the AGM.
• Send member motions to [email protected] by 10th December 2021
• Final agenda including motions will be sent – 12th December 2021
• Annual General Meeting – 14th December 2021 at 8pm

Is Monaghan County Council the first Local Authority in Ireland to publish an up-to-date Walking & Cycling Strategy? We think so, and we commend the Council on doing so, and in leading the way for other rural Local Authorities to follow. 

Like many small counties, Monaghan has very low active travel numbers as shown in this graphic (from page 22 of the strategy):

The strategy, adopted by the Council earlier this month, is wide ranging and innovative in many aspects. However, we feel it is let down by the adoption of unambitious mode share targets for active travel which we discuss further below.

We consider here, first of all, some of the many strengths and good points with the strategy:

• The strategy is not just about transport – it also highlights the health, environmental, climate and economic benefits that can arise from the development of walking and cycling cultures.
• The Council has set up an Active Travel Unit that will work within the Roads Division and will liaise with a broad inter-departmental team
• A Walking and Cycling Forum is to be established in early 2022 with stakeholder representatives included. 
• County Monaghan, with a population of just over 61,000, has a road network of nearly 2,500km, the vast majority of which are local L roads, which the Council want to prioritise as ‘Rothar Roads’, Cyclist.ie’s concept as set out in our Vision for Cycling in Rural Ireland. 
• The strategy references Cyclist.ie’s Rural Vision and includes the main points of the Vision in Section 2.1.3 of the strategy.
• The strategy has been developed through a broad consultation process – see the graphic below – and it links into a variety of international, national, and local plans, to place it in a clear broad context.
  
  
  
  
• The strategy also references Green Schools’ #whyshecycles project, and the Dublin Bike Life study.
• It shows awareness of the gender gap in cycling, citing the reasons why fewer women and girls cycle and promises to address this.
• The strategy undertakes to take the needs of older citizens into account and to ensure that cycling is inclusive.
  
  
  
  
• The strategy includes a detailed SWOT analysis (an assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the current situation) that pulls no punches on the challenges that lie ahead.
• The strategy includes a detailed action plan and a section on monitoring how it is working and measure success.
• The strategy ‘embraces’ the 10 minute town concept as policy, and proposes to reduce town centre speed limits to 30kph as well as limiting heavy goods vehicle (HGV) access.
• The strategy commits to identifying a detailed cycle network of both on and off-road routes.
• The strategy commits to working with stakeholders, and name-checks Cyclist.ie as one of the organisations to liaise with on a regular basis .

The following are points that, we feel, require further thought and attention:

• The less than ambitious mode share targets need to be upgraded and timebound.  For instance cycling, as can be seen in the graphic above, has a present mode share of only 0.45%.  It is proposed (in page 51 of the strategy) that an increase of 20% be the active travel target over the 5 years of the strategy. This would mean that the mode share would only rise to just over 0.5%. This is an unacceptably low target mode share for a strategy which is otherwise ambitious in its wording!
• In the Action Plans pages, some of the supporting organisations are referenced, but particular bodies such as the National Transport Authority, SEUPB (Special EU Programs Body), Green Schools, Road Safety Authority are noticeable by their absence at critical junctures.
• While it is clear that the strategy embraces inclusion we could not find any reference to providing for non-standard bikes such as people with disabilities or older people might need. These range from adult trikes, to handcycles to e-bikes that need specialised parking and wider cycle lanes.
• The idea of edge of town parking and encouraging people to walk or cycle in is excellent. Lockers or other provision for storing items until  one is ready to go home would be a useful addition. One of the main advantages of a car in town is to store shopping. 

But overall this new strategy from Monaghan County Council is to be commended.  So why not check out the full strategy yourself here?   

It is now mainly up to the new Active Travel team in the Council to get the ball rolling and to avail of the many opportunities arising for funding, advice and general support, to ensure the success of the strategy. Cyclist.ie will be happy to play our part in making this a success!

Press Release – for Immediate Use

In the lead-up to COP26, and the World Health Organisation’s call for more cycling to improve health through increased physical activity and improved air quality [1], a newly-formed Active Travel Coalition is today seeking urgent action on the rollout of safe cycle routes nationwide.

The Active Travel Coalition is bringing together health, medical, environmental and cycling campaigners to call on the Irish government to show leadership on cycle infrastructure to enable families make the switch from the car to active travel modes of walking & cycling.

The coalition says that many people want to make the switch to cycling but are put off by the lack of safe, segregated cycle routes.

The Active Travel Coalition is seeking:

●        Faster rollout of the proposed high-quality ‘Safe Routes to School’ cycle path network.

●        Trial infrastructural change legislation & re-allocation of road space for walking & cycling.

●        Commitment from local and national politicians to lead the move to greater Active Travel.

●        Continued strong funding coupled with rigorous oversight for safe cycle route development.

●        Creation of networks of cycle routes, not just one-off routes that don’t interconnect.

Between 1991 and 2016 walking and cycling to school in Dublin fell from 64% to 46% while the percentage being driven to school increased from 17% to 41% [2]. Dr. Una May, Director of Participation and Ethics at Sport Ireland said “Sport Ireland research [3] shows that only 1 in 3 adults and 1 in 5 children meet recommended daily physical activity levels. Reaching the physical activity guidelines will require a mix of sport, recreational physical activity and regular active travel. Investments in active travel infrastructure can increase cycling to school and work, helping increase the number of children and adults meeting the recommended daily physical activity levels.”

According to Mark Murphy, advocacy officer with the Irish Heart Foundation, “30 minutes of moderate intensity activity, such as walking or cycling, five days a week, reduces your risk of developing heart disease and stroke, and contributes to overall improved levels of health. However, we know that if we want more people cycling, particularly school children, we need a major expansion of safe cycling tracks”.

Ireland’s policy is to reduce carbon emissions in 2050 by 80% on 1990 levels. Oisín Coghlan from Friends of the Earth says “transport accounts for 20% of emissions in Ireland. Given our carbon reduction targets in transport, a modal shift away from the private car is needed towards sustainable modes. Segregated cycle tracks, particularly in Dublin, are urgently needed to support this”.

Research from the National Transport Authority shows that 11% of adults cycle daily in Dublin but 46% would like to cycle or cycle more if they felt safer [4]. Dublin Cycling Campaign’s David Timoney says that we know from research and from the cycle traffic on the Grand Canal and Dun Laoghaire & Seapoint cycle tracks that segregated routes enable people of all ages and abilities to cycle.”

Dr. Sean Owens from the Irish College of General Practitioners says “the strongest evidence for reduced incidence of diabetes, obesity & cardiovascular disease is lifestyle measures centred around physical activity and healthy diets. Getting our patients, our families and our staff on their bikes for pleasure, or for a commute, is a triple win; better health for patients and families, better for the environment and better value for the public purse”.

Only 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 10 teenagers who cycle in Dublin are female. Mairead Forsythe from ‘Women on Wheels’ says that “the figures show a major gender gap in cycling in Dublin and while the barriers to more women and girls cycling are varied, the number 1 barrier is fear of mixing with motor traffic.”

Colm Ryder from Cyclist.ie and the Rural Cycling Collective adds that “In many areas developing cycle infrastructure will require a re-allocation of road space from the motor vehicle to active travel. We need to adapt our private car use to achieve the critical goals of an improved and safer public realm and more efficient movement of people around our towns, cities and rural areas“.

*The Active Travel Coalition consist of the following organisations:

Irish Heart Foundation, Irish Cancer Society, Diabetes Ireland, Irish College of General Practitioners, Sport Ireland, Cyclist.ie, Dublin Cycling Campaign, Women on Wheels, Irish Pedestrian Network, Friends of the Earth, Irish Doctors for the Environment & Faculty of Sports & Exercise Medicine (RCPI & RCSI).

For further information contact:

Dublin Cycling Campaign: David Timoney (083.333.9283 & [email protected]).

Cyclist.ie: Colm Ryder (087.237.6130 & [email protected])

ENDS

[1] https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/environment-and-health/Transport-and-health/news/news/2021/6/promoting-cycling-can-save-lives-and-advance-health-across-europe-through-improved-air-quality-and-increased-physical-activity

[2] https://www.cso.ie/en/index.html

[3] Sport Ireland 2018 CSPPA and 2019 ISM studies.

[4] https://www.nationaltransport.ie/bike-life-2019-dublin-metropolitan-area/

Clare County Council is currently progressing Section 1 of the West Clare Railway Greenway project. This aims to provide a recreational greenway between the towns of Kilrush and Kilkee, following the route of the former West Clare Railway where feasible. 

The West Clare Railway between Kilrush and Kilkee closed in 1961 and since then the main transport corridor between the two towns has been the N67 National Road. The West Clare Railway Greenway project aims to develop a new walking and cycling corridor between these two seaside towns, providing a high-quality attraction and amenity to locals and tourists alike, and building on the success of the Waterford Greenway and the Limerick Greenway.

The study area currently being examined the Council is shown here, with Kilkee lying to the North West and Kilrush to the South East. 

In response to the public consultation process, Cyclist.ie sent a submission to the Council on Monday 5th of October setting out our initial views on the proposals. 

At the broadest level, Cyclist.ie is delighted to see this proposed greenway project advancing, and we wish to support Clare County Council in this initiative. Cyclist.ie is strongly in favour of the creation of a high quality, safe and largely / entirely segregated cycle facility linking Kilkee to Kilrush. Such a facility will offer multiple benefits to many different age cohorts and different user groups – including children, older people, tourists, utility cyclists and recreational cyclists. If designed and built to high standard, and if it offers a safe environment for all ages and abilities, it can replicate and surpass the success of other greenways in Ireland and beyond. This represents a win-win for all concerned.

More specifically Cyclist.ie strongly advises that cycle facilities do not run along / alongside the N67 except where absolutely necessary. Even if proper segregation is provided alongside an N road, the noise from motorised traffic on an N road (both engine noise and tyre noise) diminishes the quality of the experience for users – it is difficult to have a conversation with another person on a bike alongside oneself when traffic noise is significant.

In our submission we also made the point that Kilrush has terrific potential to become a properly cycle friendly town, but it is currently utterly dominated by cars. Frances St, a wonderfully wide and beautiful street, is just waiting to be set free – there is a huge opportunity to improve the urban realm there. Furthermore, all schools, sports clubs/grounds and residential areas should be connected carefully to the greenway so that parents can feel comfortable having their children cycling to school on their own. Additionally, the route should link with all of the main tourist destinations, including the Vandeleur Gardens and forest trails.

You can read Cyclist.ie’s full submission here.   

To give a little bit more context on the overall consultation process for this section of the West Clare Railway Greenway, you can check out this graphic taken from the official material (a link to which can be found below). 

Further information can be gleaned from this Clare County Council webpage.   

Finally, if you are particularly interested in cycle campaigning issues in County Clare and would like to connect into Cyclist.ie’s advocacy work to improve cycling conditions in the County, please contact us here.