Cycling in Dublin

HeY-bEaRDo

Hey, i'm doing a project in college about Transport in Dublin. In a recent talk Minister Eamon Ryan pointed out that Dublin is both flatter and dryer than Amsterdam and yet there are very few people who are willing to swap four wheels for two. The benefits are obvious; you know exactly how long its going to take to get from A to B, its good for your health, and it is much more environmentally friendly. So what's stopping people?

Any comments would be a big help and if you could answer the following questions that would be even better:

Do you cycle to work/school? If not why not?

How far do you live from work/school?

Would you cycle if you could bring your bike on the bus/DART/Luas to shorten your trip?

If safer cycle lanes were introduced would you be more inclined to cycle?

Thanks

Beardo

fish-head

Do you cycle to work/school? If not why not?
Yeah.

How far do you live from work/school?
5 minutes from college, 20 minutes from work.

Would you cycle if you could bring your bike on the bus/DART/Luas to shorten your trip?
I don't think that would make alot of sense. On a train, however, yes I would.

If safer cycle lanes were introduced would you be more inclined to cycle?
Of course.

ba

yes
4km
no need really
yes (big improvements needed)

Cabaal

Oh no...yet another....


Nothing changes with this question, its people's mentality's that they must have a car and its too many cars on the road and to many motorists driving dangerously

kona

yes
8km to work 10km to college
yes id bring my mtb on intercity/commuter trains during off peak times.
No.

Ghost Rider

Yeah, I'm deleting this whole post. Loada shi*e.

HeY-bEaRDo wrote: »

Hey, i'm doing a project in college about Transport in Dublin. In a recent talk Minister Eamon Ryan pointed out that Dublin is both flatter and dryer than Amsterdam and yet there are very few people who are willing to swap four wheels for two. The benefits are obvious; you know exactly how long its going to take to get from A to B, its good for your health, and it is much more environmentally friendly. So what's stopping people?

Any comments would be a big help and if you could answer the following questions that would be even better:

Do you cycle to work/school? If not why not?

How far do you live from work/school?

Would you cycle if you could bring your bike on the bus/DART/Luas to shorten your trip?

If safer cycle lanes were introduced would you be more inclined to cycle?

Thanks

Beardo

Bicyclegadabout

Ho hey hi HeY-bEaRDo,
First off, you should ask these questions over on the motoring forum, and on the transport and commuting forum. We already cycle y’see.

Also, peruse through the old threads. The ones with lots of replies usually have some good insights (buried amongst heaps of ranting and internet-venom!)

HeY-bEaRDo wrote: »

Any comments would be a big help and if you could answer the following questions that would be even better:

Do you cycle to work/school? If not why not?

Yes

HeY-bEaRDo wrote: »

How far do you live from work/school?

11 or 12km each way

HeY-bEaRDo wrote: »

Would you cycle if you could bring your bike on the bus/DART/Luas to shorten your trip?

N/A but
I think my commute would have be *really* long (maybe over 25km each way) before I’d consider not cycling. But if I lived that far away from work I’d quit!

HeY-bEaRDo wrote: »

If safer cycle lanes were introduced would you be more inclined to cycle?

Safer cycle lanes would be nice of course, but they don’t stop me from cycling now as they are. I can’t speak for other people though.

emm, there is a lot of room for ranting in answering this last question, which I'm trying hard not to succumb to. It’s been ranted about here a lot before so I won’t rehash it, look at the old threads.


Good luck with the project boss.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

HeY-bEaRDo wrote: »

Do you cycle to work/school? If not why not?

Yup, I cycle to college provided it's not raining, and not during December/January because the mornings and evenings are too dark, and I'm not bothered to be going getting lights.

HeY-bEaRDo wrote: »

How far do you live from work/school?

It's about 9km

HeY-bEaRDo wrote: »

Would you cycle if you could bring your bike on the bus/DART/Luas to shorten your trip?

It's quicker for me to just cycle than use public transport.

HeY-bEaRDo wrote: »

If safer cycle lanes were introduced would you be more inclined to cycle?

Yes

tunney

The point of this on the cycling forum is???????

cunnins4

Do you cycle to work/school? If not why not? Yes, Because I don't have to rely on the bus schedule, it's faster, it keeps me thin, I'm skint so it's cheaper.

How far do you live from work/school? About 7.5k or 20mins to each.

Would you cycle if you could bring your bike on the bus/DART/Luas to shorten your trip? Yes

If safer cycle lanes were introduced would you be more inclined to cycle? Enforcement of cycle lanes is brutal, this needs to be improved.


Also improved security facilities, cctv and garda co-operation would encourage more people I think.

A cycle to work incentive as discussed in a thread recently would be good.

Can't think of anything else at the moment.

animal

Cycle about 10kms to work in the rain, hail and snow.
Lucky there are shower facilities at work and a safe place to leave my bike.
Bike on a bus wouldnt really help me but if it suited then yeah id like that - i did it in Holland and belgium on trains and it was great.
Better lanes - of course this would be welcome. its not really safe for an inexperienced cyclist in the city - or an experienced one at times. better awareness from both drivers and pedestrians of cycle lanes should be encouraged. Especially those awful lanes that are next to footpaths and ppl walk in the lane rather than on the footpath - just doesnt happen in amsterdam coz they'd get run over by the bikes.

Cabaal

tunney wrote: »

The point of this on the cycling forum is???????

talk about cycling, as such asking a question about why don't you cycle here is pointless....commuting forum or motor would be much more suitable

niceonetom

Cabaal wrote: »

talk about cycling, as such asking a question about why don't you cycle here is pointless....commuting forum or motor would be much more suitable

tunney wrote:

The point of this on the cycling forum is???????

in fairness the op posted in the commuting forum too. it's an easy way too rustle up some data for a project i suppose... dull though.

avalanche

i reckon you are being a bit harsh on the lad.all he wants is a bit of info.

i dont live there so not really any help.

Donny5

Do you cycle to work/school? If not why not?

-Yes, both, or rather, I did cycle.

How far do you live from work/school?

-College 6km, Work, 11km

Would you cycle if you could bring your bike on the bus/DART/Luas to shorten your trip?

-Yeah, but only if it was more than an hours cycle

If safer cycle lanes were introduced would you be more inclined to cycle?

-It'd be nice. My major problem with cycling is that my bikes keep getting stolen. Better (by which I mean more secure) bicycle parking would be my wish.

_JOE_

Do you cycle to work/school? If not why not?

Yes...

How far do you live from work/school?

15km

Would you cycle if you could bring your bike on the bus/DART/Luas to shorten your trip?

??? I cycle to keep fit not to take shortcuts...

If safer cycle lanes were introduced would you be more inclined to cycle?

I'd cycle either way although it's very annoying combating cars driving over the cycle track, parking on lane etc...

rubadub

Cabaal wrote: »

talk about cycling, as such asking a question about why don't you cycle here is pointless....commuting forum or motor would be much more suitable

Might want cyclists who do not cycle to work. I know a good few who cycle for exercise but not to work.


Do you cycle to work/school? If not why not?
Yes

How far do you live from work/school?
4.5mile, takes 20-25min on bike, would have to leave 50-60mins to do it in a car to be certain to be in by 9, about 90mins by bus. This is one big reason I cycle, in all weather though I have the use of a car sometimes, I never take it- even in torrential rain.

Would you cycle if you could bring your bike on the bus/DART/Luas to shorten your trip?
I would cycle for 80mins max each way, any more and would.

If safer cycle lanes were introduced would you be more inclined to cycle?
No, I would not cycle more if they got safer.



Do you cycle to work/school? If not why not?
I can tell you why some people dont. The whole pricing of a car as set by the government gives an incentive to get use from your car. i.e. most of the payments that must legally be made on a car are on an annual basis. So if your car goes unused you are missing out. e.g. my mate goes to a gym and cycles for exercise, but drives a short distance to work. If he cycled then his car would only be used at weekends really. He pays the same insurance, tax, etc no matter if he drives 100,000miles in the year, or 1mile. No effort has been made to change this situation, I believe many people do this consciously, or subconsciously. I have seen comments like this on the fitness forums about getting use of the car like this rather than walking or cycling.

major problem with cycling is that my bikes keep getting stolen. Better (by which I mean more secure) bicycle parking would be my wish.

Better policing and harsher sentences. Rob a post office of €1000 and you are hunted down like an animal, rob a €2000 bike and it is treated like a school bully robbing a lads lunch.

neilled

Yes i cycle to college and work.

From university its probably about 1.5km and from work its probably about 6km.

Yes I would like to be able to take a bike on a luas/dark/bus. I've had breakdowns in the city centre outside business hours and it would be nice to be able to get the bike home on public transport rather than run the risk of leaving it there or having to walk home.

I cycle every day in spite of the condition of cycle lanes. I do think that better and fully segregated lanes would encourage cycling though.

In answer to the final question, I cycle to both work and university. I believe that road conditions and theft are two of the major push factors that prevent many others cycling to work/school.

High&Low

rubadub wrote: »

Better policing and harsher sentences. Rob a post office of €1000 and you are hunted down like an animal, rob a €2000 bike and it is treated like a school bully robbing a lads lunch.

Not a very good comparison, if you rob a post office you more than likely have threatened someones life or safety, if you rob a bike it is usually done when no one is around.

But the penalty/treatement by the Gardai for robbing a bike should be the same as robbing a car...

Hungrycol

You might get a more meaningful response from a motoring forum. No point with it being on a cycling forum like tunny says.

HeY-bEaRDo

Bicyclegadabout wrote: »

Ho hey hi HeY-bEaRDo,
you should ask these questions over on the motoring forum, and on the transport and commuting forum.

I actually started this thread in the transport and commuting forum. The cycling moderator invited me to post here.

To all you moany michaels who have been giving out for me posting to this forum kindly allow me to ask some alternative questions...

Why, in your enlightened opinion, do your friends/enemies/family members/colleagues NOT cycle to work/university/school?

What was it that got you on your bike?

Is there any realistic Government policy initiative you believe could get non-cyclists to finally see the light?

Beardo :cool:

Bicyclegadabout

HeY-bEaRDo wrote: »

I actually started this thread in the transport and commuting forum. The cycling moderator invited me to post here.

To all you moany michaels who have been giving out for me posting to this forum kindly allow me to ask some alternative questions...

Why, in your enlightened opinion, do your friends/enemies/family members/colleagues NOT cycle to work/university/school?

I'd love to know. Some people have good reasons (Tradesmen etc)
For others, its some,none or fewer of the following reasons:
- What someone said earlier about the cost of owing a car, and so getting the value of it.
- General laziness, stupidity, lack of imagination
- People like to think their car makes them important
- Bizarre contempt of functional excercise
- Car drivers contempt of cyclists
- An idea that it's dangerous
- Weather, some would say
- Poor house planning, designed around owning a car. Also: house prices.
- Poor business practice - everyone in my work spends half the day driving to meetings, there's no need. It's 2008! Just use MSN LOL!!!

HeY-bEaRDo wrote: »

What was it that got you on your bike?

- Public transport didn't serve my route very well.
- Poverty

HeY-bEaRDo wrote: »

Is there any realistic Government policy initiative you believe could get non-cyclists to finally see the light?

The UK thing of giving people their tax back on cycling purchases. That's a great idea.
Also making it so that people wouldn't be wasting money by not driving, which is how it is for people now.
But people is too stupid for change I thinks

They're big questions, I've tried not to give big answers.

Bicyclegadabout

And of course: ban cars.

Someone on the other thread suggested a congestion charge.
That doesn't discourage people from driving in the city, it only discourages poor people from driving in the city.

311

The weather plays a big part for a lot of people ,there isn't any proper facilities in any town I can think of .

There should be indoor facilities ,for both bikes and accessories . If you cater for something ,then you automatically encourage it.