In the paper today..

Gavin

Cycling routes

Cycling routes part of €5.6m tourism package

SEÁN MacCONNELL, Agriculture Correspondent

THREE NEW cycling routes, to be known as the Seán Kelly Cycling Routes, are to be developed as part of a €5.6 million funding package for 12 tourism projects in seven counties announced yesterday.

A total of €169,000 has been set aside for the routes in honour of the cycling legend who is supporting the scheme.

The routes are being developed from Dungarvan and taking in Carrick-on-Suir, Clonmel, Ardmore, Youghal, Lismore, Bonmahon and Tramore.

Kelly, a native of Carrick-on-Suir and consistently one of the top achievers in world professional cycling over two decades, learned his cycling skills in the southeast.

One of the routes to be developed, the 100km Dungarvan-Carrick-on-Suir-Clonmel-Dungarvan cycle, forms part of the annual Seán Kelly Tour cycling event.

The announcement was made by Séamus Brennan, the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, who gave details of almost €4 million for environmental works and improvement to facilities and €1.4 million for various walking routes. The Minister said the aid was coming from the Tourism Infrastructure Fund launched in 2007 to support local authorities and other infrastructure providers to develop appropriate facilities for tourists.

He announced the successful applicants for grants which pay up to 75 per cent of eligible expenditure. They included a grant of €97,962 to develop a Mount Leinster area walk; €1,851,012 for the Lough Derg International Waterpark, Twomilegate; €213,225 for the development of the Sliabh Liag walking route, Donegal; €417,746 for Lough Gur development, Co Limerick; and €1,199,753 for the development of Shannon Harbour in Co Offaly.

Cyclists in Dublin

Dublin traffic less congested with 14% fewer cars, says council

OLIVIA KELLY
Dublin traffic
Dublin traffic
Photograph: The Irish Times

DUBLIN'S RUSH-HOUR traffic has improved significantly in the past 10 years with 14 per cent fewer cars entering the city each morning and 56 per cent fewer lorries, according to Dublin City Council.

The number of commuters using bicycles has increased by 17 per cent in the last year alone, according to the council's annual traffic survey, which counts the cars, lorries, cyclists, motorcyclists, buses and pedestrians entering the city between 7am and 10am.

The numbers of cars coming into the city, at 63,269 in November 2007 down from 73,561 in 1997, includes taxis which have increased in numbers in the decade. The increase in taxi journeys during the morning peak, up 79 per cent since 2002, coincided with the deregulation of the industry and the subsequent overall increase in taxi numbers.

In 1997, taxis accounted for 3.9 per cent of cars coming into the city, in 2002 this had risen to 7.2 per cent.

Car commuters still account for the vast majority of traffic entering the city each morning.

However, their numbers have been falling steadily since 1997, with the largest drop between 1999 and 2000 when numbers fell from 73,147 to 67,935.

Chairman of the council's traffic committee Labour's Seán Kenny said the decrease in car commuters could largely be attributed to improvements in public transport.

"Luas came on line during this time, and Dart services were extended. There was also an increase in the number of quality bus corridors which has encouraged more people to take buses."

Lorry numbers have taken a more dramatic dive, down 56 per cent in the decade. The biggest drop was in the last year when the council banned five-axled vehicles from the city centre between 7am and 7pm and the Dublin Port Tunnel opened.

During this time, the number of goods vehicles entering the city during morning rush hour fell 37 per cent to 1,445.

The decade was not good in terms of increasing cycling rates. Although there were years when numbers rose slightly, the general trend was downward - until last year, when the number of cyclists entering the city rose 17 per cent. With the fall in preceding years, this brings the overall increase for the decade to just 1 per cent.

Last year's boost was probably linked to the removal of large lorries from the city, Mr Kenny said. "There is more awareness of climate change, and people are becoming more health conscious but it's also safer to cycle because of the heavy goods vehicle ban."

Bus numbers have increased by 19 per cent in the decade, with Dublin Bus accounting for about 80 per cent of buses coming into the city each morning at each year's count, until last year when it fell to 76 per cent of the bus count share. The total number of Dublin Bus vehicles coming into the city last year was down by 1 per cent, while private buses increased by 20 per cent in the last year.

Motorcyclists have increased by one-third over the decade from 1,816 to 2,429. However, the second most popular way to get into the city is on foot, with pedestrians up 12 per cent from 16,679 to 18,594. The largest increase was in the last year when the number of walkers increased by 9 per cent.
© 2008 The Irish Times

Bicyclegadabout

So how many cyclists do we actually have in the city do we know?

Chips Lovell

It's bloody annoying when they quote the percentage increase without mentioning the actual number. For example, a 17 per cent increase is nothing if the number of cyclists is relatively low.

Important factors to note :

"A total of €169,000 has been set aside for the routes in honour of the cycling legend who is supporting the scheme."

Wont do enough imo...

"Luas came on line during this time, and Dart services were extended. There was also an increase in the number of quality bus corridors which has encouraged more people to take buses."

No improvement in cycling facilities mentioned... Perhaps cause there hasn't really been any....

unionman

Bicyclegadabout wrote: »

So how many cyclists do we actually have in the city do we know?

It's not really possible to say, as that information isn't gathered in any formal sense. CSO doesn't record it and cyclists aren't licenced or registered, so impossible to say how many individual cyclists there are.

However, the 2007 count by the council (which is calculated by how many journeys occur within the cordon of the two canals), is the source of that 17% increase last year, as quoted in the article. The same data indicates a 44% rise in the last three years.

The count in 2006 put the percentage of daily journeys at 3% of all commuter traffic in the city. That’s equivalent to 23 million bike journeys per year, which is roughly the same as the number of individual Luas journeys taken in the capital.

Now, this is only my own rough (and very unscientific) estimate using those figures - An increase of 17% would bring that to 26.9 million bike journeys per year, or 73,700 per day.

How many journeys does the average cyclist make per day? Let's say (purely for arguments sake) they make four. That would give us 18,425 cyclists? Does that even seem possible? Maybe the average is higher.

Has anyone any better ideas, or skills at crunching the numbers?:o

monument

While the rise is to be welcomed, I think the following is important to note...

"With the fall in preceding years, this brings the overall increase for the decade to just 1 per cent."

Victor

unionman wrote: »

How many journeys does the average cyclist make per day? Let's say (purely for arguments sake) they make four. That would give us 18,425 cyclists? Does that even seem possible? Maybe the average is higher.

Its a plausible figure, however people wouldn't cross the cordon 4 times in a day - typically only twice, some more, some less.

I would need to check, but the count in morning peak only.