Dublin kicked off Cycling-Friendly Cities list

Chuchote

http://irishcycle.com/2017/06/14/dublin-kicked-off-2017-index-of-cycling-friendly-cities/

Dublin has lost its position on the Copenhagenize Index of cycling friendly cities, a top-20 list created by international design consultants Copenhagenize.

This afternoon the list was tweeted one-by-one by the head of the company, Mikael Colville-Andersen, who is best known for his Copenhagenize and Cycle Chic websites.

(snip)

Dublin started at 9th on the 2011 version of the index — partly due to large growth in commuter cycling and bonus points for ambitious projects which were planned, but few of which have yet to progress to construction.

The decline for Dublin started in 2013 when the city dropped to 11th on the index and then, in 2015, “apathy” in not pushing cycling ahead and the use of substandard infrastructure were the main reasons Dublin dropped to 15th on the list.

ALSO READ: 5 reasons why Dublin City should not be on a best cycling cities list

Kaisr Sose

Proper recognition for having no integrated or joined up strategy for cycling. Making it up as they go along. Getting EU structural grants (I think) for cycling infastructure and then just converting pavements to cycling lanes.

A flawed policy called out for what it is.

Tombo2001

Begs the question, why would you rank some highly on the basis of 'good intentions'.

Weepsie

Does the Dublin City Cycling officer do an awful lot? A few blog posts, and did help to get Velo-City here, but what else?I'm hoping they are at the various public meetings discussed on here at the very least, but as it is, there is little to no cycling or walking promotion done by Dublin City.

It was a position filled by someone already in the council too, so I'd hope they were in fact the best candidate and no just another example of internal shuffling

Chuchote

The people who should be doing the work are Transport for Ireland's cycling section, who made the plan for the cycling network of Dublin (available online) and are ready to put it into action. But the councils don't want to do it, as I understand; not surprising if you take into account the fact that Dublin City Council makes €37m a year from parking.

As long as having streets choked with filth-spewing cars with one person in each, and lined with private cars parked on public road space, is profitable for the councils, they won't build the cycle network. Central government would have to fill in that finding. But considering that Shane Ross took the funding for greenways and put it into the cash-guzzling Luas project, we needn't be holding our breath for that.

Moflojo

Weepsie wrote: »

Does the Dublin City Cycling officer do an awful lot? A few blog posts, and did help to get Velo-City here, but what else?I'm hoping they are at the various public meetings discussed on here at the very least, but as it is, there is little to no cycling or walking promotion done by Dublin City.

It was a position filled by someone already in the council too, so I'd hope they were in fact the best candidate and no just another example of internal shuffling

I don't mean this by way of apology or as an excuse but the council's staff levels are down 25% since the beginning of the recession.

There is one single cycling officer for the entirety of Dublin City. It's simply not sufficient.

Cyclists are looking for 10% of transport funding to be allocated to cycling. 10% of transport-related human resources should also be allocated to it. There isn't a single engineer dedicated to cycling as far as I know. They are all "road" or civil engineers, but none of them specialises in cycling infrastructure as far as I understand it.

LennoxR

Just my two cents; Dublin deserves to be kicked off for one reason alone: allowing legal parking in bike lanes in non-peak hours. This has been an incredibly regressive step in terms of cyclist safety, especially, though not only in the city centre. In the evening especially virtually all the bike lanes in town are parked on.

I'm actually surprised there isn't greater protest about this.

That aside, to be fair, there have been some very marked improvements in cycling infrastructure in Dublin in the last five or so ten years. The new style cycle paths, e.g. the one on Churchtown Road or along the Grand Canal are far superior to the painted pavements built in the early 2000s. There have also been positive developments such as the canal path out to Lucan and the bike path out to Sutton.

Chuchote

LennoxR wrote: »

Just my two cents; Dublin deserves to be kicked off for one reason alone: allowing legal parking in bike lanes in non-peak hours. This has been an incredibly regressive stop in terms of cyclist safety, especially, though not only in the city centre. In the evening especially virtually all the bike lanes in town are parked on.

And meanwhile Oslo is gradually getting rid of all city centre parking.

This is what Copenhagenize say themselves:

http://copenhagenize.eu/index/about.html

In 2017, we see Dublin exit stage left. After many years of progress, the city has stagnated and, to be honest, disappointed.

smacl

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Begs the question, why would you rank some highly on the basis of 'good intentions'.

Perhaps because Mikael Colville-Andersen's company acted as a consultant for a number of the projects concerned. :rolleyes:

Rogue-Trooper

No surprise Dublin has dropped off TBH. Just because lots of people cycle doesn't mean it's a "cycling-friendly city".

As mentioned by Weepsie, it's ironic that Dublin is to host Velo City 2019 given that one of the reasons for it coming here was that "Dublin is a great example of a city moving towards a more livable, safe, and active environment for its citizens." Just as well they didn't listen to the George Hook show while they were deliberating.

That said, Eoin Keegan (CEO of DCC) did say at the launch that "Hosting Velo-city in Dublin in 2019 will accelerate the efforts by Dublin City Council and our partner agencies to further the development of Dublin as a world class cycling city" so we live in hope that it will have a positive effect on our infrastructure.

Moflojo

I spent a weekend in Cork a couple of months ago and I have to admit that, proportionately, Cork City Centre is well ahead of Dublin in terms of cycling-friendliness.

Belfast has made serious recent progress too.

We need to forget about Copenhagenize and try to make Dublin the best cycling city of this island first, then in the British Isles.

TBLCITWIWTC

Slap a hashtag on that.

Tombo2001

In terms of significant infrastructure additions....

If judged as being
(I) In the right place, ie on a cycle route people use rather than some empty industrial estate
(II) Of the quality cyclists need....

The additions in recent years I can think of are

There was the Grand Canal Route which came on stream in 2010....

and then

The clontarf Sutton route this year

Are there any others?

07Lapierre

Dublin was ON the list???

Moflojo

Tombo2001 wrote: »

In terms of significant infrastructure additions....


Are there any others?

The section of the Royal Canal Greenway between Ashtown and Blanchardstown was really well done, but it doesn't connect to anything else.

Networked, interconnected cycle paths are the only thing that will make any significant difference.

LennoxR

Moflojo wrote: »

The section of the Royal Canal Greenway between Ashtown and Blanchardstown was really well done, but it doesn't connect to anything else.

Networked, interconnected cycle paths are the only thing that will make any significant difference.

Correct. To be fair though, near where I live, the new bike path along the Churchtown/Braemor Road is very good and connects those areas with Dundrum.

Elsewhere in the city, not many off road paths that I can think of at the moment. But the on road bike paths they have put down in recent years have also improved, e.g. the one between Rathgar and Rathmines. The downside, as I said above is that too often the new, nice, wide bike lane is parked on.

Someone said above that Cork is a more cycling friendly city than Dublin, I've got to say, that's not what I saw when I was down there. There are very few commuter cyclists in Cork from what I saw, probably mainly due to the narrow roads and steep hills above all. And few bike lanes apart from the one along the river near UCC. There is a bike sharing scheme but it appeared to me to be little used.

And Galway, where I lived for a while about ten years ago, is really terrible to cycle around (crappy bike lane,s narrow streets, dual carriageway in the city centre, impatient drivers) Unsatisfying as Dublin's progress is, it's still much better for cyclists than other Irish cities as far as I can see.

Kaisr Sose

Weepsie wrote: »

Does the Dublin City Cycling officer do an awful lot?

About 250km a week. Mostly steady level 1/2. But some tempo and level 4 intervals

tomasrojo

The Copenhagenize Index is not scientific. Or maybe it is, but since they don't publish the methodology (and even admit they throw in arbitrary bonus points to push cities they've take a shine to up the list), I'm assuming it doesn't deserve to be graced with the science-y word "index".

But Dublin definitely is going nowhere fast. Every decent initiative is being watered down, and the return of compulsory use for cycle tracks when we still have no binding standards is the capper on the jug.

Chips Lovell

Seems to be something compiled by a private company alright.

Chuchote

Moflojo wrote: »

We need to forget about Copenhagenize and try to make Dublin the best cycling city of this island first, then in the British Isles.

Wouldn't be bothered about the neighbouring island; they've gone off on their own little tangent. What about the best of the west?

07Lapierre wrote: »

Dublin was ON the list???

Dublin was on the list, I suspect, for two reasons: the cycling section of the Transport Authority produced a guidebook for building cycle lanes which is now used internationally (though apparently not in Dublin); and they produced a really excellent plan for a cycling network in the city. But the plan, while wonderful in conception, relies on the Department of Transport (your friend and mine) and the City Council and county councils (ditto) to implement it.

crosstownk

07Lapierre wrote: »

Dublin was ON the list???

It surprised me too.

What doesn't surprise me is that Dublin has been removed from the top 20.

In the 1980's I commuted by bike from Templeogue to Church St. Today, 30 years later, my current commute includes the same route - it's no different from a cycling persepective - except for a few painted lines and Clanbrassil St. is wider.

magicbastarder

Weepsie wrote: »

It was a position filled by someone already in the council too, so I'd hope they were in fact the best candidate and no just another example of internal shuffling

i have been told it was a specific position with an interview process for it.

Tenzor07

And now with the re-appointment of Shane "Stepaside Garda station" Ross to the Transport ministry again, expect at least another year of stagnation on cycling infrastructure in Ireland...

I'd expect Dublin to keep on floating down the list of cycling friendly cities, and back up the list of congested polluted cities...

average_runner

Chuchote wrote: »

And meanwhile Oslo is gradually getting rid of all city centre parking.

This is what Copenhagenize say themselves:

http://copenhagenize.eu/index/about.html

You can do that when you have the infrastructure, ie they have trams, railway, buses and metro in the city!! Its a great city.

We need to invest more in our trams, use most of the transport budget and borrow the rest to get public system to top class. Increase taxes if needs be.

Once this is done, then we can invest in cycling and having a top class cycling network.

Sadly none of this will happen as too many sides only see their own interest!

Pinch Flat

I'd say Dublin will continue to drop down the list. The investment and progress in cycling infrastructure is laughable.

I was watching the council working on Park Gate Street over the pat few weeks - putting in different traffic lights. The red light jumping by cars coming from Chapelizod is laughable at this junction. So I thought they were going about addressing this.

They resurfaced the roads and I was secretly hoping that the new white lining would include even a token bike lane - turning right to the Phoenix Park is pretty hairy at the best of times. There's two traffic lanes going towards Chapelizod that merge, and a right turning lane for cars entering the Park. So plenty of room IMO to accommodate a cycle lane. But nope. Lines cater for cars only. Surely one way of dealing with cycling infrastructure would be to ensure that when new works are being done, that some sort of effort is made to accommodate cycling.

The only way we'll move up in ranking is in congestion and the percentage of single occupant private car commuting.

Chuchote

average_runner wrote: »

You can do that when you have the infrastructure, ie they have trams, railway, buses and metro in the city!! Its a great city.

We need to invest more in our trams, use most of the transport budget and borrow the rest to get public system to top class. Increase taxes if needs be.

Once this is done, then we can invest in cycling and having a top class cycling network.

Sadly none of this will happen as too many sides only see their own interest!

Wrong way around there. Increase cycling, there'll be fewer cars and room for public transport to move.

average_runner

Chuchote wrote: »

Wrong way around there. Increase cycling, there'll be fewer cars and room for public transport to move.

Unless the majority of the country wants to cycle then fair enough, but I think you find the majority don't, they just want a stress free way into the city without sweating.

You can't say increase cycling as its not for everyone, you got to cater for the majority, so improve public transport as it is not fit for purpose right now.

Weepsie

average_runner wrote: »

We need to invest more in our trams

Really? We have massively overspent, and badly planned our trams. They should have done a circular city line, and numerous lines off it to get to other parts of city and suburbs but they put in 2 lines that served the parts of the south side of the city and not much else.

When the LUAS went on strike, the North Side carried on it's merry way.

A lot of people don't want to give up the apparent comfort of their cars, as if it's an attack on their civil liberties that they can't use them.

Encouraging cycling is the cheapest and arguably the best way of improving transport. It will improve our health too. More bikes, means more road space, means easier for public works to happen, means better public transport.



That and everytime there is some form of change to DB, Irish Rail, LUAS people kick up a fuss and want more money. Invest in cycling. It's laughably cheap compared to everything else and it's a wonderfully efficient mode of transport.

Extending Dublin bikes alone would be a good start

You can cycle into the city at an easy pace without breaking into a sweat too.

ED E

Weepsie wrote: »

Really? We have massively overspent, and badly planned our trams. They should have done a circular city line, and numerous lines off it to get to other parts of city and suburbs but they put in 2 lines that served the parts of the south side of the city and not much else.

While we may have been ripped off (we always are) cant argue that the Luas has been anything other than a success. 120% loaded at peak and well loaded off peak, highly consistent and far more reliable than any of the CIE group. Having lived on the line its a single success story in an otherwise failing system. Even if the unions would like to destroy it.

Moflojo

average_runner wrote: »

Unless the majority of the country wants to cycle then fair enough, but I think you find the majority don't, they just want a stress free way into the city without sweating.

You can't say increase cycling as its not for everyone, you got to cater for the majority, so improve public transport as it is not fit for purpose right now.

The majority already cycles though. 61% according to a Journal.ie survey earlier this week which had more than 10,000 respondents.

https://twitter.com/dublincycling/status/874670785239158786

Guy Sajer

I'm sure there is an emergency cabinet meeting taking place on how to respond to this. The sound of running footsteps echoes in the corridors of the Dail while politicians frantically tighten their ties rushing to blame eachother.

AndrewJRenko

Moflojo wrote: »

The majority already cycles though. 61% according to a Journal.ie survey earlier this week which had more than 10,000 respondents.

Cycling numbers significantly up in new Census results out today;

"Cycling to work has shown the largest percentage increase of all means of transport, rising from 39,803 in 2011 to 56,837 in 2016, an increase of 42.8% over five years."

http://www.cso.ie/en/csolatestnews/pressreleases/2017pressreleases/pressstatementcensus2016summaryresults-part2/