Census 2016 - Massive increase in commuter cycling numbers

Chips Lovell

Census commuting figures are out today. Highlight of which is:

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 per cent over the five years.

Not too shabby.

It's also heartening to see an increase in the number of kids commuting by bike, including a 17 percent increase in the number of primary school aged children cycling, a 10 percent increase in the number of secondary school kids, and a 25 percent increase in third level students.

jive

Imagine what the numbers would be if they put segregated cycling lanes in place in Dublin within 5km of city centre alone. I'd love to see the # of availed B2W schemes vs. # of commuter cyclists :pac:

Chips Lovell

Actually, Dublin City is ahead of the curve. Dublin City Council reported a 75% increase in the number of cyclists crossing the canals between 2011 and 2016, the census period



We're achieving significant levels of growth without segregated infrastructure.

tomasrojo

Well, to be fair, a quite significant piece of segregated infrastructure was opened in Dublin between the last census and this, and it is very heavily used. I agree that very little else has opened, and numbers have gone up. I suspect, given the results in Seville, that we could get numbers up more and quite quickly with properly joined-up networks.

Conversely, Stepaside Shane's likely re-imposition of mandatory use is starting to put me off anyone building anything much, despite my best intentions.

Chips Lovell

I know there's talk, but I'd be surprised if Ross actually did anything as foolish as that. However, if he genuinely is tempted to do it, I'm hoping his glacial pace of progress means it won't see the light of day before the next election.

Tenzor07

Jep Gambardella wrote: »

We're achieving significant levels of growth without segregated infrastructure.

Better way to put it would be "We're achieving significant levels of growth despite the lack of segregated infrastructure.

The increase in numbers will also go with the increase in deaths and serious injuries until proper infrastructure is put in place..

Along with the increase in the resentment of cyclists that you see here and in the media, leading to more calls for compulsory helmets and hi-vis.. Due to the perception of cyclists being scofflaws passing through traffic light systems and roads designed purely for motorised transport..

Chips Lovell

You can certainly expect that the number of deaths will increase if cycling numbers continue to increase so quickly. But it's not the absolute number that's important but the number per million kilometers traveled.

For example, the proportion of cycling deaths in the Netherlands is far higher than here, but that doesn't mean it is more dangerous than here.

tomasrojo

Jep Gambardella wrote: »

I know there's talk, but I'd be surprised if Ross actually did anything as foolish as that. However, if he genuinely is tempted to do it, I'm hoping his glacial pace of progress means it won't see the light of day before the next election.

Hope you're right. The statements released on his behalf last year made it sound as if he was just letting the RSA, the DTTAS and the Gardaí get on with it, while dismissing the cycling lobbies as "some cyclists".

tomasrojo

Jep Gambardella wrote: »

For example, the proportion of cycling deaths in the Netherlands is far higher than here, but that doesn't mean it is more dangerous than here.

Yeah, the KSIs per million inhabitants there are much higher than here. And the proportion of KSIs made up by cyclists are way higher. But the KSIs per 100 million km are lower. Not by that much, the last time I looked, but definitely lower, despite a very hefty number of kids and elderly cycling frequently.

(Which is sort of an argument for doing things their way though, which would mean more use of segregation on arterial routes.)

Chips Lovell

I think the common theme is that the more people you get cycling, the safer it becomes.

tomasrojo

Yeah, I'd think so, though that study in Seville saw an improvement in collision rates after joining up a substantial area of networked infrastructure, followed by an increase in numbers, rather than the other way round. I assume Safety in Numbers is a real phenomenon though.

Chips Lovell

I think one of the issues we face in promoting is that there's no readily accessible recent KSI numbers for Ireland, so it's easy for people to portray cycling as being more dangerous than it is.

Commuter cycling is only part of the picture. The number of leisure/sport cyclists has exploded as well. CI membership more than tripled from 9,000 in 2010 to 28,000 last year. And only a percentage of leisure cyclists would be members of CI.

tomasrojo

Yeah, the "K" part is easy enough to get, but the "SI" part isn't, as far as I know.