City just crazy

benjamin d

Gracelynn Whining Rainbow wrote: »

Cars should be considered first by a distance imo as it is the most important and most used transport and always will in a place like Galway city and county (from where thousands commute into the city and surrounds everyday). A few people being able to cross the road a bit easier is meaningless in a city transport plan.

Nonsense. Cars should be the last consideration on urban roads. Pedestrians first, then public transport and cyclists, and finally cars. Progressive urban planning is getting rid of cars everywhere they don't absolutely have to be. Cities are for people, not cars. They're ridiculously inefficient as a means of transporting people, environmentally and spatially.

xckjoo

What's that saying about everyone starting and ending their journey as a pedestrian? Some people seem to be afraid of their own legs though.


You're right about the spenders Ashleigh1986. There's lots of research out there that found removing cars from cities causes increased footfall and increased spending in shops. You'll struggle to convince a lot of people of that though. Those of us that are old enough still remember the doomsday forecasting for Shop Street being pedestrianized. Can you imagine the sh1t show the city would be now if that hadn't happened

what_traffic

Emberly Bitter Bulldog wrote: »

Cars should be considered first by a distance imo as it is the most important and most used transport and always will in a place like Galway city and county (from where thousands commute into the city and surrounds everyday). A few people being able to cross the road a bit easier is meaningless in a city transport plan.



A waste of valuable road space it what they would be. Go into eyre square if you need to see flowers and benches.



I wouldn't be so sure, many people who park up for the weekend are out in the cities pubs and clubs spending lots of money.

The only unsurprising thing about this post is that you have not suggested that Eyre Sq be dug up and turned into surface car parking for you.

zell12

what_traffic wrote: »

The only unsurprising thing about this post is that you have not suggested that Eyre Sq be dug up and turned into surface car parking for you.

Don't be giving them notions!

John_Rambo

Lol.

Nox, alone in his VW is more important than 90 commutors on a bus and the locals trying to cross the road. Let alone the cyclists.

He MUST be given priority.

"vast majority etc...

xckjoo

zell12 wrote: »

Don't be giving Emberly Bitter Bulldog notions!
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Look at all that wasted space to the left of the photo. Disgusting. They should remove that path and double the parking spaces without impacting road space. And don't get me started on that arrogant so-and-so walking along like they've paid road tax

jk23

Worst city in Ireland for congestion. This evening is ridiculous especially on the Browne roundabout

youngrun

jk23 wrote: »

Worst city in Ireland for congestion. This evening is ridiculous especially on the Browne roundabout

Truth boss.
Traffic is Madness

I have been close to madness/insane driving in town , only solution now is walk or run to work or home for me , unless I am driving early am ( 7 am ) or very late pm ( 9pm ++) . Must be more heads who can do similar if you have less than 2 miles walk and no kids to pick up then just Leave the Car at Home its great for the soul

People have to get out bike bus and walk if they can

The city Needs park and rides Now . Put them in and get the buses to service them . Airport , NUIG, and multiple other spots on approach roads

This article shows how the right improvements to infrastructure lead to changes to sustainable methods of commuting

http://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2018/0522/965236-commute/

50% taking public transport (buses, trams and taxis)

6% cycling with over 12,000 being the highest number ever recorded for this method of transport

12% walking

Drivers in private cars has dropped to 30%, down from 40% in 2010

Note, this was done in November when the weather wouldn't be as nice as it is now

benjamin d

[Deleted User] wrote: »

This article shows how the right improvements to infrastructure lead to changes to sustainable methods of commuting

http://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2018/0522/965236-commute/

50% taking public transport (buses, trams and taxis)

6% cycling with over 12,000 being the highest number ever recorded for this method of transport

12% walking

Drivers in private cars has dropped to 30%, down from 40% in 2010

Note, this was done in November when the weather wouldn't be as nice as it is now

Commuting is changing.

Cycling has overtaken the luas in numbers of people entering the city. Edit: this is wrong, sorry. My point stands.
Infrastructure to carry multiples of luas passenger numbers as cyclists would cost a tiny, tiny fraction of the money the luas cost.
Overall the luas has cost approximately 1.5 billion euro. TWO PERCENT of that was spent on building a comprehensive cycling network in Seville that now serves 70,000 cyclists a day. Seville's population is not hugely dissimilar to Dublin. https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/05/07/six-secrets-from-the-planner-of-sevillas-lightning-bike-network/
It's a complete no-brainer where investment should be going in Irish transport infrastructure, and that's cycling. I find it bizarre that there's such resistance to this simple fact when even a cursory bit of research makes it so obvious.
Car journeys will actually be EASIER with a vast cycling network. Politicians will get MASSIVE positive results for small money. Cities will become friendlier, safer, more accessible, more enjoyable places for everyone. Galway would be an ideal test bed for this.

Laviski

I'll go get my coat

what_traffic

Laviski wrote: »

I'll go get my coat

Still too warm out for a coat, sun hat might be more useful this evening!:D

what_traffic

zell12 wrote: »

Don't be giving Emberly Bitter Bulldog notions!

Will sow another seed, should re demolish the big building in the middle of the Cathedral Car Park and fill in the Canal as well beside it?

djPSB

You can start getting into the knitty gritty with elements like roundabouts v traffic lights etc. But really these elements are immaterial for an issue of that scale. There are 100,000 cars in the City at peak times. Tweaking lights etc. isn't going to address the scale is the issue.

The reality is, the volume of cars coming into the city has to be reduced. And when you think of it logically it is absolute madness that the majority of cars driving in from commuter towns are only occupied by the driver themselves.

Bus services from commuter towns have to be increased and initiatives and campaigns put in place to get more people to use them. The necessary infrastructure i.e. Bus lanes need to be in place. If bus services can get people from A to B quicker and at a reduced cost then people will logically start to use them more.

Towns like Loughrea, Tuam, Gort, Headford etc. There are thousands of people driving in empty cars when the use of buses could reduce the volume enormously.

djPSB

djPSB wrote: »

Towns like Loughrea, Tuam, Gort, Headford etc. There are thousands of people driving in empty cars when the use of buses could reduce the volume enormously.

Busses are never going to be used by the majority of people commuting in as they are just way too inflexible and simply don't suit how people go about their day especially when most people don't actually live in the towns but in the surrounding country side. Also large numbers don't work in the city centre but various estates around the outskirts, starting at times over a very large range and going many places and with different things to do before and after work that just simply is not compatible with using a bus.

nuac

How about encouraging some employers to set up in those various satellite towns?

Gracelynn Whining Rainbow

Gracelynn Whining Rainbow wrote: »

Busses are never going to be used by the majority of people commuting in as they are just way too inflexible and simply don't suit how people go about their day especially when most people don't actually live in the towns but in the surrounding country side. Also large numbers don't work in the city centre but various estates around the outskirts, starting at times over a very large range and going many places and with different things to do before and after work that just simply is not compatible with using a bus.

The many full buses coming into Galway from these towns daily would indicate otherwise

ben.schlomo

Deleted User wrote: »

Gracelynn Whining Rainbow wrote: »

Busses are never going to be used by the majority of people commuting in as they are just way too inflexible and simply don't suit how people go about their day especially when most people don't actually live in the towns but in the surrounding country side. Also large numbers don't work in the city centre but various estates around the outskirts, starting at times over a very large range and going many places and with different things to do before and after work that just simply is not compatible with using a bus.

The many full buses coming into Galway from these towns daily would indicate otherwise

That's not evidence though, nox knows what evidence looks like and his long term studies on everything from drinking to shopping to car use will always outweigh any so called evidence such as these supposed full busses or supposed large uptake of other modes of transport in Seville.

Fitz*

Set up an actual reliable bus service that runs on time, and using an efficient route and you would see more people using it, rather than single-use cars.

I often spend 60 mins getting home from work (Ballybrit Industrial Estate -> Eyre square) because of a combination of buses not showing up, the crazy route it takes & traffic.

zell12

FitzShane wrote: »

I often spend 60 mins getting home from work (Ballybrit Industrial Estate -> Eyre square) because of a combination of buses not showing up, the crazy route it takes & traffic.

It's only ~4km or a 15min bicycle ride

Doctors room ghost

nuac wrote: »

How about encouraging some employers to set up in those various satellite towns?

Apple tried that in Athenry.didnt go too well.some locals would call it the farce of the century.
Aldi and Lidl can’t get in either.
All that’s left there is the non apple swamp and a kip of a shop

WallyGUFC

zell12 wrote: »

It's only ~4km or a 15min bicycle ride

15 minutes is grand in this weather, not so good in pissing rain and gale-force winds.

Doctors room ghost

WallyGUFC wrote: »

15 minutes is grand in this weather, not so good in pissing rain and gale-force winds.

Or an inch of frost and a trip to a and e.
As long as there’s 1000 sets of traffic lights bet in on top of each other galways traffic is going nowhere.its a fukn joke.and each set backed up onto the next set

WallyGUFC

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

Or an inch of frost and a trip to a and e.
As long as there’s 1000 sets of traffic lights bet in on top of each other galways traffic is going nowhere.its a fukn joke.and each set backed up onto the next set

The stretch from the Courthouse as far as Menlo Park is a joke. If they were all in sync it might work but that would be too sensible for this town.

mcbert

FitzShane wrote: »

I often spend 60 mins getting home from work (Ballybrit Industrial Estate -> Eyre square) because of a combination of buses not showing up, the crazy route it takes & traffic.

Youd walk that in under 50min

Doctors room ghost

WallyGUFC wrote: »

The stretch from the Courthouse as far as Menlo Park is a joke. If they were all in sync it might work but that would be too sensible for this town.

Dublin road inbound is the same.

ben.schlomo

WallyGUFC wrote: »

zell12 wrote: »

It's only ~4km or a 15min bicycle ride

15 minutes is grand in this weather, not so good in pissing rain and gale-force winds.

Majority of time you'd cycle in my experience, I do a similar route daily, only use the bus on bad days. I'd say in the last year I've been 75% bike and 25% bus.

xckjoo

FitzShane wrote: »

Set up an actual reliable bus service that runs on time, and using an efficient route and you would see more people using it, rather than single-use cars.

I often spend 60 mins getting home from work (Ballybrit Industrial Estate -> Eyre square) because of a combination of buses not showing up, the crazy route it takes & traffic.

I feel ya. I've been doing a similar commute and the bus reliability can be heart breaking. Nothing worse than running out the door of work to catch a bus, only to be standing there 30+ mins waiting. I could have done that at my desk in comfort! It won't change until there's more bus lanes though. Having the bus sitting in the same traffic as everyone else defeats the purpose.


Cycling takes me 12mins door-to-door though! Every morning I'm tempted to drive, I remind myself of that. But I appreciate it's not for everyone and can be pretty miserable in the winter.

zell12

ben.schlomo wrote: »

Majority of time you'd cycle in my experience, I do a similar route daily, only use the bus on bad days. I'd say in the last year I've been 75% bike and 25% bus.

I do it daily.
No way am I paying €1.61 for a bus, when I get to exercise, choose my own time & route & get to glee at all those sitting in their depreciating asset moaning about everyone else doing the same.

RIGOLO

nuac wrote: »

How about encouraging some employers to set up in those various satellite towns?

Thats a good idea .. maybe Apple could open a data centre somewhere like I dont know say Athenry ... 

but on a serious note , Skibereen in West Cork did a great job putting together a centre where local people could tele-work from or run their own e-business out of a central hub .. called the Ludgate hub check it out, Nationwide did a good show on it . Very forward thinking, alot of smaller towns could do something similar.