Galway traffic

"No wind": Oulu is a port city on the mostly northerly stretch of the Baltic Sea. It certainly has winds, and cold ones at that.

"No rain": They actually get more rain than they get snow.

"No hills": Elevations within the city are above 30m at a number of points. In comparison, Threadneedle Road tops out at 35m.

"We’re also not told if that is an extremely quiet shared space, or a Greenway." It's a 'light traffic' route, part of a network that covers the whole city.

"So not really that relevant or comparable to Galway." It is relevant insofar as it shows that, given high quality facilities, cycling will happen all year round in spite of crappy weather. I've visited Finland multiple times and lived and worked in similar climates for many years. I can give you a 100% assurance that Galway on a windy and rainy day is still a lot more comfortable weather wise for cycling than having a freezing Baltic wind blowing at you in -20C. Because they have safe routes to get to and from school, 30% of primary school children in Oulu cycle to school all year round. Sure, more cycle during the warmer months and switch to bus or car when it gets colder, but enough still cycle consistently to make it worthwhile to provide for them and benefit from the reduced motor traffic that results.

But it's the same people who are actually cycling on the roads everyday as part of the various school cycle-busses, or just cycling to and from their own places of work, shops etc. Those aren't bicycles that just come out of the shed once a month. Some of those bicycles, especially the cargo bikes and electric bikes, and even electric cargo bikes, have actually been bought as a replacement for a car. A real example of bicycles being able to improve the overall traffic situation.

Hi all, does anyone know of any (Galway specific or general) studies that show what proportion of commuters, or visitors, would change transport mode if an alternative was offered?

I firmly think bus lanes, cycle lanes etc are all really important and should be prioritised, but I'd be interested in knowing how many people would actually change?

I'd be the first on a park-and-ride if one was available (and using currently non-existing bus lanes), but when I think of the people I work with I can imagine many of them simply continuing to use our handy city centre car park.

Am I right in thinking there is a proportion of people who could but never will never use a bus or bike (as transport, not recreationally) no matter how amazing the facilities are?

Having actually lived in Amsterdam for year and Aarhus for 8 months there are very big differences...

Population density: Amsterdam has about 4 times Galway while Aarhus has twice officially... Living in those cities you find feels much higher...

Weather: You absolutely joking if you think they have the same climate. They are both drier with rainfall especially in the summer coming more in Thunderstorm / downpours rather than our more constant longer periods. But big difference is wind, Ireland and especially Galway is far windier and with its low pop density, far more exposed...

I will grant you we have milder winters but they sand and gravel roads extensively... Saying that they don't cycle everyday...

Yes they have more cycle lanes, some because they got bombed to crap in WW2... Some because there was no room for cars (Amsterdam)

Ebikes are roughly €2000 a pop.

That isn't affordable for many.

True, way cheaper than motoring + its really a one off cost. Electricity costs are negligible. I'd say most Credit Union will give one the Special Rate loan for one.

Do eBikes have immobilisers or similar, to make them difficult to steal? Not sure that I'd want to leave 2k worth of hardware in the carpark of an industrial estate during the day unless it could be locked properly.