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Is 2 euro a litre going to matter?

  • 06-03-2012 11:43pm
    #1
    Crow92
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,017 ✭✭✭


    Do you guys think if fuel hits 2 euro a litre it'll be a psychological limit and we'll see a good increase in the amount of people cycling?

    And on a side note does anyone think the public transport fare increases will have caused more to cycle?


«1

Comments

  • #2
    Caroline_ie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,400 ✭✭✭Caroline_ie


    I will keep to my 30euro/month petrol self allowance... that will mean that buying cat litter will no longer be an excuse to take the car.


  • #3
    happytramp
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,625 ✭✭✭happytramp


    Na, I said the same thing at 1.50 didn't make any difference. People will pay whatever they're asked to since we're by and large quite a subservient country.


  • #4
    irishmotorist
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,268 ✭✭✭irishmotorist


    I think it will mean some sort of change in driving habits. It costs me about €80 to fill the tank at around €1.55 or so per litre at the moment. Stick that up to €2 a litre and it's going to cost well over €100. It amounts to the same thing but I think that notional amount will mean more to people than it being €2/l.

    Whether it moves people to bikes, that remains to be seen.

    Does anybody know, offhand, the average distance that people live from work?


  • #5
    Surveyor11
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,036 ✭✭✭Surveyor11


    Nah, won't make a jot of difference, we are gluttons for punishment as a nation. I know plenty of people that insist on driving to town and back everyday, even where a bus / train or (shock horror!) bike possibility exists. People will carry on. And crib. A lot.


  • #6
    Beasty
    Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 77,514 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    I don't think there is any "magic price" that will result in a significant shift between motoring and cycling. It's more likely to be a gradual thing, with some individuals reaching a point when the consider cycling to be a better all-round option (although they could equally switch to public transport)


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  • #7
    Captain Havoc
    Moderators, Sports Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 11,393 Mod ✭✭✭✭Captain Havoc


    If I was driving to work five days a week, that would have me spending about €61.55 on petrol, if it was €2 a litre. As it stands now €1.61 I save about €9.90 each time I cycle to work. I think it already has had an effect, judging by what looks like more people riding bicycles in Kilkenny. I don't think a lot of this is down to better cycling conditions but you never know. Here in Kilkenny the corporation are bit by bit making every on-street parking space within the borough boundary payable, which is also adding to the driving bill. I cycle in and out of the city anyway as live within the borough.

    https://ormondelanguagetours.com

    Walking Tours of Kilkenny in English, French or German.



  • #8
    Captain Havoc
    Moderators, Sports Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 11,393 Mod ✭✭✭✭Captain Havoc


    I should add, I saved €86 in February cycling to work based on €1.55 a litre :)

    https://ormondelanguagetours.com

    Walking Tours of Kilkenny in English, French or German.



  • #9
    emigrate2012
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 323 ✭✭emigrate2012


    Of course it will,even if you cycle.Fuel cost's effect everything from private motorists to cyclists.How do you think the food you buy gets into the shop?On a truck. it's silly to think it won't effect you.


  • #10
    el Bastardo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 573 ✭✭✭el Bastardo


    I'd have thought that people take up cycling to work for perceived health benefits rather than saving the shekels (I know of only one person who sold the car in favour of the bike and that was in the eighties!).

    I'd imagine that many people need to run a car irrespective of the cost; Not everyone has viable public transport options and cycling isn't always an option when you're getting the kiddies to school, groceries etc. So, no, I doubt it'll change the motorist/cyclist balance much.


  • #11
    ozzy jr
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,519 ✭✭✭ozzy jr


    I had this conversation before with a fella in work. He said the fuel increase wouldn't effect him as he only ever puts €30 into his car.

    I left it at that.


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  • #12
    Inquitus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,762 ✭✭✭✭Inquitus


    Nah but it might fecking stop me driving over to Three Rock and beyond for MTB spins :( and no it won't make me think a 60km round trip to the bottom of the hill is a good idea either!


  • #13
    blorg
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,995 ✭✭✭✭blorg


    irishmotorist wrote: »
    Does anybody know, offhand, the average distance that people live from work?
    The average is quite high: 15.82km

    However this figure is distorted somewhat by people with extremely long commutes; the mean is lower.

    49% of all workers have commutes of 0-9km, which seems a reasonable distance to cycle. Half of all commuters is a lot.

    In towns and cities this is a lot higher: 58% have 0-9km commutes. In rural areas commutes are longer; there 35% commute 0-9km.

    Children also have much shorter distances to school on average.

    Source: CSO Census 2006

    http://census.cso.ie/Census/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=76541

    http://census.cso.ie/Census/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=76593


  • #14
    Seweryn
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,487 ✭✭✭Seweryn


    I do not think it will change much, i.e. there will be 95-99% of today's traffic and the rest 1-5% (5% is very optimistic) will not make that unnecessary journey or use a bike.
    People are too attached to their cars and most of us are too lazy no mater if the fuel is €2 or €10 per litre. I reckon there will still be very comparable amount of cars on the road even if fuel is €10 per litre.


  • #15
    robinph
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 24,118 Mod ✭✭✭✭robinph


    Didn't it only make it over 1euro a few years ago which resulted in some half hearted protests, mostly just because people wanted to join in with what they were seeing on the news from the UK at the time?


  • #16
    ednwireland
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,452 ✭✭✭✭ednwireland


    no public transport up here so people will spend less on other stuff

    hardly see anyone on a bike commuting anyway

    My weather

    https://www.ecowitt.net/home/share?authorize=96CT1F



  • #17
    Seweryn
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,487 ✭✭✭Seweryn


    robinph wrote: »
    Didn't it only make it over 1euro a few years ago which resulted in some half hearted protests, mostly just because people wanted to join in with what they were seeing on the news from the UK at the time?
    Less than three years ago fuel was almost half the price it is at the moment.
    Has anything changed since? Very little in terms of motorised traffic anyway.


  • #18
    km991148
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,277 ✭✭✭km991148


    I dont think there will be a magic price that stops people from owning a car (it will hit the headlines).

    But I think it will cause a gradual decline - second/third car ownership will fall as they wll simply not be repaced. New driver rates will be the same as people moving from home realise that a car is expensive!

    The problem though is that not many of these people will make it to cycling..(it will be to public transport/mopeds/etc) it will take something else to shift the views of society on what cycling is like.

    Of course none of this is based on any sort of evidence!


  • #19
    couerdelion
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,910 ✭✭✭couerdelion


    I'm 15km away from work and cycle in every now and again but most of the time drive in. As there are two of us in the car it works out cheaper than taking the bus. The cost of fuel won't make much difference to me if public transport cost rise at a proportionate rate.

    However, we will be trying to up the amount of cycling commuting we do anyway purely for fitness (although saving on fuel is good too).


  • #20
    dlofnep
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,759 ✭✭✭✭dlofnep


    I'm dependant on my car because of my health. I knew fuel prices would continue to rise, so I consciously bought a small 1.1L car. I only stick a €10-€15 a week into it. That gets me out to Tescos for some speciality food (I'm intolerant to gluten), to the pool and drop the mother to work the odd time if she's stuck. I really don't use it for much else, couldn't afford it.


  • #21
    saa
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,194 ✭✭✭saa


    I don't think so people seem to have a bigger mental block about cycling a distance further than across Dublin city centre (see I didn't say town), more so than the issue about paying more.

    Literally, when people see I have a bike and ask "Did you cycle" Duuurh no shizz, I brought it on the bus to show it off.
    And then they say where did you cycle from and people are usually horrified
    and I say ah its only 15 miles and I just get back a oh jesus I don't know how you do it.


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  • #22
    seamus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,317 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    I think €2 a litre will in the main just cause people to cut back elsewhere as said above. To a certain extent I think people will try to cut back on the amount they drive, but the problem with driving is that once you get into the habit of it, you start considering all trips as being absolutely necessary.

    You'll find that people think that if something is more than a 15 minute walk away, then they "need" a car in order to get there. I've had the debate a number of times with the, "I was forced to buy outside the city, I need a car to function" brigade a number of times, and when you point out the reality that they choose to live where they are and therefore choose to drive, you're usually told to "get real".

    If petrol goes to €2/litre and the government follows through on their car tax hike, what we'll see evolving here is a very Japanese style of road use where most people start buying exceptionally compact vehicles and efficient vehicles like this and relying a lot more heavily on public transport. The days of tying your ego to the size of your car are numbered in this country.

    It could actually be the long-awaited kickstart that public transport has needed. There's always been a chicken-and-egg thing going on there where they can't justify investing in public transport without an increase in passengers, and they can't get an increase in passengers without investing. If people are forced to switch, the investment will follow.

    I don't think any significant number of people will switch to cycling, though I do think people will see it as a viable alternative for their kids to get to the local school rather than doing the school run and spending a fiver to get there. People whinge on about safety concerns, but if their pocket is taking the hit, they'll be practically pushing the kid out onto the road to save money.


  • #23
    CramCycle
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 25,161 Mod ✭✭✭✭CramCycle


    I have a car, wish i didn't but the missus insists. My only issue is that wherever I park it someone leaves a note complaining even though it is legally parked. I presume they think it is abandoned because it doesn't move much. I only move it because I'm worried that someone would damage/tow it out of spite.

    I have no problem with the price of fuel, the only time I drive is when its necessary, and it is always cheaper than public transport.

    Although with Irish Rail offering 20euro fares for students with any student ID, I may be using it for the Midleton 200 this weekend.


  • #24
    CramCycle
    Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 25,161 Mod ✭✭✭✭CramCycle


    saa wrote: »
    I don't think so people seem to have a bigger mental block about cycling a distance further than across Dublin city centre (see I didn't say town), more so than the issue about paying more.

    Literally, when people see I have a bike and ask "Did you cycle" Duuurh no shizz, I brought it on the bus to show it off.
    And then they say where did you cycle from and people are usually horrified
    and I say ah its only 15 miles and I just get back a oh jesus I don't know how you do it.

    LOL, one of my students was amazed I cycle in, saying it took an hour by bus. I pointed out it only took 25 minutes or less by bike.


  • #25
    Tenzor07
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,998 ✭✭✭Tenzor07


    Forget about commuters, I think higher petrol costs may also have an effect on races, people will be more picky about which events they attend...Only choosing races in Dublin and immediately surrounding counties for example...


  • #26
    Jawgap
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,297 ✭✭✭✭Jawgap


    Over the short term, people will modify their behaviour, but I think cycling is waaaaay down the hierarchy of measures people would consider adopting in the face of rising fuel prices.

    As an economist might say - in the long run, I'd suggest we'll see the following trends:
    1. People opting for one car per household - we have two but we really only need one, if one of them was to be rendered unroadworthy, I doubt we'd replace it.
    2. Increased property prices and rents as property close to town / city centres becomes more sought after
    3. Cheaper public transport - more people using it, should lead to cheaper fares (?!?)
    4. Less annoying posts in the Motors forum:)


  • #27
    Jawgap
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,297 ✭✭✭✭Jawgap


    CramCycle wrote: »
    LOL, one of my students was amazed I cycle in, saying it took an hour by bus. I pointed out it only took 25 minutes or less by bike.

    First time I cycled into work (from Rathfarnham) on a crapped out old mountain bike, I was stunned when it took a shade under 20 minutes - it normally took about 40 minutes in the car - been converted to cycling ever since then!!

    On a related note, a lot of people I work with live in Castleknock and I really don't understand why they none of them cycle to work - it's 10km, through the Park. I can understand not wanting to cycle on the Quays, but there are alternative route - I mean, who wouldn't want to cycle in the Park on a morning like this morning?


  • #28
    Borderfox
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,263 ✭✭✭✭Borderfox


    Unfortunately as fuel prices rise so will public transport, I would like to think that €2 is the breaking point for people to flip out.
    seamus wrote: »
    I think €2 a litre will in the main just cause people to cut back elsewhere as said above. To a certain extent I think people will try to cut back on the amount they drive, but the problem with driving is that once you get into the habit of it, you start considering all trips as being absolutely necessary.

    You'll find that people think that if something is more than a 15 minute walk away, then they "need" a car in order to get there. I've had the debate a number of times with the, "I was forced to buy outside the city, I need a car to function" brigade a number of times, and when you point out the reality that they choose to live where they are and therefore choose to drive, you're usually told to "get real".

    If petrol goes to €2/litre and the government follows through on their car tax hike, what we'll see evolving here is a very Japanese style of road use where most people start buying exceptionally compact vehicles and efficient vehicles like this and relying a lot more heavily on public transport. The days of tying your ego to the size of your car are numbered in this country.

    It could actually be the long-awaited kickstart that public transport has needed. There's always been a chicken-and-egg thing going on there where they can't justify investing in public transport without an increase in passengers, and they can't get an increase in passengers without investing. If people are forced to switch, the investment will follow.

    I don't think any significant number of people will switch to cycling, though I do think people will see it as a viable alternative for their kids to get to the local school rather than doing the school run and spending a fiver to get there. People whinge on about safety concerns, but if their pocket is taking the hit, they'll be practically pushing the kid out onto the road to save money.


  • #29
    JH_raheny
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,005 ✭✭✭JH_raheny


    petrol prices is defo one of the reasons I want start cycling to work, that and fitness, a colleague of mine lives near me and cycles in and it takes him 40 min - 1hour depending on wind/weather, it takes an hour in the car getting home when I leave at 5pm so something to said for it timewise as well


  • #30
    Solair
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,230 ✭✭✭Solair


    Eh, well you might see a few more people cycling. At least those for whom it might be a possibility.

    However, in rural areas it just means people being seriously isolated as they can't afford to drive and distances are too long to cycle or walk.

    It means the cost of absolutely every consumer good, and food increasing drastically as *every* type of transport in Ireland relies on oil-based fuel i.e. vans, trucks, trains, boats, aircraft.

    It will mean that quite a significant number of businesses will fail due to drastically increased overheads.

    It may mean a few more cyclists, but it will mean a lot of people are going to end up very financially damaged and it will be really bad for the economy as a whole.


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  • #31
    StaggerLee
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 533 ✭✭✭StaggerLee


    I dont think you'll get many more Bike commuters. I split my commuting between cycling and driving, its a 40k round trip. I dont want to cycle it 5 days a week. We have 2 cars, I only use mine to get to and from work, my car is getting on a bit now so I'm probably going to swap it for a motorbike as I have a license, they are much cheaper to run and 2 wheels is the only way to travel through the city.

    We might see more scooters on the road, a little 50cc scooter for people to get in and out of town on. I dont think you need a license for those either once you have a standard car license.


  • #32
    Crow92
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,017 ✭✭✭Crow92


    Ignoring how "oil changes the price of everything" and just focusing on transport, do people think if we had an oil crisis to see a drastic change?

    Also someone hit on the point of sending the kids to school by bike because of the short distance, I'd say that in itself (if it increased) would be the foundation of a future cycling country?


  • #33
    seamus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,317 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    JH_raheny wrote: »
    40 min - 1hour depending on wind/weather, it takes an hour in the car getting home when I leave at 5pm so something to said for it timewise as well
    One of the things that I love most about cycling to work is that it's reliable.

    I know how long it's going to take me to get in or out of work, to within a tolerance of about five minutes. The same can't be said of a car or a bus. In my experience, you can get the commute finely tuned and find the most efficient route, but it will only be the same about 90% of the time. 10% of the time your commute will be disrupted by unusually heavy traffic caused by weather, a crash backing everything up or just plain old transient currents. This compares with more than 99% of commutes going without incident on a bike, regardless of traffic or weather.

    Incidentally, I've never been late for work on the bike except when I've overslept. Once I didn't make it to work cos I crashed. The other time I made it to work, but realised I'd forgotten my shirt and had to go back home again :D


  • #34
    rp
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 1,227 ✭✭✭rp


    emigrate2012 wrote: »
    Of course it will,even if you cycle.Fuel cost's effect everything from private motorists to cyclists.How do you think the food you buy gets into the shop?On a truck. it's silly to think it won't effect you.
    yeah maybe I'll just have to forego eating tasteless veg trucked in from Spain, and go back to the locally grown produce - good opportunity for some enterprising farmers/market gardeners to open up a "pick your own"?


  • #35
    rp
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 1,227 ✭✭✭rp


    Inquitus wrote: »
    Nah but it might fecking stop me driving over to Three Rock and beyond for MTB spins :( and no it won't make me think a 60km round trip to the bottom of the hill is a good idea either!
    I've done it Maynooth/Ballinastoe (90km round trip), which makes for a nice warm-up/down, but it is much easier if you ride-up on Kojaks and change tyres in the car park.


  • #36
    Solair
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,230 ✭✭✭Solair


    The only thing I would say about it is that people who are living at cycliable-distances from work are probably less likely to be impacted by a petrol price hike anyway.

    If you think about it, the majority of people who live in urban areas can opt to cycle or use public transport, if they live sufficiently close to work.

    The kinds of trips that will be mostly impacted by this will probably be longer ones. So, I don't know if you'll see that significant a jump in cycling.

    I live in Cork City and I know that because of the total lack of cycle facilities in most of the city and the fact that the streets are extremely narrow and hilly, you won't get very many people switching over to cycling. But, you will probably get a lot of people switching over to walking and getting buses.

    There are exceptions to that, if your commute for example was from the Westside (Bishopstown/Wilton etc) to say UCC or the City Centre, you'd be fine on a bike.

    Northside - Quite a scary cycle along narrow hilly streets.

    Southside - Narrow streets, no cycle lanes and a lot of traffic.

    Eastside - just too far away and no cycle lanes which results in you having to cycle down dual carriageways. There should be a cycle lane from the Lower Glanmire Road to Glanmire / Riverstown. There's loads of space for one!

    Most of Dublin is FAR more cycle-friendly than Cork. It's partially down to the local authority taking cycling more seriously in Dublin but it's also just down to the physical layout of the cities being quite different.


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  • #37
    hans aus dtschl
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,241 ✭✭✭hans aus dtschl


    An awful lot of people require their car for work, too.

    For instance I may have to travel over 100k with boxes of files and equipment some days at short notice. Neither public transport nor cycling are suitable for this. It might only happen twice a month, but as it's unpredictable I end up needing the car every day.

    I know a lot of people work a 9 to 5 in one office at all times of year but bear in mind that not everyone's able to just "ditch the car".


  • #38
    Jawgap
    Closed Accounts Posts: 20,297 ✭✭✭✭Jawgap


    Some businesses will undoubtedly be impacted disproportionately by ever rising fuel prices, but others will benefit - hopefully local businesses, shops etc will derive something from people no longer trucking off to the large out of town shopping centres.

    Seasonality will come back into the food supply - new season potatoes will be just that, strawberries will become a summer fruit (and taste better) and beef will hang for longer.


  • #39
    blorg
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,995 ✭✭✭✭blorg


    hans aus dtschl wrote: »
    An awful lot of people require their car for work, too.

    For instance I may have to travel over 100k with boxes of files and equipment some days at short notice. Neither public transport nor cycling are suitable for this. It might only happen twice a month, but as it's unpredictable I end up needing the car every day.

    I know a lot of people work a 9 to 5 in one office at all times of year but bear in mind that not everyone's able to just "ditch the car".

    This always comes up in these types of discussions. Sure there are people for whom a bike is not practical, and who genuinely "need" a car, for reasons like you outline. But most people don't, and drive anyway.

    It would only require 3% of drivers to switch to a bicycle to double the number of cycle commuters. Don't tell me 100% of drivers currently commuting absolutely can't do it any other way.


  • #40
    manwithaplan
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,200 ✭✭✭manwithaplan


    Jawgap wrote: »
    beef will hang for longer.

    That's what happens when you get out of your car.


  • #41
    Seweryn
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,487 ✭✭✭Seweryn


    StaggerLee wrote: »
    I dont think you'll get many more Bike commuters. I split my commuting between cycling and driving, its a 40k round trip. I dont want to cycle it 5 days a week.
    Why not? I started cycling only recently, I am not very fit and I commute by bike every day, 44km return trip (sometimes more, if I take a different route). It is easily managable even for me ;).


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  • #42
    Crow92
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,017 ✭✭✭Crow92


    If you check in lyon, france they have a new car share programme in which works a bit like the dublin bike scheme, interesting read here.

    http://www.business.greaterlyon.com/economic-news-item-lyon.194+M57fefd2e52d.0.html?&L=1
    Lyon welcomes a new innovative mobility service: 200 car2go ready for use on 1st February 2012! Lyon is the first French city to enjoy the benefits of car2go.



    mod edit: you shouldn't quote more than a paragraph of an article, we will update guidelines as soon as we get them: Captain Havoc

    Not saying it's the most practical thing but interesting all the same.


  • #43
    rp
    Users Awaiting Email Confirmation Posts: 1,227 ✭✭✭rp


    Crow92 wrote: »
    If you check in lyon, france they have a new car share programme in which works a bit like the dublin bike scheme, interesting read here.
    http://www.business.greaterlyon.com/economic-news-item-lyon.194+M57fefd2e52d.0.html?&L=1

    We've already got something similar in Dublin (actually based out of the building I work in): GoCar


  • #44
    Tenzor07
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,998 ✭✭✭Tenzor07


    There ya go, this American family moved house using bikes instead of removals vans: Link


  • #45
    buffalo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,095 ✭✭✭buffalo


    Crow92 wrote: »
    And on a side note does anyone think the public transport fare increases will have caused more to cycle?

    Every time I get on a bus and pay the now extortionate fare, I promise next time I'll cycle instead. It's usually quicker, and essentially free.


  • #46
    ednwireland
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,452 ✭✭✭✭ednwireland


    buffalo wrote: »
    , and essentially free.

    errrrrm no not really

    you obviousley dont read this thread
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055577641
    or this one
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056356968

    ;)

    My weather

    https://www.ecowitt.net/home/share?authorize=96CT1F



  • #47
    jameverywhere
    Registered Users Posts: 224 ✭✭jameverywhere


    my secondhand commuting bike plus a good lock cost roughly 200 quid.

    the bus to work and back each day is roughly 4 quid.

    50 days of cycling to work (only 5km each way) essentially pays for the bike.

    (this is, of course, ignoring the parts I swapped for the fun of it, and all the gear I bought as I started getting more serious about touring)

    I used to walk to save money and keep fit, but the walk is an hour compared to 25 min on the bike so.


  • #48
    Solair
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,230 ✭✭✭Solair


    rp wrote: »
    We've already got something similar in Dublin (actually based out of the building I work in): GoCar

    It's actually rolled out quite well in Cork and Dublin, but I would wonder what the uptake is like. It seems quite expensive.

    http://www.gocar.ie/cms/carsharing/en/4/cms?cms_knschluessel=TARIFE

    UCC's been quite innovative with car pooling and bike services:

    Student car pooling with Avego using iPhone apps to locate lifts etc : http://collegenews.ie/index.php/1601/express/express-news/avego-to-launch-world-first-commuter-service-in-cork/

    Communal bike hire for staff : http://www.ucc.ie/en/build/commuting/campusbike/ (Small scale, but it has potential)

    Car Pooling : http://www.ucc.ie/en/build/commuting/CarPooling/

    Car Sharing : http://www.ucc.ie/en/build/commuting/CarSharing/

    UCC has about 20,000 people using its campus. Giving it a population that is as large as the entire town of Sligo or Athlone, except without any of the residential facilities so everyone using the campus has to get there on foot, by car, on a bike etc.

    Large academic campuses are ideal to try out and implement this kind of stuff.


  • #49
    galwaycyclist
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 2,912 ✭✭✭galwaycyclist


    Seweryn wrote: »
    Less than three years ago fuel was almost half the price it is at the moment.
    Has anything changed since? Very little in terms of motorised traffic anyway.

    There has been a significant fall in road deaths which suggests the roads may be becoming a progressively safer cycling environment.

    There is a direct relationship between indicators like fuel prices or unemployment rates and levels of road deaths.

    It gets missed because the RSA and Garda like to claim credit and our national media aren't minded to rock the boat by asking awkward questions.


  • #50
    manwithaplan
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,200 ✭✭✭manwithaplan


    This crowd do their international comparisons based on the death and injury rates per million km travelled (unfortunately you have to pay for access but the data may be accessible elsewhere). A long time ago, I used to collate the Irish figures.

    It's a fairer basis of comparison and it gives a truer picture of 'how safe it is' but it's not used outside academic circles. In fairness to the authorities, they never empasised greater car use as a reason for high fatalities in former years. I suspect the 'per million km travelled' figures still show positive trends year-on-year in Ireland. Over 600 people were killed in some years in the 70s when usage was way below what it is now and the numbers killed did not rise in the 90s and the first half of the noughties when car ownership and use exploded.


  • #51
    Surveyor11
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,036 ✭✭✭Surveyor11


    saa wrote: »
    I don't think so people seem to have a bigger mental block about cycling a distance further than across Dublin city centre (see I didn't say town), more so than the issue about paying more.

    Literally, when people see I have a bike and ask "Did you cycle" Duuurh no shizz, I brought it on the bus to show it off.
    And then they say where did you cycle from and people are usually horrified
    and I say ah its only 15 miles and I just get back a oh jesus I don't know how you do it.


    Got in the other morning, sat at my desk and turned on the pc, all in full lycra gear while waiting for a spot in the changing room, one of my colleagues asked me did I cycle, I replied no, got the bus. Didn't bat an eyelid. Most people working with me drive to the city, from far flung places like clonskeagh, rathmines and other places at the edge of the known world. They will also park the car on a meter for the entire day if they miss the spot in the small car park - can't get my head around that one


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