[PR] 'In Town Without My Car Day' - Cyclist Launch "Sign Post to mark Car Madness"

Victor

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Press Release: 'In Town Without My Car Day' - Cyclist Launch "Sign Post to mark Car Madness"
From: Dublin Cycling Campaign
Date: 21 September
Event Date: Friday 22 September at 1 pm
Event Location: The Spire on O'Connell street
For Immediate Use (Excellent Photo Op.) - 2.5m High by 2.5 Long mock Road Sign Post

The Dublin Cycling Campaign (DCC) has announced it intends to mark Car-Free Day (part of European Mobility Week) by unveiling a Sign Post showing how much quicker it is to make journeys by bicycle than by car in the city centre.

Dr. Mike McKillen, chairman of the DCC, explains "commuting car culture has brought such gridlock to the city centre that it is now much quicker to travel in the city centre by bicycle rather than by car. The benefits of the bicycle become even more
apparent at peak times, when car speeds regularly drop to that of a pedestrian while cycling time remains largely unaffected."

Some examples of the times savings that choosing to travel by bicycle rather than car include:
* Spike to Stephen's Green -5 mins bike; 21 mins car
* Spike to the Point -7 mins bike; 22 mins car
* Spike to Heuston Station -6 mins bike; 22 mins car
[Note: these times measured at peak congestion periods and with cyclist stopping at red lights! ]

Yet everyday thousands of cars and goods vehicles trundle into the city centre. Dr. McKillen continues "People just don't seem to have gotten the message "Cities and cars don't mix". Our current 'CARS-R-US', approach to transport planning, can only lead to gridlock, pollution and high levels of road deaths".

Dr. McKillen concluded by stating "Our planners and decision makers need to stop thinking CAR and start thinking PEOPLE COST and ENVIRONMENT."

ENDS
The Dublin Cycling Campaign is a voluntary organisation that has represented Dublin's commuting cyclists for over 15 years.

sneakyST

last time i checked i dont live in the spike

prospect

That is all well and good if your commute permits use of a bicycle.

MercMad

Yet everyday thousands of cars and goods vehicles trundle into the city centre. Dr. McKillen continues "People just don't seem to have gotten the message "Cities and cars don't mix". Our current 'CARS-R-US', approach to transport planning, can only lead to gridlock, pollution and high levels of road deaths".

.......whatever about cars, why do the mention "goods vehicles" ? How can you use a bike to deliver heavy goods, or do they want the shops to move out oif the city aswell ??

If I could use a bike around town I would..............but since I dont work there but occasionally have to comute either through the centre or to somewhere in the middle I cant use a bike !

I believe I am not alone !!

maidhc

We get the same nonsense in Cork.

The city authorities are always berating people for bringing their car into the city center. For me the option is cycling 20 miles, which I assure people takes longer by bike than the hour it might take by car.

Give us cheap park and ride, and we will use it!

seamus

It's better than "reclaim the streets" anyway. Tbh, as people point out, there's a certain distance where the time benefits fade or, they're simply too much for most people. Anyone who's going to drive needlessly from one point in the city centre to another (say from the IFSC to Stephen's green) deserves to sit in traffic.
With the LUAS only serving a minority of the population, and park-and-ride facilities in stupid places (whoever decided to put a car park within a car park - red cow - deserves to be shot) and constantly packed, it's going to be a long time before any can convince commuters at and beyond the M50 to take anything but their cars into town.

Goods vehicles themselves only make up a small part of the congestion in the City Centre. Watch the quays for most of the day and you'll see them choc-a-block with artics. They take up massive amounts of space, and because they're slow to move off and difficult to manouver, they cause the entire system to move painfully slowly. As soon as the port tunnel opens, we'll see a serious improvement in the flow of traffic through the city.

Stephen

Having a car-free-day in a country with almost non-existant public transport makes me laugh.

maidhc

Stephen wrote:

Having a car-free-day in a country with almost non-existant public transport makes me laugh.

In Cork we are supposed to be getting 3 car free days!

All in city with NO light rail, and one overcrowded and badly sited park and ride. And no bus service worth talking about.

Lord Nikon

There should be a work-free day to coincide with car-free day.

Public transport works if it's going the right way.

Also, explain to me how I get to work in Blessington, Wicklow from Maynooth, Kildare. I would have to get the train to City Centre, then the 65 to Blessington. I wouldn't get to work in time, with public transport. I drive instead.

Stephen

Try living outside the greater Dublin area. The only public transport to speak of are buses and trains to Dublin. If you want to go anywhere else, or even anywhere local, you're ****ed unless you like hemorraging money to taxi drivers.

blorg

Stephen wrote:

Try living outside the greater Dublin area. The only public transport to speak of are buses and trains to Dublin. If you want to go anywhere else, or even anywhere local, you're ****ed unless you like hemorraging money to taxi drivers.

I don't think this is targetted at people living and driving around the countryside. (BTW, I think you miss the point as that doesn't cause congestion in cities.) It's also not targetted at people who live in Maynooth and work in Blessington. These are perfectly good reasons to have a car.

It's more about the vast numbers of people who feel a need to use cars to travel short distances that could easily be covered on a bike. And I know still, some people won't be able to, some people won't want to, don't like getting wet, medical condition, etc. etc. That is fine, all this campaign is saying is, if you are able and willing to consider cycling short distances, this is how much faster you would get there compared with taking a car.

Of course we need better public transport, better park and ride, etc. etc. but cycling is still a viable option for many more people than actually do it. And this promotion is from a cycling advocacy group - not the government/council - who do not have any control over public transport, park and ride, the weather, etc.

I do not see what the problem is with a cycling advocacy group suggesting that there are benefits to cycling. They are just laying out the benefits. It's up to you what you do about it.

Anan1

I think that might be a bit too reasonable for this board.;)

maidhc

blorg wrote:

I don't think this is targetted at people living and driving around the countryside. (BTW, I think you miss the point as that doesn't cause congestion in cities.) It's also not targetted at people who live in Maynooth and work in Blessington. These are perfectly good reasons to have a car.

What really causes congestion is people who live in the countryside and commute to a city to work. I can't see why a person living near heuston station and working on O'Connell st. would drive to work!

blorg

maidhc wrote:

What really causes congestion is people who live in the countryside and commute to a city to work. I can't see why a person living near heuston station and working on O'Connell st. would drive to work!

You might think that is the cause of the problem, but it's not actually the case. Dublin is particularly bad for this long-distance commuting due to the property prices but there are still a hell of a lot of people in Dublin living within five miles of their workplace that drive. For Ireland as a whole "47% of workers residing in urban areas and 30% of the total resident in rural areas" travelled five miles or less to work in 2002.

The majority of car journeys are short ones. Cycling isn't for everyone, but more people could be doing it than are presently.

Blazer

blorg wrote:

You might think that is the cause of the problem, but it's not actually the case. Dublin is particularly bad for this long-distance commuting due to the property prices but there are still a hell of a lot of people in Dublin living within five miles of their workplace that drive. For Ireland as a whole "47% of workers residing in urban areas and 30% of the total resident in rural areas" travelled five miles or less to work in 2002.

The majority of car journeys are short ones. Cycling isn't for everyone, but more people could be doing it than are presently.

I wonder who'd pay for road construction if everyone decided to drop the car for a bike? An emissions tax wouldn't really work a bike would it:D

blorg

Mathew Reilly wrote:

I wonder who'd pay for road construction if everyone decided to drop the car for a bike? An emissions tax wouldn't really work a bike would it:D

As I am sure you are aware these taxes go into the central fund and are no more used for road building than the excise on cigarettes is. Funny how no one makes the 'but who will pay for road building' argument against measures to curb smoking, isn't it.

Victor

neuromancer wrote:

Also, explain to me how I get to work in Blessington, Wicklow from Maynooth, Kildare.

Move!

Mathew Reilly wrote:

I wonder who'd pay for road construction if everyone decided to drop the car for a bike? An emissions tax wouldn't really work a bike would it:D

You wouldn't need the road construction if everyone used a bike. :rolleyes: