Eamon Ryan set on turning Dublin into Amsterdam

bo0li5eumx12kp

Eamon Ryan, Green party leader now being minister for transport is having liaisons with engineers-work Amsterdam in attempt to contrive a cyclist oriented paradigm for the big smoke.

Most major cities were built to promote the auto industry - look at those US nightmares like New York (probably the best of them, typically expect a 60 to 90 minute commute).

Miami - forgeeeet about it mang!!

Las Vegas - just their transport on every level is an abomination and if you expect to cycle - just no.... lol.

Los Angeles - cycle..... wut? Hell they're trying to dig multi tiered tunnels at this point to alleviate traffic congestion. When you have to go several layers into the ground to address congestion - you just know things took a wrong turn somewhere.

This was the case in Amsterdam until, some protests, some interventions and hey presto - it became the bicycle paradise we all know and love today,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKbRL6Opifg

The longests commute I ever had was 4 miles outside the city ring and it took me 30 minutes.
And it was a beautiful cycle all the way cause of the superior bike infrastructure.

They actually have bike traffic lights there, lol - fo' real yo'!!

Getting around the inner city is incredibly easy, even in high summer and place packed to bursting point, it's a breeze.


Ryan is pushing for it. There'll probably be a vote in Dail Eireann.
Think bike infrastructure budget is capped at 40 mil for this period, but hey - liaison with engineers from the motherland (Amsterdam) itself to optimize and expedite infrastructure renovation putting the cyclist first;

Will we be calling Dublin, "The 2nd bicycle paradise of europe?" soon?

Thierry12

First thought

Red light

Rodney Bathgate

Prossies?

Your Face

Carlee Jealous Trail wrote: »

Miami - forgeeeet about it mang!!

I liked your post because of this.

Atlantic Dawn

He should stick to playing Sim City.

Really taught this was gonna be about the greens legalising the green


:-/

bo0li5eumx12kp

Thierry12 wrote: »

First thought

Red light

Red light?

Mate - this would revolutionize the traffic/congestion/parking nightmare of the Irish capital.

Can we please get a little positivity going?

....

I wanna hear - GREEN light!!

ednwireland

I was hoping legalise cannabis. cycle lanes would be good though

bo0li5eumx12kp

Rodney Bathgate wrote: »

Prossies?

I'm not adverse to the idea - but Helen Mac is the woman calling the shots on that scene currently.

She's a little sweeter than Fitzgerald.

Again it'll prob require a good debating in Dail Eireann.

ratracer

Thierry12 wrote: »

First thought

Red light

From your first school trip there??

bo0li5eumx12kp

ednwireland wrote: »

I was hoping legalise cannabis. cycle lanes would be good though

Weak sauce bruh.

And it's short sighted to say, "cycle lanes".

It's, "a cycle culture".

It's redefining the entire transport paradigm for an overpopulated metropolis prone to congestion.

Montage of Feck

So disappointed with this thread, if there's one thing we all need at the moment its to get absolutely shut faced and get the ride.

Capt'n Midnight

Deleted User wrote: »

Really taught this was gonna be about the greens legalising the green


:-/

Was it only me that thought they were going to upgrade the canals ?

Montage of Feck

Montage of Feck wrote: »

So disappointed with this thread, if there's one thing we all at the moment its to get absolutely shut faced and get the ride.

The only riding going on here is bikes

Spanish Eyes

Covid hilarity. OP, these types of threads are very worthy, but not at this time of a Saturday night during Covid. Sorry now.

Back to the mad man Ryan when we are all able to. LOL.

Stark

Thierry12 wrote: »

First thought

Red light

ROXANNE!

bo0li5eumx12kp

Montage of Feck wrote: »

So disappointed with this thread, if there's one thing we all at the moment its to get absolutely shut faced and get the ride.

One step at a time.

First the cycle infrastructure, and once that's completed, you can freely ride pretty much wherever you want.

Strumms

people require to get from a—b—c, and back again.... you want cars off the road yet you want people to get from a—b—c and back again ? Give them a safe, comfortable and efficient way of doing that. A metro ? Ok, yes it was first proposed in 2001. It will be ready to use in.... 2 0 2 7 !!! 26 years, for one line, 16 stops.

When there is a fûcking joined up, integrated, working metro system (both lines) with dart, Luas, bus service all in operation, then I’ll listen to proposals regarding limited car usage...

Spanish Eyes

Wish you all luck with your ideas.

How long will Metro North take?

How far along are we with Bus Connects?

But hey because of Covid, and WFH maybe everything will be cancelled anyway.

Keeping a car on the road (legally) in Ireland is very expensive. People aren't paying a fortune out of their annual income for the fun of it. We need cars.

I personally could never use a bicycle due simply to the sheer amount of equipment I need to carry with me. You can guarantee they'll have a congestion charge in next. Long before they ever consider anything along the lines of better public transport. This country, and the Greens in general, have a constant approach of "well we're not gonna spend money doing the right thing, so we'll just tax them out of doing the bad thing, and make life harder for all involved".


Also, a million bike lanes doesn't help the commuters coming from Navan, Cavan, and further afield to Dublin to work. Only benefits those that live in Dublin already, and with the amount of social housing they're giving away in the city, actual workers are constantly getting pushed further and further away. And now we want them to cycle to work. :rolleyes: (as if lowering their speed limit on the motorway to drag the commute time out further isn't bad enough).

mick087

Amsterdam is flat so its great for bikes.
Ireland is not flat hills everywhere.

mikeym

Eamon Ryan needs to go back to sleep.

rapul

Yes it should be legalised, fair dues finally a good thread by the OP!

Oh wait bike's, boring

no.8

mick087 wrote:

Amsterdam is flat so its great for bikes. Ireland is not flat hills everywhere.

Not a fair metric to compare the city of Amsterdam with Ireland. Compare us with Germany, Switzerland etc. and then we'll see there's no excuses

ILoveYourVibes

Anything Eamon Ryan is involved with will go tits up. He'll be asleep on the vote.

JP Liz V1

Montage of Feck wrote: »

So disappointed with this thread, if there's one thing we all at the moment its to get absolutely shut faced and get the ride

You will on a bike

Oranage2

Probably need a metro first to do the heavy lifting, it's unfeasible for many people to have to cycle 5-10km to the city centre

ILoveYourVibes

Oranage2 wrote: »

Probably need a metro first to do the heavy lifting, it's unfeasible for many people to have to cycle 5-10km to the city centre

Now there is some sense.

Also there is no reason we can't do the bike thing as well. Only we know anytime we try to help cyclists we only end up making life more dangerous for them in this country!

Pawwed Rig

Carlee Jealous Trail wrote: »

Most major cities were built to promote the auto industry

Ehhh no they weren't

Thierry12

Thierry12 wrote: »

First thought

Red light

They'll just cycle through it. No need to worry. 😉

kerry_man15

I love the idea of having great cycling infrastructure in Dublin, or any other city or town, as having lived in Europe I have seen how great it is to have most commuters cycling and the lack of congestion is great. However, I think the problem will be in creating a cycling culture in Ireland, most people would turn their nose up at cycling to work whereas it's seen as completely normal in other European countries. A lot of people ridicule some of the green politicians for cycling. I think there is an inherent laziness and snobbery in a lot of Irish people that would stop them from riding even if the cycling infrastructure is really good. I'd imagine it would take many generations to get the same cycling culture here in Ireland as can be seen across Europe.

Atlantic Dawn

You need other basics like secure parking for your bike at the destination and additionally proper shower facilities where they can accommodate 20% of staff arriving by bike as a minimum.

Truthvader

More Green Party nanny fantasy. Wait until Winter and see how you enjoy being forced to cycle everywhere in the pissing rain

Strumms

A lot of people due to the natural design and sheer size of Dublin, wont be able to cycle to work. Due to the distance and time required. They won’t want to, due to the weather that for 7 months of the year can be fairly inclement, making their commute unpleasant and more dangerous... a lot of cycle lanes in the city are 100% integrated into the roadway, without a safety barrier or segregation...

There is not a ‘reason’ not to cycle but ‘reasons’.

https://i1.wp.com/irishcycle.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/fgg.jpg

mick087

no.8 wrote: »

Not a fair metric to compare the city of Amsterdam with Ireland. Compare us with Germany, Switzerland etc. and then we'll see there's no excuses

But you dont see as many bikes in Berlin or Hamburg as you do in Amsterdam or for that matter Belgium ie Brussels.
Flat countries do better with bikes.

bo0li5eumx12kp

kerry_man15 wrote: »

I love the idea of having great cycling infrastructure in Dublin, or any other city or town, as having lived in Europe I have seen how great it is to have most commuters cycling and the lack of congestion is great. However, I think the problem will be in creating a cycling culture in Ireland, most people would turn their nose up at cycling to work whereas it's seen as completely normal in other European countries. A lot of people ridicule some of the green politicians for cycling. I think there is an inherent laziness and snobbery in a lot of Irish people that would stop them from riding even if the cycling infrastructure is really good. I'd imagine it would take many generations to get the same cycling culture here in Ireland as can be seen across Europe.

"Build it and they will come"

- Field of Dreams (but you know, Dublin style).

bo0li5eumx12kp

Truthvader wrote: »

More Green Party nanny fantasy. Wait until Winter and see how you enjoy being forced to cycle everywhere in the pissing rain

lol - moron.

Try cycling everywhere in 4 inches of snow and ice, in addition to rain.

The Dutch been doing it (with great success) for generations.

When the paths are well built, infrastructure is good - the rest takes care of itself.

Wibbs

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Ehhh no they weren't

Yeah noticed that howler too. Before he gets to Amsterdam he lists only US cities as examples. Well he writes like a bad parody of an American high schooler so that's where his focus seems to lay. Even though New York was most certainly not built around the car. Go back to the 1890's and the streets were pretty much the same as today and no cars involved.

As for Dublin going bike. It could be done to some degree, but it needs more infrastructure in public transport. Going bike is pretty much only of use to office workers and short distance commute office workers at that. Anyone else that needs to transport goods or equipment, well a bike is as much use as teats on a bull.

growleaves

Carlee Jealous Trail wrote: »

Most major cities were built to promote the auto industry - look at those US nightmares like New York (probably the best of them, typically expect a 60 to 90 minute commute).

Major cities in the New World a few like Detroit maybe. Londinium wasn't built to promote the auto industry, maybe the chariot industry. Most cities in Europe developed from medieval towns.

bo0li5eumx12kp

Strumms wrote: »

A lot of people due to the natural design and sheer size of Dublin, wont be able to cycle to work. Due to the distance and time required. They won’t want to, due to the weather that for 7 months of the year can be fairly inclement, making their commute unpleasant and more dangerous... a lot of cycle lanes in the city are 100% integrated into the roadway, without a safety barrier or segregation...

There is not a ‘reason’ not to cycle but ‘reasons’.

https://i1.wp.com/irishcycle.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/fgg.jpg

That's the point.

Adequate cycling infrastructure.

Segregated lanes, basically replicate the Amsterdam system = win win.

Distance argument is a total cop out.
UCD to Harcourt St is a 15 minute cycle and that's basically the length of the entire south side.

bo0li5eumx12kp

Deleted User wrote: »

Keeping a car on the road (legally) in Ireland is very expensive. People aren't paying a fortune out of their annual income for the fun of it. We need cars.

I personally could never use a bicycle due simply to the sheer amount of equipment I need to carry with me. You can guarantee they'll have a congestion charge in next. Long before they ever consider anything along the lines of better public transport. This country, and the Greens in general, have a constant approach of "well we're not gonna spend money doing the right thing, so we'll just tax them out of doing the bad thing, and make life harder for all involved".


Also, a million bike lanes doesn't help the commuters coming from Navan, Cavan, and further afield to Dublin to work. Only benefits those that live in Dublin already, and with the amount of social housing they're giving away in the city, actual workers are constantly getting pushed further and further away. And now we want them to cycle to work. :rolleyes: (as if lowering their speed limit on the motorway to drag the commute time out further isn't bad enough).

I like the idea of a metro also (though tax costs may be prohibitive).

Reduction in reliance on cars, reducing inner city congestion is the priority.

Luas has brought Dublin a long way.

Next step being bike infrastructure would make a dramatic impact.

As for commuters, no ones saying they can't still use cars if they're coming from Leixlip.
For within the Dublin city ring itself, bike infrastructure would dramatically reduce congestion, making distant commuter lives even easier.

....

As for the metro - hell, only as of the last couple years Amsterdam had their north-south line completed and the city has been running optimally for decades.

bnt

I won’t cycle in central Dublin unless I absolutely have to, for one reason: buses. They should not be routed through the centre at all, they are the reason it’s unsafe to cycle on Dame St. or O’Connell St. in other cities, the buses stop outside the centre, and from there it’s trams or underground transport. I’ve been to cities in the USA that handle this better than Dublin. I’d feel safer cycling in downtown Houston than in Dublin. Outside the centre is a different conversation, of course.

The reason there is congestion is because Dublin city centre is poorly planned and nobody has taken the appropriate actions to address it over many years.

We have a bunch of hospitals all within a few miles radius. (mater, temple, rotunda, holles, James's, coombe)
We have our 2 or 3 busiest train stations also in that radius.
A huge number of the countries jobs.
The entire temple bar and Dublin nightlife.
And it is the main area in Dublin for shopping.

No sensible public transport was ever put in place such as an underground.

As the population grows, more and more people now live further away from city centre. Meath, West Meath, Laois, Kildare, Wicklow are essentially large suburbs of Dublin.

Those people are not going to cycle into Dublin

bo0li5eumx12kp

Deleted User wrote: »

The reason there is congestion is because Dublin city centre is poorly planned and nobody has taken the appropriate actions to address it over many years.

We have a bunch of hospitals all within a few miles radius. (mater, temple, rotunda, holles, James's, coombe)
We have our 2 or 3 busiest train stations also in that radius.
A huge number of the countries jobs.
The entire temple bar and Dublin nightlife.
And it is the main area in Dublin for shopping.

No sensible public transport was ever put in place such as an underground.

As the population grows, more and more people now live further away from city centre. Meath, West Meath, Laois, Kildare, Wicklow are essentially large suburbs of Dublin.

Those people are not going to cycle into Dublin

Commuter towns use trains.

No one cycles into Amsterdam center from Leiden or Bijlmermeer or Alkmaar etc.

Focus of this conversation is Dublin city, not commuter towns.

Phoebas

A lot of negativity here about cycling that's hard to fathom.
Dublin in particular is well suited for cycling with low average commute distances, reasonably flat terrain and suitable climate**

Even if cycling doesn't work for you, you should be supporting better cycling infrastructure as every new cyclist frees up capacity for other road users.

** I can count on one hand the number of days in the last 2 years that I decided against the bike because of the weather

Effects

mick087 wrote: »

Ireland is not flat hills everywhere.

You get used to hills it’s not a problem.

Strumms wrote: »

A lot of people due to the natural design and sheer size of Dublin, wont be able to cycle to work. Due to the distance and time required.

The time is often still a lot less than driving.

Oranage2 wrote: »

Probably need a metro first to do the heavy lifting, it's unfeasible for many people to have to cycle 5-10km to the city centre

5km is nothing. If you can’t cycle 5km, you don’t deserve a metro.

Cal4567

About time the backwater that is Dublin starts taking on some of the better European ideals such as a decent cycling infrastructure. The pedestrianisation experiment this weekend in D2, brilliant. I had a lovely walk yesterday. A lot more of that please.

I'd go so far as bringing in a congestion charge within the canals as well. Are we serious about climate change and getting healthier or are we not?

The Tetrarch

Cal4567 wrote: »

Are we serious about climate change and getting healthier or are we not?

No, we are not.

riffmongous

According to the weather atlas.com there's almost no difference in rainy days between Amsterdam and Dublin, and I'm actually not too surprised, Dublin definitely gets better weather than the rest of the country

ILoveYourVibes

This is the guy who has 8 advisors now on a salary of 100k each ?

nthclare

Does Eamonn Ryan ever think of the bigger picture ??

He has great ideas but sadly his ideas aren't great in the big scheme of things.

Why not bring his idea to a smaller town,see how that works then bit by bit gradually get it going in other places.

That's the greens for you, all in without a proper plan in place, never thinking of the cost or logistics...

They only think of themselves.