@SC: “why they won’t just take the bus like everyone else” – Dublin public transport is only good going from the rim to the centre, if you want to go at an angle, say from North West to Centre East you double your commute time. Time matters, and so does health, it’s not just spoilt, the longer the commute, the less healthy for the commuter (on average, some people it doesn’t effect at all). Most people don’t use bus etc because it’s impractical or unreliable (buss passes full).

@Martin Sinnott: dedicated safe cycle lanes will get more people out of cars therefore less commuter delays. The emphasis is on safe cycle lanes here.

@Benking23: what a load of horse apples ! I’ve seen millions pumped in to cycle lanes in suburbs especially in my own and I haven’t seen it being used once

@Martin Sinnott: proper cycle lanes had led to massive increases in the numbers of people cycling in other cities. every person commuting by bike is one less person in a car or on public transport. And it would work here too.

@SC: Whilst it is argued that public transport is good value when you need to take the family into town for a cpl of hours by luas for example, including parking at the luas stop, it can cost a lot more than taking the car
I think fares should reduce encouraging drivers to use publictransport more frequently and this would eventually, after a possible short period of drop in revenue, would see DB revenue increase substantially. The buses are going into town already so why not travel at full capacity on those journeys at all times? More buses if required will mean more drivers higher employment… Win win!

@powerfix: have you seen the number of cyclists commuting in Dublin city centre every morning On treacherous cycle lanes? Now imagine the number of commuter cyclists if the lanes were safe. The suburbs is a different article.

@Jayo Breathneach: what would be ideal is an orbital metro train route from the airport to dun laoighaire, linked to the existing “star” luas and metro lines. My daughter worked in a hospital in West Dublin, and TFI route planner recommended she leave South Dublin (10 minutes drive away) at 23:00 the night before to get there at 07:00 for work! Don’t let this distract from the need for safe cycle lanes in parallel with all these routes – every cyclists is one less car. And the reason that guy doesn’t see anyone in his nearby cycle lane is because they are already at their destination.

@Martin Sinnott: less cars won’t stop commuter delays how do you figure that out genius

@SC: because it’s infrequent, it’s too slow, the routes are too long, there is too high a frequency of stops, it is overcrowded, it is full of degenerates and it is outrageously priced (including subsidies for the aforementioned degenerates)

@SC: I’d love to take either train or bus. However, when I want to travel I have to go to the local town and there is no parking and station car park is full from 7.30am. Its 6 miles away

@Martin Sinnott: Yea you’re completely right, I mean it’s not like Tree’s can just be replanted, I mean they just don’t grow anywhere!

@powerfix: Millions pumped into cycle lanes, what a joke..

@SC: you seem unable to comprehend that many drivers just don’t have the choice ? It is just not practical to switch to public transport yet , great to see improvements being made but like everything else with transport in this country , we are great for having discussions and reviews but poor delivery – remember greens push to diesel ? Now electric cars . Yet in other countries it save a lot of money for people , but Irish users will tell you it’s not nearly good enough to switch for complete lack of chargers -some users switching back already ! Ireland just ain’t great at transport solutions / metro north – fast reliable affordable alternative ,but they have been press releasing that for 20 years now – we are just not a great nation when it comes to transport provision in Ireland

@SC: 20e a day congestion charge from donnybrook to clontarf would be a start.

@Dave Hammond: I know some drivers don’t have a choice and we should provide one. But I also live in a suburb and all my neighbous work in the city and many of them drive. I think once they’re used to the princess lifestyle of door to door private bespoke transport it’s hard for them to take the bus because as some people have pointed out, it can take longer and they don’t like sharing space with poor people and other selfish reasons. We should engage with this section of society and see what could convince them that they’re not royalty and they should use the bus like everyone else.

@SC: Not wanting to add 1-2 hours a day commuting to a busy day is not living a “princess lifestyle”

The biggest problem is that the public transport simply isn’t there, QBC’s will help but until Dublin has a mesh transport system like every other major European capital, this will continue to be a problem, its completely farcical that Dublin does not have any sort of underground rail yet

@Lydia McLoughlin: most buses are at full capacity from 7.30 to 9am and 4pm to 7pm with people standing. More regular buses and just going to the outer rim of the City Centre instead of blocking the whole place up would be better

@Adam Johnson: it only adds that time because of the traffic caused by cars. In the 80s Moscow, the biggest city in Europe, had the fastest cross city transit time because nobody drove. Now it has the longest, because of the minority of spoilt princesses who drive.

@SC: stop increasing fares annually so that a trip in and out of the city centre now costs more than €5 per day on the bus or train. Given how overcrowded and sparsely timetabled most are, it hasn’t felt like value for money since the dramatic fare increases began in and around 2011. Much cheaper for a family to travel together by car or for a group of friends to carpool if they live in a suburb like Dun Laogjaire – the public transport fares have doubled since the start of the recession, and are now an absolute joke.

@Anthony Horan: trees help clean the air, they also make streets look better and they have noise cancelling functions too!! Cop on

@Dublin days: I did mention more buses I think in my earlier comment. That said an outer rim solution would also enhance the service. The more cars off the road the smoother the journey for everyone. I would also like to see direct routes going from Tallaght/Firhouse/Knocklyon etc out towards Sandyford – I think you pretty much need to go one way to catch another bus so you can actually get to Dundrum Sandyford direction – much less stressful to drive.

@Mark Scott: 10

@Mark Scott: 100% agree with you Mark. I rarely use the bus but the last time I did was the number 40 from Finglas to James’s Street for the Guinness tour. For starters the bus stop is 15 minutes walk from my parents house (any buses closer meant double fare), we then missed the bus so had to wait for the next one, another 12 minutes. The bus stops and the route it takes zig zags through every side road on the route. Fast forward 1 hour 40 minutes and we arrived. That was a Saturday lunchtime with light traffic. I could only imagine the time it would take to travel that at rush hour.

@Gulliver Foyle: Labour had a plan to concrete over the canals in the 60s ,

@Gulliver Foyle: You mean in the city centre? You have no idea the scale of the canals in terms of its contribution to tourism

@Gulliver Foyle: the swans live there. I like swans. Would someone not think of the swans…

@Austin Rock: Tourism? Tourists don’t come to Dublin to see the canals. Maybe you’re thinking of Amsterdam? People can’t live on them. They do have houseboats in the Netherlands. People don’t travel much by canal even now. They’re more likely to drown themselves in despair at being homeless.

From the looks of the graphic provided it appears the cycle lanes proposed are off street so no doubt will be primarily used by pedestrians. Off street lanes are basically pointless as cyclists loose priority at junctions which they would keep if the lanes were on street, thereby maintaining the same priority that vehicles have at junctions. This is a fundamental flaw in the design of cycle lanes in Ireland.

@Dermot Lane: what is your definition of safe and upto standard? Everyone’s definition will be different, and there lies the problem. It must be in law that cyclists must use cycling lanes, no ifs and buts. It bloody costing the tax payers a fortune putting these lanes in and they aren’t being utilised.

@scutterpumps: Have you commuted by bike into Dublin at all? The cycle lanes are a mess and dangerous. Only 1-2% of the annual budget for road construction/maintenance is allocated to cycling infrastructure. The average spend for the rest of Europe is 10%.

@scutterpumps: Nah you’re talking scutter pump as usual…

@scutterpumps: there are cycle lanes in my estate that are, honestly, not usable. Never maintained, never swept of glass, poor surface and on top of that, pedestrians use them to walk their dogs etc. It’s safer for all concerned if I cycle on the road. The cycle lanes in the Phoenix park are always blocked by cars, as are several others around the city of Dublin and it’s suburbs. And painting a white line along the side of an existing road and expecting this line to have some magical power to stop idiot drivers is dangerous in itself. The evidence from every other city is that if proper cycling infrastructure is provided, it will be used not just by existing cyclists, it will also encourage others to choose cycling as a commuting option.

@John Boy: But the N11 from next to cherrywood has to be some of the best cycle lanes separate from pedestrians and cars nearly perfect and still cyclists use the road. I agree some cycle lanes are a joke but even where they are to high standards they are not being used to full potential.

@scutterpumps: I’d regard “safe” and “up to standard” to mean that the choice to cycle would be the obvious and default choice. If they had this standard, I’d wager you’d even consider using them yourself. Imagine how nice it would be to live in an uncongested, calm, quiet, clean city with little to no pollution? All it costs is a bit of sweat. Jaze we’d all be gorgeous to boot.

@Celtic_Horizon: It’s decent in places but still has many of the flaws not seen in other countries. For example, it’s mostly off road on a converted footpath, it crosses driveways dangerously, it crosses some minor junctions dangerously, dumps you out into the bus lane then back dangerously, it’s poorly maintained, it vanishes in places because the paint has worn off. For those reasons I wouldn’t use it either, I’d rather stay on the road and be part of the traffic.

@scutterpumps: Good man, it’s all the cyclists fault… be funny if a bus route goes through your front garden.

@scutterpumps: those cycle lanes that motorists park in, if only a law existed to stop that happening… Next time your in Phoenix park check out the motorists who park and then proceed to walk on the cycle lanes.

@scutterpumps: they like the canal run as it’s wide n has its own lights, but I wrecks the traffic on the bridges

@David Huston: Dumb comment.

@David Huston: yes but commuters are too slow so they use the road.

Motorbikes are the way forward. That is what I’ll continue to use. Considering an e bike though.

@David Huston: We’re amazing, clowns bring so much joy to the world. I’d like to think we make you miserable motorists sitting in traffic a little bit happier with our clownish ways.

@Ignorant Carbon: by the way, I’ve just had a look at that NTA document. In the vast majority of the design options for bus stops, it says cyclists yield to pedestrians, and stop altogether where necessary. Which is exactly what I said in the first place. So again, not quite sure what your complaint is.

@Jumperoo: Apologies, my comment came across overly critical, as you said we have to all share the space. My point is more aimed at the fact that there is a road design manual where solutions available to reduce conflict between all forms of transport, but they are ignored in most cases of road design. This leads to the “us and them” mentality we commonly see in the comments section.
I regularly see my wife passed dangerously by many forms of public and private vehicles as we commute by bike, as an engineer it makes me angry that there are design solutions that are ignored putting others at risk, both cyclists, and pedestrians.

@Ignorant Carbon: Seems like we’re talking about different things, then. You’re basing your comments – at least partly – on what you see happening now. I’m talking hypothetically about what would happen if this thing goes ahead along the lines of what the graphic indicates. Anyway, it’s still the case that in most of those bus stop design options, cyclists would have to yield or stop. And it’s still the case that I predict that many would complain about this.

@Jumperoo: works well here in Melbourne where when a tram stops to allow passengers board and alight cyclists must stop. Education and enforcement will see it becoming the norm hopefully but the Irish way is to just assume people will know what to do!

@Jumperoo: I think same thing from different approaches. You have mentioned a few times that cyclists will have to stop, I agree and have zero arguments against it. One of the methods commonly used in the Netherlands when designing the segregated cycle lane suggested in the article is the “Bus stop island”, busy stops or near schools etc might give pedestrian priority. There are also times when the cyclists should have priority, it’s about smart analysis and design to avoid conflict and allow everyone to conveniently move about in a safe way.
The example with my wife was to highlight the fact that here we have built our roads to create conflict between all road users because of a lack of design. The cross-section shown in the article is only one indicative design, we need to be smart about the new network so we can all share it and benefit.

@Jumperoo: it’s no bother when you’re cycling to pass buses or let them pass you. They’re very observant drivers

@Ignorant Carbon: buses are supposed to stop at bus stops

@The Viking: Why would a cycle lane need to be the same width as a bus lane? Maybe there’s a wide load on the bicycle.

@Austin Rock: the lack of joined up thinking in planning anything for the city is unbelievable , the issue of Dublin traffic lights is a whole debate in itself , whatever the process is that decides where to place lights is baffling and the cumulative effect is a city that must have more sets of lights with the worst sequencing imaginable which I am certain could be completely overhauled and much improvements made , compared to many cities I have lived Dublin is by far the worst offender when it comes to not having any coherent plan for lights and pedestrian crossings , one simple example is the Phoenix park around the zoo , a complete lack of crossings for families , yet try go through Drumcondra and there are about 8 sets of lights

@Slim Shady: so the cyclists can pass each other I’d imagine

@Seamus Ryan: Jaysus you’re bright.

@Austin Rock: that cat n cage is shocking the bus lane is no faster due to lights as merging out into one lane as before . The traffic needs to free flow at 48-50 kph consistently.

@Dave Doyle: The Lizard people!

@Dotty Dunleary: I’d think you would be better off keeping your real idenity quite.

@Dotty Dunleary: Lol! like the government have the smarts or willingness to implement or oppose that. They are, like us completely dependent on whatever company has a bunch of speedy cash for us, mostly insurance, tech, pharma’ and oil, the good ones.

@Dave Doyle: It’s ok, that tin foil hat you gave me provides protection from the government spies!

@Dave Doyle: Quite what? Quite quiet?

@John Boy: No it doesnt. Lots of countries have this rule and it works like a charm.

@Termaz Fx: yeah, HOV’s are used on motorways in some countries…dublin city centre does not have the capacity for it, let alone the space. Use in these countries doesn’t seem high at all, for example in America only 10% of commuters use them

@Termaz Fx: I’m sure your average driver-only BMW or Audi will be only too happy to stay in the car-only lane. If simple things like signalling don’t apply to them it’s not likely that they’ll be prepared to sit in a congested traffic lane with a clear bus lane off to the one side. How can it be enforced? I’ve seen examples in Europe of drivers putting dummies in their cars so that they can use the 2 passenger lane.

@Jackasleep: all bus lanes are open to the public now since 09 , since Cops disappeared and the last ever operation free flow in Dec long long time ago .

@John Boy: works fine in other jurisdictions, ever watch how Taxis maneuver their way on the bus lanes?

@kevinhunt101: Why not if there was proper infrastructure? It’s 24km, would take about an hour, you probably spend more than that driving it. If you don’t like putting in all the effort an electric bike would be nice for that run. Doesn’t rain half as much as people make out.

@thesaltyurchin: not my job babes, I’m not a city planner, that’s their job and why they go to college for years no?

@Ignorant Carbon: I didn’t spend 25k on a premium car to have it sitting at home.

@kevinhunt101: jaysus that’s cheap 02 Reg ?

@kevinhunt101: And there’s the issue in one sentence, your personal budget doesn’t really matter, my car cost the same, as a household, we have one car that is used for about 10,000km a year and we cycle a combined 5,000km. That saves us about an hour a day to spend as a family, saves thousands of euro per year and burns about 400 calories a day rather than litres of fuel!

@Joe O’riordan: No-one pays road tax.

@Steve B: nothing is maintained up to 2018 both road , bus lane, Cycle lane are all falling to pieces while motorists and 3/4 of cyclists Pay motor tax to the councils,

These zcum bags are only on the council to get into the dail, no motivation to do good.
These Stupid people need to realise if you built it you have to secure finding every year to maintain it .

@Steve B: Steve……the lanes are there…..nobody parking on them they run right along the N4…..there is no excuses……the cyclists using the bus lane on the N4 are clowns. Your other points are meaningless in this instance.