Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
A SENATOR HAS written to Luas operator Transdev asking that cyclists be allowed on the trams at off-peak hours.
Neale Richmond (FG) says that the plan is “very doable” and is done across Europe.
Richmond adds that the idea would be helpful to tourists in a time when Dublin is trying to market itself to active tourists.
“We also have precedence of this already in Dublin, as the Dart allows cyclists to bring their bicycles on-board during off-peak hours.
“While it may not be feasible to accommodate bicycles at peak service times, there should at least be scope to look at accommodating bicycles at off-peak times, particularly weekends.”
With the two Luas lines ending in the south of the county, Richmond says the popularity with recreational cyclists would be huge.
“South Dublin is the start of many of the mountain trails and routes that traverse the Dublin and Wicklow mountains; for many families these are inaccessible as they are unwilling to cycle the city routes out or haven’t the means to transport their bicycles.
“Amending the bye laws to allow bicycles to be brought on at the weekends could open up the mountains with easy start points along the LUAS line at stops such as Glencairn or Carrickmines.
“I am asking Transdev to examine the demand for bicycles on Luas services and to find a way to accommodate these customers just like their counterparts on the DART have managed to.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Katie Melua won’t be too happy!
One environmentally useful feature of traffic in several Chinese cities is designated networks of cycle lanes, on which cyclists and people using battery-powered autobikes which can travel at speeds up to 30 kph make their way to and from work daily. The manufacture of autobikes has become quite a big industry in China. Owners plug in the easily removable batteries in their homes before retiring for the night. There is a lesson for Ireland and other car-clogged societies.
@Garreth Byrne: what’s that lesson? Keep the people so poor that they can’t afford cars?
@Jumperoo: No. Encourage active people from different income groups to go to work on battery bikes, and reduce air pollution. Vehicle traffic congestion has made the incidence of bronchial disorders and cancer too high for Chinese society to endure.
@Jumperoo: People don’t need a private car in cities where public bike share schemes and/or cycling infra exists..
As well as a good subway system…
So no need for a car unless you’re a cab driver or something…
@Dub_Right: my point is that bicycles have always been so widely used in China and other such places because over the years, most of the people couldn’t afford anything else. So unless you drive (no pun intended) us back to those levels too, you’re never going to compare like with like. How do you know, for example, that as the Chinese provide these facilities for bikes, they’re not actually thinking ‘wouldn’t it be great if we were all so much better off that we needed more facilities for cars instead’?
@Jumperoo: Chinese cities are in deep trouble with the level of air pollution and serious respiratory illness from road traffic pollution, single car use is not a solution and should be banned
I have every faith in the Chinese authorities in tandem with the state police quickly getting to grips with this insidious capitalist threat to public safety.
Let the anti cyclist brigade rants commence.
@samdithers:
George Hook is going to have a field day today.
@samdithers: Don’t mind if I do. Since my last comment about being a vulnerable pedestrian about two weeks ago, I have had several more near-misses and one scrape from cyclists
Living here in Beijing.. bikes are so easy to hire and abandon. Where I’m living you have to move them or step over them to stay on the footpath… given the madness of the driving, walking on the road is not an option!
Great initiative, lots more people in Beijing using bikes, lived here in 2002/3/4 and it was all bikes. Returned for three years in 2014 and it was all cars and electric scooters. This initiative is only up and running 6 months, it will take time but is a positive in what is a traffic congested city.
I was in China recently and I have a lot of respect for their respect of public property, these bikes for the most part are well looked after and not vandalised, they’re light and mobile and easily accessible. Our ones weight a tonne, have to be locked down at stations and still find their way into rivers. The problem is the Chinese have different manners to us, they will literally cycle straight into you, the idea that bikes go on the road and pedestrians on the footpaths is non existent and admittedly the wild driving on the roads make them an unsafe place for bikes. It’s a pity there’s no ideal solution but it’s frustrating having them cycle into you
could do with a few of the on the greenway…https://flic.kr/p/TBAKaG https://flic.kr/p/Ucvpnr
could do with a few of the on the greenway…..https://scontent-lht6-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18581724_760820150756377_8424122381995439199_n.jpg?
have your say