Oireachtas Committee hears that lack of infrastructure hindering uptake of cycling
Poor infrastructure, the abuse of cyclists, and a lack of a single authority with responsibility for transport are all factors that hinder the uptake of cycling in Ireland, an Oireachtas Committee has heard.
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport held a meeting on national cycling policy and heard submissions from cycling advocates as well as officials from the National Transport Authority and the Department of Transport.
Dr Damien Ó Tuama, the National Cycling Coordinator with Cyclist.ie, the umbrella body representing 25 urban, rural and greenway groups, said it aims to make cycling a normal part of everyday life for all ages and abilities in Ireland, similar to other European countries.
“We are particularly conscious that in many parts of Ireland - and in rural Ireland especially - that the numbers of children cycling to school have fallen off a cliff,” Dr Ó Tuama said in his submission.
“For example, in 2016 there were only 694 secondary schoolgirls cycling to school and over 2,000 driving themselves to school; while in 1986, while I was in secondary school myself, there were over 19,000 girls cycling to secondary school as per Census data. Something is seriously wrong,” he said.
Kevin Baker, the chairperson of the Dublin Cycling Campaign said the best thing the Government could do to promote cycling is to invest in physically segregated cycling lanes.
“The existing painted cycle lanes do not offer enough protection to people who cycle or provide confidence to people who want to cycle but feel too nervous,” he said.
Mr Baker said his group “is extremely concerned at the level of verbal and physical harassment targeting people who cycle”.
“We hear regular reports of intimidation, with a number of women in the campaign subject to gendered abuse both verbal and physical. We need strong political leadership to stand up to this aggression on the road and support the creation of a culture where people cycling are accorded the respect they deserve,” he said.
Another campaign group, I BIKE Dublin, claimed it has recently been calculated that there are upwards of 30 separate organisations that share responsibility for transport in Dublin.
“For campaign groups, this presents an intractable problem - every time we think we have found the body responsible for a particular issue, we are referred to another body,” the group said.
