Dublin City Council believes cycling can treble in the period after restrictive Covid19 lock-down measures are relaxed.
It plans to develop more facilities all over the city in a bid to make that projection a reality, some of which has already been installed.
In a new report issued on Thursday the council believes more people will switch to cycling than to any other mode of transport to stay safe as lock-down is eased.
Indeed, cycling and walking are the only two modes of transport projected to increase; by 200 per cent and 100 per cent respectively.
The Enabling the City to Return to Work — Interim Mobility Intervention Programme for Dublin City report says social distancing measures on public transport must be maintained in the weeks and months ahead.
It explained this would result in an 80 per cent drop in
capacity, adding many people would switch to walking, cycling and also to
private car.
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During the peak lock-down period car traffic fell by 70
per cent, bus usage dropped by 90 per cent and rail use was down by 97 per
cent.
Numbers were not expected to remain as low as more work places returned and retail re-commences. However, because far fewer people would be able to travel on public transport, alternatives must be encouraged and accommodated.
“What this means is that fewer people will be traveling on public transport and more people will need to be accommodated on other modes,” it said.
“Consequently, there will be many more people cycling each day, there will be an increase in the number of people walking and more people will wish to travel by car.”
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The council said more streets would be pedestrianised and sections of roads had already been reclaimed for cyclists and pedestrians.
“To facilitate a much higher number of cyclists, it is
proposed to provide safer cycling infrastructure through the implementation of
protected cycle lanes,” the report says.
“This may involve reusing existing road space by removing
on-street parking and protecting that road space for cycling via protection
bollards and other cyclist protection measures.
“An example of this is the recently reallocation of the
North Quays on-street parking for a wider pedestrian area and a cycle lane.
“Other locations may involve reducing the number of
traffic lanes to accommodate protected cycling facilities on both sides of the
road, while maintaining a balance for other required services in that area.
“It is also intended to provide safe contra-flow cycle
facilities on streets where demand for such movement has been identified. An
example of this has already been implemented on Nassau Street.
“Despite the suspension of the installation works due to
lockdown, cycle parking design works have continued over the last few months.
“With the resumption of installation works and the easing of restrictions, we are targeting the installation of at least 1,000 new stands this year. In addition, we will seek to install new cycle parking in key locations to compliment the overall Covid-19 mobility strategy.”
Cllr Michael Pidgeon, Green Party group leader on Dublin City Council and councillor for the South West Inner City said: “We are in an old city with hard limits on road space.
"With public transport capacity down, Dublin’s roads will simply not be able to take extra car journeys. Cycling and walking offers the greatest bang for your buck when it comes to road space. We’ll need to move people quickly, sustainably and in volume. It’s got to be cycling and walking.
“We will be studying individual measures closely, but the Council
officials have the right philosophy and ambition in this. The case for
sustainable transport has never been clearer.”
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