When the top 80 cycling cities in the world are ranked, how do you think Dublin fares? (Photo: @nigreenways)
Dublin is ranked 15th in the Copenhagenize index of bike friendly world cities, with Copenhagen on top and Amsterdam a close second.
The index, compiled every two years by the world leading Danish urban planning consultancy group Copenhagenize, says while the Irish capital has made progress in catering for cyclists, it has drifted a little and needs to do much more.
Indeed, while many may believe 15th – of the 80 cities ranked – is a decent performance by Dublin in the global index, it had been higher.
Five years ago it was 9th and 2013 it was 11th meaning the city’s place has slipped considerably, though Copenhagenize was not without praise for Ireland’s biggest city.
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“Dublin has been a darling on the Copenhagenize Index since 2011 and the city has been inspirational for the rest of the world in its efforts to increase cycling levels,” it says.
“Once the third great cycling city in Europe after Amsterdam and Copenhagen, Dublin has the historical background for bringing the bicycles back.
“Dublin seems to be suffering from the same malady as other cities that have made impressive progress. They have seemingly slipped into apathy.”
However, while the city’s cycling policy was drifting, there was reason for hope.
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“What Dublin has achieved over the past few years is fantastic,” Copenhagenize says in its report card on the Irish capital.
“The perfect cocktail of politicians who get it, investment in infrastructure and facilities, traffic calming measures and an epic bike share system accelerated the city's journey to urban modernisation.
“You can't take that away from Dublin, but you could wish for another period of concerted effort.”
It adds the National Transport Authority has been doing its fair share to improve things but that the authorities in Dublin city have not been “lifting their share”.
“Choosing sub-standard infrastructure along the Quays is not exactly the way to go if you're trying to develop a cohesive network for the next 100 years,” it says.
“The bike share rocks, but now a network and bicycle strategy should be developed and followed to the letter.”
Dublin had “come so far” but it “wasn’t there yet”.
Copenhagenize Index
Previous ranking in brackets
1. [2] Copenhagen
2. [1] Amsterdam
3. [3] Utrecht
4. [New] Strasbourg
5. [8] Eindhoven
6. [9] Malmö
7. [6] Nantes
8. [5] Bordeaux
9. [7] Antwerp
10. [4] Seville
11. [17] Barcelona
12. [10] Berlin
13. [New] Ljubljana
14. [New] Buenos Aires
15. [11] Dublin
16. [New] Vienna
17. [19] Paris
18. [New] Minneapolis
19. [20] Hamburg
20. [14] Montréal
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