Author Archives: GerryD

Maynooth Cycling Campaign’s Political Asks

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SUMMARY

  1. Celbridge Road – our top priority is for the delivery of improved cycling and walking provision at  Celbridge Road where two primary schools are located.
  2. “Leprechaun” Climate Targets  – for Kildare County Council to get rid of “Leprechaun” Climate Targets -targets which are unachievable as adding up the percentage modes of travel comes to 150% rather than 100% of journeys.
  3. WHO’s H.E.A.T. tool – for Kildare County Council to introduce WHO’s H.E.A.T. tool to calculate the benefits of active travel schemes and to estimate reductions in carbon emissions as carried out in multiple countries.
  4. Reporting of Committee Minutes – for Kildare County Council to publish draft minutes of SPC and Sustainable Transport Forum meetings within 2 weeks as opposed to the current practice of circulating them nearly three months after the meeting.
  5. Kiss the Gates Goodbye – for Kildare County Council (1) to identify substandard accesses to greenways and other active travel routes which are barriers to entry by cyclists and mobility impaired people; and (2) to seek funding for their removal.
  6. Safety Concerns at Moyglare Educational Campus – we support the concerns of the three school principals as detailed in their letter dated 21st April to Kildare County Council re taking in charge, pedestrian crossing, shared paths and Moyglare Road traffic calming.

FURTHER DETAILS

1.         Celbridge Road

Celbridge Road forms part of the R405 regional road. Two primary schools open onto it – with more than 850 pupils attending Gaelscoil Uí Fhiaich and Maynooth Educate Together. Kildare County Council  granted planning to them more than 20 years ago, yet planning permission was granted despite having no cycle facilities and substandard walking facilities. Kildare County Council proposed a scheme some three or four years ago – a design that we opposed on account of its very poor quality. The scheme has been redesigned but now has been held up for reasons of cost.

The EPA in their recent report on progress on meeting 2030 carbon reduction targets stated that even if everything proposed was actually carried out, Ireland’s emissions would still only reduce by 29% instead of 51%.  The continuing failure to provide quality walking and cycling to school cannot be allowed to continue – Celbridge Road should be the number one active travel priority. 

2.         “Leprechaun” Climate Targets 

As part of its action on Climate Change, the Kildare County Development Plan 2023-2029 gives most recent estimates of how Kildare people travel using different modes. It also includes a number of targets for future change in modes of travel.

The baseline figures for existing modes were derived from the Census 2016 results. The baseline figures and proposed targets are as follows:

Mode of Travel To Work  Baseline    Target  

Walking		6%10%
Cycling1%20%
Bus5%13%
Train 5%14%
Car Share4%8%
Car74%50%
TOTAL95%115%
(Note – An estimated 4% of people were working from home giving a total of 99% with a 1% rounding error.)
Mode of Travel To Education  Baseline    Target  
Walk28%50%
Cycling2%15%
Public Transport20%25%
Car50%40%
TOTAL100%130%

The baseline travel percentages are fine. They essentially add up to 100% for travel to work and 100% for travel to education. The Census gives the actual numbers so, if you want, you can combine the work and education numbers and calculate the overall percentages.

The problem is with the targets. At the draft stage of the County Development Plan, Maynooth Cycling Campaign thought that it was an error  but after raising it for a second time, the Council stated that they should be

“…. aiming for as high as possible for the sustainable modes and less high for the unsustainable ones”.

This is true but the targets should also be “reasonable” and “achievable”. They should be challenging for those who have to achieve them but not something so unrealistic that those who have to achieve them, throw in the towel at the start.  The key principle is that the total target  percentages should add up to 100% so if you increase the percentage target for some modes of travel, you MUST decrease the percentage target for other modes of travel. The European Cyclists’ Federation which has more than 40 years of working for increased cycling  has identified monitoring and reporting as a key requirement in effecting modal change.  Adopting modal share percentages in excess of 100% makes no sense except as a “Get Out of Gaol” ticket for the future failure of KCC to deliver on the said targets. It will also impact  unfavourably on Kildare’s contribution to the Irish government’s commitment of a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.

Leprechaun economics was a term coined by Nobel winning economist Paul Krugman to describe the 26.3 per cent rise in Irish 2015 GDP, later revised to 34.4 per cent. The adoption of Leprechaun targets is related to Leprechaun economics in that both are factual but both have a tenuous link to reality. 

3.         WHO’s H.E.A.T. tool

The World Health Organisation (WHO) developed a spreadsheet to calculate the benefits of active travel schemes and to estimate reductions in carbon emissions.

In Kildare, there is rarely a measurement of existing levels of walking or cycling and no forecast for future use of proposed active travel infrastructure. As a result there is no benchmark to assess the success of a scheme or even to alert if levels of walking or cycling are reduced.

4.         Reporting of Committee Minutes

After committees meetings of, for example, SPC and Sustainable Transport Forum, Kildare County Council circulates draft minutes some 10-12 weeks later to committee members for review, The  minutes are then approved at the next meeting which often takes place 13 weeks after the previous one and may be uploaded to the Council website any time after that. Some minutes are  uploaded quickly afterwards while others are not uploaded unless someone draws attention to their absence.

There is no good reason why draft minutes could not be uploaded to the Council website within 2 weeks of a meeting. The current practice is indicative that the meeting is a talking shop and one where no followup actions are required to be carried out as a matter of urgency.

5.         Kiss the Gates Goodbye

Kildare County  Council, unlike many other local authorities,  has responsibility for very few roads or footways which contain barriers like kissing gates to active travel.

However as a Planning Authority, Kildare County Council has overseen and/or granted permission to Waterways Ireland for substandard accesses on and to the Royal and Grand Canals. In particular, there is a series of substandard accesses which are not to best international practice or meet Irish standards between Leixlip and Kilcock on the Royal Canal Greenway. Recent works on the Royal Canal at Louisa Bridge and on the Grand Canal at Sallins and elsewhere also ignore the advice by the Minister for Transport that accesses should be designed in line with the principles of universal access. The result is that Maynooth Cycling Campaign is unable to travel from Maynooth to Kilcock along the greenway with our Cycling Without Age trishaw.

Kildare County Council should identify substandard accesses to greenways and other active travel routes which are barriers to entry by cyclists and mobility impaired people, and seek funding for their removal.

6.        Safety Concerns at Moyglare Educational Campus

Kildare County Council should consider the concerns expressed by the school principals and propose how best to reduce the risk of harm to pupils.  In our view, Kildare County Council’s  choice of a shared path in a location with very high numbers of pedestrians was predictable – with pupils cycling on the road,  pupils cycling on the footpath opposite intended for pedestrians only and pupils taking alternative on-road routes where possible. Cyclists, elderly pedestrians and disability groups dislike shared paths. In Denmark and the Netherlands, the authorities segregate pedestrians and cyclists because of the risk of a collision arising from the different speeds. If Kildare County Council wants to emulate the level of cycling in such countries, councillors should not approve such schemes except in exceptional circumstances. It is accepted that there are locations where there are no reasonable alternatives.

MAYNOOTH CYCLING CAMPAIGN ANNUAL REPORT 2023

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Main Activities of Maynooth Cycling Campaign

  • Article submitted to the Maynooth Newsletter in most months
  • Attended meetings of the Maynooth Community Council
  • Represented the PPN on the Transport, Safety and Emergency Services SPC
  • Attended Board meetings of the Dublin Cycling Campaign CLG
  • Carried out bike counts in Maynooth primary and secondary schools
  • In January, resigned as Coordinator of the Finance and Membership Action Group of Cyclist.ie
  • In February, secured €1000 from Kildare Climate Action.
  • In March, secured funding of €1400rom Kildare Community grants and the Local Property Tax
  • In June, resigned from the SPC as not allowed to sit on both the SPC and the Sustainabile Transport Forum. Joined the latter.
  • In June, participated in the Community Council’s Picnic in the Park with the trishaw
  • In November, participated in Kildare Sports Activity Day in Maynooth University
  • In November, resigned from Dublin Cycling Campaign CLG due to differences of opinion.
  • Made a submission on the Maynooth Mill Street Active Travel Scheme

Restructuring

Cycle campaigning changed radically with the  restructuring of Cyclist.ie and transition from a federation of campaigns to the Irish Cycling Campaign, one national organisation.  It is unclear how many local campaigns will continue as they are or amalgamate with the Irish Cycling Campaign. Maynooth Cycling Campaign will make this decision in 2024.

Purchase of Trishaw

In the spring of 2023, Maynooth Cycling Campaign secured the last piece of the funding jigsaw for the purchase of the trishaw with funding from Kildare County Council to add to the funding from Kildare Sports Partnership and Healthy Kildare. We established a branch of Cycling Without Age and now share the trishaw with St. John of God/Genil Training in Maynooth.

Transport Strategic Policy Committee (SPC)

At the SPC meeting in February, after three frustrating years, Maynooth Cycling Campaign finally succeeded in including a proposal on Bike (Bunkers) Hangars in the SPC Work Programme . However, with just over one year remaining to the next Council elections, the chances of any progress on Bunkers through the SPC are remote.

Sustainability Forum

Like the SPC, the agenda is determined by officials and the Chair rather than external representatives such as Maynooth Cycling Campaign. The September meeting included an item on Bike Libraries and cycling on quiet country roads, also known as Rothar Roads. 

As a cycling organisation, Maynooth Cycling Campaign had already heard talks on Bike Libraries on two previous occasions. The proposal was well received by the councillors present but there no indication that Kildare County Council would provide any funding for them.

In general, Maynooth Cycling Campaign is not in favour of Rothar Roads except where there are very low levels of traffic. In the past it had proposed cycling on quiet roads as part of a submission on the Barrow Greenway, but this was rejected by the Council. On Rothar Roads, councillors expressed differing views. Despite this, the Chair’s summary was that the forum was generally in favour. Maynooth Cycling Campaign  asked for a vote as not everyone had expressed an opinion. While the Chair initially accepted the proposal for a vote, the decision was overturned. It was decided that both opinions would be submitted to the SPC.

Cycling without Age

As part of our commitment to Cycling for All, Maynooth Cycling Campaign called for volunteers to pilot the trishaw and 12 people responded. The first batch were trained by Clara Clark, the founder of Cycling without Age Ireland. Subsequently, the Chair undertook two training programmes and is now able to train our own volunteers locally.

While we have secured our trishaw and trained our pilots, we have been unsuccessful in attracting the general public to use our service. This remains the biggest channel for 2024. We closed down in November for the winter months but propose to reopen in the spring.  

Bikeweek Film Screening of MOTHERLAND

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The screening of the film MOTHERLOAD on Thursday16th, as part of Bikeweek, has regrettably been cancelled. We apologise for any inconvenience.

It is hoped to show it at a later date in the year.

Maynooth Cycling Campaign – Public Meeting

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Maynooth Cycling Campaign will be holding an in-person public meeting at 8:00pm on Thursday 26th October in the ICA Hall, Leinster Street.

The agenda will include asks for candidates in the Local Government Elections in May 2024 and developments in cycle campaigning nationally which will have ramifications for Maynooth. There will also be a report on the second meeting of the Kildare Sustainability Forum. If you are in favour of everyday cycling and already cycle around Maynooth or would like to cycle but are put off by the existing road environment, come along and have your say. Everyone welcome!

MEETING AGENDA

  1. County Development Plan’s Climate Targets
  2. Cycling Without Age
  3. Maynooth Cycling Finance
  4. Priorities for Local Elections (May 2024)
  5. Restructuring of Cyclist.ie/Dublin Cycling Campaign CLG
  6. Kildare Public Participation Network /KCC’s Strategic Policy Committee /KCC’s Sustainability Forum

Waterways Ireland’s Demotion of Cycling

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Waterways Ireland is in the process of revising its Byelaws. The previous ones were passed in 1988 more than 30 years ago so a revision has been long overdue.  The proposed Byelaws are arranged in some 40 sections. Most of the changes affect the boating fraternity but buried deep in the document is a clause which is aimed at cyclists.

Under Section 35 Protection of biodiversity, water quality, heritage, environment and prohibited activities,  Waterways Ireland includes subsection  (10) Prohibited Activity on canal property. The subsection refers to bicycles and powered personal transporters in two clauses

No person shall

(m) Use any bicycle, tricycle or powered personal transporter in a manner that endangers causes a nuisance to themselves and other users of any greenway.

(n) Exceed a speed of 15 kilometres per hour on any bicycle, tricycle or powered person transporter while using any greenway.

Maynooth Cycling Campaign has no issue with the first subclause. However, we strongly oppose the proposal to introduce a speed limit for cyclists on any Greenway or Blueway under the control of Waterways Ireland.

  • The general design speed for greenways is 30 km/h (ref TII Rural Cycleway Design (2022).
  • A bicycle is not legally obliged to have a speedometer. Therefore there is no way for a cyclist to know if he or she is travelling above or below a specific speed.
  • The introduction of such a proposal would discourage cyclists from using a greenway or blueway, and cause them to divert them to trafficked roads. Introducing such a proposal at a time when road fatalities are increasing sharply is wholly irresponsible.  
  • Extreme weather events are worsening as a result of climate change. The result of  suppressing the number of cyclists using the greenways and blueways will be to make it harder to meet our international obligations to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030.
  • Internationally, many adult utility cyclists in urban areas travel in excess of 15 km/h. Imposing a limit of 15km/h for cyclists in rural areas in the vicinity of few other users is therefore ridiculous.
  • There is no speed limit on equivalent cycle facilities internationally. The introduction of such a speed limit would be to discourage international (as well as local) touring cyclists from using greenways along canals and waterways. This would reduce the potential financial benefits to adjacent businesses.  

Waterways Ireland claims that the revisions were introduced following research and consultation with key stakeholders. Certainly Maynooth Cycling Campaign was not consulted and neither was our parent body Cyclist.ie who, for many years, has campaigned for development of the Royal Canal as part of the trans-national EuroVelo Route 02 the Capitals Route which runs from Moscow to Galway.

Waterways Ireland should be encouraging cyclists instead of discouraging them. Waterways Ireland is noted for an ambivalent attitude to cyclists. Cyclists are potentially a greater source of income than walkers or boaters on many waterways but Waterways Ireland want to provide low quality cycling infrastructure. This was demonstrated by their provision of kissing gates in the past. It is demonstrated by the large number of substandard gates provided between Leixlip and Kilcock. This has been repeated with the barriers on the Royal Canal at Louisa Bridge where the openings arer 1.3m and 1.0m.  It is hardly rocket science. They just need to provide bollards at 1.5m spacing to enable all types of cycles but instead of learning from their mistakes, Waterways Ireland insist on repeating them.  

The closing date for submissions on the ByeLaws was the 2nd October but Waterways Ireland has extended the date for submissions until 27th October so there is still time to make your views known. To be fair to them, Waterways Ireland has announced that they will be having discussions with Cyclist.ie.

European Mobility Week

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(This article was taken from the European Commission website.)

EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK is the European Commission’s flagship awareness-raising campaign on sustainable urban mobility. It encourages behavioural change in favour of active mobility, public transport and other clean, intelligent transport solutions.

The main event takes place from 16-22 September this year, culminating in the popular Car-Free Day. Local authorities are encouraged to use the main week to try out innovative planning measures, promote new infrastructure and technologies, measure air quality, and get feedback from the public.

Towns and cities are able to register all of the activities they plan to carry out to celebrate the campaign, including: organising activities focused on sustainable mobility during the main event week, implementing one or more permanent transport measures throughout the year, and holding a ‘Car-Free-Day’. Participating towns and cities are strongly encouraged to implement all three activities!

With more towns and cities joining every year, and with its huge media appeal, the campaign is widely recognised as a driving force towards sustainable urban mobility in Europe and beyond. In Ireland, the Dublin local authorities and Cork are participating. Kildare??? Eh, no…..

Progress Report on Maynooth Cycling Without Age

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Delivery of Trishaw

Maynooth Cycling Campaign took possession of the Trio trishaw in early March and launched it publically at the St. Patricks Day Parade.

Training of Pilots

As we had 8-10  volunteer pilots, the first priority was training. We contacted Clara Clark who first set up the first Cycling Without Age chapter in Ireland in Dun Laoghaire. It took number of weeks to arrange a date that would suit volunteers in Maynooth and at the same time suit Clara. Training was eventually arranged for Saturday 27th May but only three were able to make the training . The Cycling Without Age manager received training some weeks later.

Currently, we have five people who have received  training to operate the trishaw and who are confident to take out members of the public. Four are pilots.

With a number of pilots fully trained, our second priority was to start offering cycles to the people who were unable to cycle on their own. After that, we planned to concentrate on increasing the availability of pilots.

We brought the trishaw to the Picnic in the Park which was organised by Maynooth Community Council and Kildare County Council (Climate Action Section). The objective was to publicise the trishaw and to offer cycles to members of the public without having to book.

Software

Maynooth Cycling Campaign proposes to use Book2Go software  – an internet based booking system which was developed by Copenhagen Cycles to manage pilots and bookings. It is an email based system. Final details have still to be confirmed.

Reporting System

We developed a reporting procedure for pilots to highlight either safety or mechanical concerns.

The report also records key data such as distance travelled and battery condition.

Open for Business

Maynooth Cycling Without Age opened for bookings on Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays from the start of August.

We have been in contact with Maynooth Access Group, Celbridge Access Group and Kildare Access Group to inform them of our operations. We have also contacted Maynooth Lodge Nursing Home, Moyglare Nursing Home and Parke House Nursing Home in Kilcock. We have had discussions with Maynooth Library and they agreed to make booking for people who prefer to book in person rather than via a smart phone or tablet.

For a number of reasons, we have not been in recent contact with Genil Training – St. John of God re use of the trishaw between Monday and Friday.

Next Steps

The next steps are to as follows:

  • Increase publicity and public awareness of Cycling Without Age
  • Organise a “Train the Trainer” session.
  • Organise a training session for the volunteer pilots who haven’t received training yet.
  • Organise a training session for John of God pilots.

Acknowledgement of Contribution

We would like to thank Kildare County Council, Kildare Sports Partnership and Healthy Ireland who have contributed financial support towards the purchase of the trishaw. Kildare County Council has also allocated funding for ongoing costs during the year from the Kildare Community Fund and from the Local Property Tax.

We are also grateful to Maynooth University for permission to store the trishaw on their premises.

TRANSPORT EMISSIONS CONTINUE IN THE WRONG DIRECTION 

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Cyclist.ie Press Release – Urgent Pivots in Policy, Practice and the Sponsorship of Media Programs Needed

Cyclist.ie is incredibly concerned by the latest data released by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that show transport as by far the worst performing sector in Irish society and the economy in terms of tackling its emissions. 

The EPA’s data, as issued on 13 July 2023 (see [1] and [2] below), show that transport emissions increased by 6 per cent in 2022; transport’s emissions were 10.978 Mt CO2 eq in 2021 and this increased to 11.634 Mt CO2 eq in 2022. The EPA reports that “overall higher transport activity – both private cars and freight transport – is eroding the impact of electric vehicles.” 

Cyclist.ie is deeply disturbed by the absence of real and urgent action in transforming our transport system so that we can enter a rapid period of decarbonising the sector. We know from our legally binding sectoral emissions ceilings that transport needs to halve its emissions from 12 MtCO2eq (2018 figures) to 6 MtCO2eq by 2030 [2]. Furthermore, we are all acutely aware that the EPA’s figures have been released in the week that a heat wave is sweeping across parts of southern Europe, and temperatures are expected to surpass 40C (104F) in parts of Spain, France, Greece, Croatia and Turkey. [3] 

National Cycling Coordinator with Cyclist.ie and An Taisce, Dr. Damien Ó Tuama, stated “we are simply on the wrong trajectory with transport. At this point, emissions from transport need to be reducing every single year from here on in – not rising by 6% in a single year”. He continued: “We need rapid action in multiple domains immediately. We need to be increasing further the spend on high quality active travel schemes and the ‘quick-wins’ with enhancing public transport provision. When are we going to see a halt to the domination of our airwaves by adverts urging us to buy ever-bigger Sports Utility Vehicles for our micro-urban trips? When are we going to have our most popular public radio and TV shows not sponsored by car companies with the inevitable framing of ‘normal life’ as being characterised by owning super-sized 2000+ kg metal boxes?” 

Cyclist.ie asks – “where are the political and business leaders articulating a vision of a low carbon future where one can lead a fulfilled life without owning climate destructive personal transport vehicles? Where is the moral leadership on all of this?” Cyclist.ie points to the leadership shown in Paris recently where city hall is to impose higher parking fees on owners of SUVs in its battle to reduce pollution in the capital [4]. Vice-Chairperson of Cyclist.ie, Dave Tobin, added “We need similar policies introduced in Irish cities so as to completely rebalance how mobility happens. Without such urgent action, we are complicit in passing on a burning planetary ball to our children to deal with.” This is the opposite of the mature and responsible approach we now need. 

ENDS

Notes for Editors
Cyclist.ie – the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network, which brings together 35 groups/branches around Ireland who are campaigning locally on cycling safety and promotion, is the organised voice for cycling advocacy in Ireland. It was founded in 2008, building on the campaigning work of its founding member groups, who themselves came into being in the early and mid 1990s in response to the virtual exclusion of cycling and walking from transport policy and practice, and to the massive danger posed to walkers and cyclists by the systematic growth in motorised mobility. https://cyclist.ie/  

[1]  https://www.epa.ie/news-releases/news-releases-2023/irelands-2022-greenhouse-gas-emissions-show-a-welcome-decrease-but-much-work-remains-to-be-done.php 

[2] https://www.epa.ie/our-services/monitoring–assessment/climate-change/ghg/latest-emissions-data/

[3] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66183069

[4] https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/dab6d-government-announces-sectoral-emissions-ceilings-setting-ireland-on-a-pathway-to-turn-the-tide-on-climate-change/

[5] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/11/paris-charge-suv-drivers-higher-parking-fees-tackle-auto-besity

PICNIC IN THE PARK

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Maynooth Community Council working in partnership with Kildare County Council invite you to a great day out, the “Picnic in the Park”, on June 18th-there will be good food, ice cream, face painting, nature walks and various acts. Community groups will have their stalls for you to chat to them about all the wonderful and diverse activities that take place in our town.

With the focus this year is on sustainability and climate action, the event has a serious side and officials from the Climate Action Section will be present. With our interest in the the promotion of cycling as part of decarbonisation of transport, Maynooth Cycling Campaign will be there so if you are passing, why not drop in for a chat and find out our plans fpr the future.