The Dublin Cycling Campaign is an independent, voluntary lobby group that has been working to improve the city for all cyclists for over a decade and a half.
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2009-11-03 Press Release Bus Gate
Dublin Cycling Campaign
www.dublincycling.ie
Statement issued by Dublin Cycling Campaign in response to the temporary removal of the College Green Bus Gate during Operation Freeflow.
For immediate use, contact: James Leahy at 086 040 6720 or Dr. Mike McKillen at 01-896 1613 (W); 087-2314 613 (M)
3rd November 2009
Dublin Cycling Campaign are shocked at the decision of Dublin City Councillors who last night voted to remove the College Green Bus Gate in the afternoons during Operation Freeflow (until mid-January). The original scheme was watered down from a 24 hour Bus Gate due to lobbying by vested interests and should be extended rather than cut.
Spokesperson James Leahy says: “We need to be clear about who we are planning for. If we are going to create a vibrant, competitive city centre of the quality we see in Europe then we cannot arrange policy to guarantee business for car park operators.”
The debate surrounding the Bus Gate has been clouded with hysteria and short-term thinking. What has been a successful measure to increase the reliability of bus services, and the quality of public space in the city, has been removed due to an unproven link to retail jobs.
James Leahy explains: “Claims were made that the Bus Gate should be removed if it costs a single job. But why are jobs being lost? And how will we create new ones? Shops are obviously suffering from the recession, but are we really to believe that because of the Bus Gate shoppers are now unable to drive into town, park and walk to Grafton St? Never mind the fact that it is now much easier to cycle and get the bus into town because of the Bus Gate.”
If we look at long-term job creation we are told time and again that Dublin is uncompetitive with other European cities because of the poor quality of its public transport system. Without fast-tracking the strategy for the bus system, of which the Bus Gate is a key part, we will not create the new jobs in the wider city economy that we desperately need.
A letter written by Dublin Cycling Campaign to all Dublin City Councillors on Friday 30th October follows.
James Leahy
Dublin Cycling Campaign
Bus Bike Working Group
Dear Councillor _____________________
I am writing to express my grave concern about reports that the College Green Bus Gate is to be removed in the afternoons. It should be extended to be 24 hours seven days per week rather than removed.
The Bus Gate is not an isolated bus priority measure, but is part of a long-term strategy for redesigning the bus system. Over the past ten years much progress have been made in giving priority to buses through the QBC programme. However, these stopped short of the city centre. The result is that it was impossible to run cross-city services. This in turn meant that most services terminate in the city centre, which makes it difficult to interchange and creates bus congestion at city centre stops.
The strategy as set out in the MVA Report (2006), Oireachtas Transport Committee Report (2008) and Deloitte Report (2009) is to link up the QBC’s by providing bus priority across the city centre. The bus system will then be re-planned with a core network of high frequency cross-city services. The new network will be simpler that the current one, and the new map of the network will facilitate interchange. We will move towards a network rather than a collection of random services.
The support measures for a high quality network are being already being procured. By 2010 there will be 500 Real Time Passenger Information display boards in the city. Smart Card ticketing is being introduced. The Dublin Bus Network Review is underway with a re-planned network promised for 2010. The DTA is being set up to deliver an integrated brand for public transport in Dublin and to integrate land use and transport planning.
The Bus Gate is a key part of this reform. The hysteria around the original Stillorgan QBC in the 90’s should be remembered. It was hailed as the end of the world for motorists. Between 1997 and 2006 bus passengers rose by 42% while car drivers and passengers fell by 26%. The provision of priority and high frequency services encouraged a direct shift from car to bus. The key point though, is that the overall numbers entering the city on the corridor rose. Without buses, it would be impossible to get the numbers of people we do, into the city every day.
What have been the local effects of the bus gate? Bus speeds are up from 5 to 13 kmph. This makes it possible to reliably timetable cross-city services. The general reduction in traffic has led to improvements in conditions for pedestrians, with the number of cyclists going through College Green up from 3000 to 4000 (7am to 7pm).
What about the negative effects? Apparently, the numbers of visitors to some private car parks are down. They should publish detailed figures so that their claims can be verified. Dublin City Council’s figures for Drury St. car-park show no decrease. The general point is that, in the long-term, if we proceed with the policies we need to tackle the dominance of the city by cars then operating car-parks will become a less profitable business.
The more general effect on business is nevertheless of crucial importance. Due to the recession many retail businesses are suffering. The trend is that more expensive shops are losing business and cheaper ones are increasing their business. What is transport policy to cater for? The bus gate has led to an overall increase in the accessibility of the city with significant improvements for buses, pedestrians and cyclists. Meanwhile we still have a city centre which is still heavily engineered in favour of the car. Are we really to believe that since the Bus Gate opened people are unable to drive into the city, park and walk to Grafton St.
What about the wider or long-term competitiveness of the city centre. Every day tens of thousands of people make trips in and out of the city centre to live, study, shop, work or just visit. Should we not be improving conditions for them? The poor quality of Dublin’s public transport system is consistently criticised in studies of the city’s competitiveness. The Bus Gate and wider reform of public transport addresses this and is vital if we are to compete with European cities which already have high quality integrated transport networks and are redesigning their city centres to be pedestrian and cyclist friendly.
In summary, why are we only considering the parking industry and high-end retailing? The debate appears to be more about being seen to be pro motorist than any rational discussion of the accessibility of the city centre. If you do not support the bus gate then what is your vision for transport in Dublin? The Bus Gate must be retained and extended. In the meantime, there is much that can be done to improve conditions for drivers. Better signage is required and more could be done with satellite navigation technology. Bus based park and ride should be introduced immediately. In the long term the redesign of the bus network into a high quality integrated system should be fast-tracked. This is the only thing that will reduce overall vehicle numbers in the city making it easier for private vehicles that need to access the centre.
James Leahy
Dublin Cycling Campaign
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