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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2009-11-20 - QBC Consultation - North of Swords
Dublin Cycling Campaign have submitted this submission to the Quality Bus Network Office's Public Consultation on the North of Swords QBC Proposal.
sites/dublincycling.ie/files/users/12/2009-11-20-QBC_Consultation_Submission-North_of_Swords.zip
sites/dublincycling.ie/files/users/12/OXF%20BusBike%20leaflet%20WEB%20PDF%20%281%29.pdf
The Executive Summary is copied below.
James Leahy 20/11/09
1.1 Introduction
Dublin Cycling Campaign’s comments on the consultation have been guided by the National Cycle Policy Framework (Department of Transport 2009) and Cyclist.ie’s (2008) National Cycling Promotional Policy: Achieving a Cycle Friendly Ireland. This calls for a hierarchical approach to the consideration of measures to address cycling, encompassing the classic three ‘E’s: Education, Enforcement and Engineering.
We pledge ourselves to a collaborative approach and would like to work with the QBN Office to deliver a better result for transport modes that tread lightly on the environment. We believe our experience has something to offer and we look forward to meeting with you. Doubtless there may be a small number of situations where, having worked with you, it is impossible to achieve a solution we are happy with. In such situations, should they exist, we will request detailed formal justification from the QBN office. However, we believe this position does not take from the need to engage and exchange in the first instance.
We recognise that much has been learnt since the QBC programme began in 1997 and we notice real improvements in the design and implementation of newer QBC’s such as the Coombe Bypass and Mc Mahon Bridge. We hope that we can build on this progress through partnership with the QBN Office.
1.2 Education
• We call for the QBN office engineers who are designing the proposals to meet with us and cycle the routes so that we can each learn from each other’s experiences.
• We propose that a leaflet similar to the one in Appendix A3 be created jointly by all stakeholders to educate drivers and cyclists about interaction in bus/cycle lanes.
1.3 Enforcement
On completion of any proposed works we call for a multi-agency campaign of enforcement which will concentrate in particular on:
• Speeding in the city
• Dangerous overtaking within bus/cycle lanes
• Illegal parking in bus lanes.
1.4 Engineering
Proposed measures to address cycling should be considered in a hierarchy as proposed in Cyclist.ie’s (2008) National Cycling Promotional Policy and Policy 2.1 of the Department of Transport’s (2009) National Cycle Policy Framework. The particular issues have been summarised according to this hierarchy below:
1.4.1 Traffic reduction
• The opportunity to reallocate general vehicle lanes to bus/cycle lanes should be used in order to reduce traffic levels.
• We call on Dublin Bus and the Department of Transport to redesign Dublin Bus’s network and information and provide high quality high frequency bus services to further reduce traffic in the city.
1.4.2 Traffic calming
• The opportunity should be used to calm the traffic by reducing speeds and by redesigning the over-engineered roundabouts and left and right filter lanes.
1.4.3 Junction treatment and traffic management
• There are no changes proposed for the junctions. The over-engineered roundabouts and left and right turn filter lanes should be redesigned.
1.4.4 Redistribution of the carriageway
• The decision to try to squeeze a substandard QBC onto the hard shoulder is dissappointing. General vehicles should be reallocated to appropriately designed bus/cycle lanes.
1.4.5 Cycle lanes, cycle tracks and cycle ways
• Dublin Cycling Campaign welcome the decision not to propose any substandard cycle lanes or cycle tracks.
