Minister calls for doubling of bicycle use

Dublin should aim for a doubling of bicycle use as a contribution to reducing traffic congestion, the Minister for Transport has suggested.

Addressing the final day of the Velo-City conference, Martin Cullen called for a "main-

streaming" of cycling policy in overall transport policy.

Cycling and walking needed to be at the centre of policy, not at its periphery, he said.

It should also be integrated better with public transport, while developers and planners would have to plan developments in ways that minimised the need to travel.

While recent years had seen substantial investment in cycling infrastructure, cycling as a mode of transport had continued to decline, he noted. In countries such as Denmark and the Netherlands, up to 30 per cent of urban journeys were by bicycle.

However, in Dublin this figure was about 4 per cent, and it was as low as 1 per cent in other Irish cities.

"What is so special about the Netherlands and Denmark? Is there a fundamental cultural difference that makes their experience unique and non-transferable? I doubt it," the Minister said.

"We need to understand why people do not cycle - or indeed walk - when they have short journeys to make. We need to understand their negative perceptions of cycling and address them in an effective way. "Why will somebody drive to the gym and then work out on a cycle machine or a treadmill, but not walk or cycle to the local shops, church, school or indeed the gym itself?"

Mr Cullen pointed out that 600,000 deaths in Europe were attributable to some extent to a lack of physical activity. Twenty per cent of European children were overweight, and the number was increasing each year.

"Transport policy needs to target young people who are in danger of being a generation lost to cycling."

EU transport commissioner Jacques Barrot told the conference the number of car journeys into cities would have to be curtailed. Transport trends were not sustainable, and the bicycle was an important tool in urban transportation strategies.