Bicycles to carry as many as buses under plan for Greater Dublin Area

By 2021 as many people will be hopping on bicycles as buses in the Dublin region if the National Transport Authority’s ambition comes true.

The Greater Dublin Area Cycle Network Plan sets out a ten year strategy for Counties Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow. The authority has just published the finalised version of the network plan on their website following public consultation.

123 submissions were received after the consultation was advertised in national media.

The plan is to increase the region’s cycle network 5-fold in length to 2,840 kilometers.

That includes a trebling of the existing network in urban areas from 500 kilometres to 1,485 kilometres in length, and over 1,300 kilometres of new connections between towns in rural areas.

The routes will includes greenways, cycle paths, cycle lanes and roads with low levels of traffic.

Gerry Murphy, chief executive of the National Transport Authority said: “With the bike-to-work scheme, the extension of Dublin Bikes, our own new Cycle Planner App and greater integration with bus, train stations and Luas stops, it is our vision to have as many people cycling into the city every morning in 2021 as currently take the bus. This is hugely ambitious but I believe it can be done.”

“In short, this represents a new transport network for the Greater Dublin Area, with a target in 2021 of 75,000 cycle users each morning, which is a three-fold increase in cycling over 2011 levels. In other words, the cycle network could carry as many commuters in the morning in 2021 as are now carried by bus,” he said.

Adding: “This plan will inform the next decade of NTA investment in cycling across seven local authority areas in the region. It is the most comprehensive study of cycling needs ever carried out in Ireland and aims to satisfy the increasing demand for appropriate cycling routes. We will build on the resurgence in cycling by better meeting cyclists’ needs. ”

View the plan and maps on the NTA’s site.

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