We recently had the surreal news that Ireland will be spending Dutch-levels of funding on walking and cycling infrastructure, we are doing a mini-review of CyclingForAll.ie, the national campaign for cycling for all ages and abilities in Ireland.
With the huge amount of extra funding coming on stream, we’ll need politicians who understand what’s needed in terms of not just design of cycle paths but also things which are over looked (ie filtered permeability) and higher level thinking (ie traffic circulation plans) and the legal changes needed (which we’ve asked about separately).
Without changing the core elements or asks on CyclingForAll.ie, the main motivation is:
- Pushing Government to implement CyclingForAll.ie
- Getting more politicians on board and signed up to CyclingForAll.ie
The ideas so-far include:
- A focus on replacements for cllrs who were elected to the Dail or Seanad
- Convince people the importance of getting their politicians to sign up
- Fine tuning the website, including getting new design theme and editing to:
- Make images more mobile friendly
- Review all sections and look at what can be refined
- Reference / case studies without adding too much to the page
Any ideas welcome — the best place for them is in the comment sections below…
ALSO READ: What legal changes are needed to enable Cycling For All infrastructure and culture in Ireland?
Minimum Standards for planners across all councils – suggest they complete a course in Netherlands or Denmark
Public generally & councils have no real grasp of the lifestyle benefits that cycling friendly infrastructure brings. Still seen as a fringe activity. Only see US lifestyles on TV. Need campaign to show e.g. a world where kids & teens can travel independently to school/sports etc. Imagine how parents lives would improve etc.
In terms of design, you’re expecting a lot of your users. The header section isn’t a good use of that real estate. The key intro message “A national campaign for cycling for all ages and abilities in Ireland” is the smallest text, while it’s hard to tell that the main CTA (Politicians sign up) is a button at all. The background photo is nice, but the coloured overlay makes it secondary and probably unnoticeable to most.
The body content is extremely cluttered. Not many will read past the list of supporters because there’s just so much content. The page should be split into multiple pages, maybe including a blog section. Less is more.
The objective of the page and the main target audience/call to actions should be thought out more, with the page built around that.
Don’t mean to sound harsh – It’s a great idea and I fully support it. The good thing is there’s a lot of room for improvement, in terms of design, which will hopefully help with results.
Thanks for all the feedback so-far!
I’d like to see increased implementation of continuous footpaths. In the netherlands thjey investage what urban realm changes to make after every accident. They don’t wait until somehwere is a blackspot. Also there’s a tendency here to complete a cycle lane that starts nowhere and ends nowhere, this is really poor
Minimum road/traffic/route standards that are to Dutch standards and to be implemented every time a road needs updating or a new road is built.
At a minimum anyone in charge of traffic/roads/mobility to have done a cycling course (for road design etc)
Cycling and pedestrian section as part of getting a driving licence (aka having to cycle/walk on the roads to see what it is like when drivers get too close etc)
Campaigns emphasising benefits:
– children get more exercise and fresh air; better focus at school; better health, more independence
-teenagers same, plus don’t need ferrying around, more independence
-parents: less ferrying, less fear as children are safer cycling
-older adults: more independence, even when can no longer drive, get out more, easier to socialise, less loneliness
-everyone: less traffic, better air quality, more exercise, less obesity, better public health
Also all schools to have safe cycling to school maps.
-study of all roads around school, especially to the areas where most students live
-make all areas around school gates (not just the main gate) 20k/h at least during at starting/closing times (also times of before and after school programmes)
-make sure there are safe routes to school, segregated cycle routes, slow roads, etc
-cycle busses and walking busses to and from school (determine routes depending on where students live, just like school busses)
-traffic education at school (we had this in Belgium and it was very good, we got out and about practising traffic skills including cycling)
-cycling as part of PE curriculum in ECCE/infants