Professor in Transportation & Head of Department, Trinity College Dublin, Research in Transport, Public Transport, Transport Emissions & Climate Change.
Listening to the debate on the
@PatKennyNT
about car parks etc at the airport. Why not bring back the Aer DART? It was a bus service that ran every 15 mins from Howth Junction to
@DublinAirport
. Its about 15-20min trip and would offer another option to get there.
A temporary 3km long cycleway should not be making national news. It should be a very easy win. If the easy projects are so hard to deliver how do we deliver the bigger harder changes - it is a climate emergency
@GalwayCycling
should be very proud of the work they did & are doing
📢 One of my masters students is doing a survey on the potential impacts of free public transport in Ireland.
The survey will close soon.
Please complete and share
You can access the survey here:
Questions to: freepublictransport31
@gmail
.com
Sorry to hear that
@EcoEye
will end tomorrow. The show has been pointing out ways to solve our climate issues for 21 years
It was an honour to have been on the show twice & I wish its successor good luck - we have never needed informed discussion more
A great plan. It is going to need massive political leadership and bravery to get it done. It also needs lots of consultation and dialogue as this space is for everyone
Plan proposes most radical restriction of private traffic in Dublin city for decades
Its great to see this plan published by
@DubCityCouncil
"Over the next nine years, the active travel network will grow from its existing 10km to a connected network of 310km across the city."
About the Active Travel Network
Great to hear
@EamonRyan
on
@NTBreakfast
saying the 1m electric car target will be dropped. Lets focus on the amount of electric KMs driven, shift from cars and give back space in our cities to shared, public and active modes. The OECD report launched last month said as much. 🧵
This is an investment in the city and will totally change Fingal. The population catchment of those in walking distance to Metro is bigger than the populations of Galway and Limerick cities combined. The airport is but just one stop of 16 new stops. 1/2
This is what a 50% reduction in transport emissions by 2030 could look like 🧵
- 25% of all white collar workers WFH
- 100% increase in cycling
- Congestion charges in 5 cities (€10)
- 14% reduction in car ownership in Dublin & 10% in our other cities
Just a 1% reduction in car travel from free public transport- it matches with work we are doing that's showing capacity and frequency are more important
Free public transport would mean just 1% reduction in car travel, says report
Metro will carry 20k per hour in each direction, Luas can do 9k, the simple answer to the Senator is capacity.
Michael McDowell: Before the Metrolink juggernaut becomes a money pit, let’s pause and look at alternatives
And all the research shows he is right
Ryan wants to pause further fare reductions and invest money into expanded public transport (via
@thejournal_ie
)
By August...... I think thats much quicker than anyone expected....
Trips by private cars and commercial vehicles ‘through’ central Dublin to be banned by August
Lets hope when the strategic rail review in Ireland is launched it has this type of ambition
An overhaul of corporate structures will merge operations and infrastructure into a new subsidiary with a “common good mandate”
Prof Susan Handy from UC Davis will give a talk in
@tcddublin
on the 2nd of Sept. She is a world leader in cycling research and her talk is titled "Bicycles will save the world". Registration details below.
Flabbergasted, in a week when
@CCACIreland
say "urgent action is taken immediately" and the
@EPAIreland
tell us emissions are up 6% in transport.
All-island rail plan ‘makes the case’ for more road projects, Taoiseach says
Fantastic interview by
@BrentToderian
"seductively simple sounding solution of let's just change all of our internal combustion cars to electric cars and then we're done", he goes on to say it could make the problem worse. Worth a listen
Delighted to participate at the launch of this
@OECD
report. This report is one strongest reports published on the Irish transport system. It highlights the shortcomings of putting all our eggs in the electric car basket (1/3)
Delighted to be starting the
@SEAI_ie
funded ROBUST project. We will launch mobility hubs in Dublin, Galway, Sligo and Donegal. They will have shared EVs, e-bikes and e-cargo bikes. Thank you to our project partners
@atu_ie
@ESBGroup
@GoCarIreland
Great research from the
@EPAIreland
today
- 94% of people support more investment in Public Transport rather than motorways
- 51% support taxes to phase out petrol & diesel cars
- 65% want more grant support for EVs
The railway order for
@MetroLink_ie
gets submitted today. It looks like the current alignment now goes under our main Civil Engineering building in TCD. Considering I have been teaching about it for 10 years+ now I can start to say the line will be directly under the class room.
After the consultation the message seems clear…. time to rebalance the city and make it greener
Overwhelming support for Dublin city car restrictions, councillors to hear
Great article by
@catheri70835198
"Norway is implementing new taxes on car purchases that scale with vehicle weight.... at a rate of NOK 12.50 (€1.16) per kilogram.... the Audi e-tron, now costs almost €2,500 more than it did before..."
This would make the project less interconnected, result in a large re-design, cost millions, delay it even further, and delay the 53m trips a year metro will take
Whatever about ghost buses on the surface, at this stage it feels like we have ghost trains underneath us
The proposed Charlemont Metrolink station should be axed and the line terminated in Dublin city centre, Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan told An Bord Pleanála’s hearing on the €9.5 billion underground rail project.
Just listening to
@kierancuddihy
interviewing Conor Skehan and wanting more car parks in our cities on
@TheHardShoulder
. I was wondering was this a rerun from 20 years ago? But it was live it seems....
Brave leadership shown in Wales with this new policy on what roads should be built and how more roads are not the solution
Welsh road building projects stopped after failing climate review
I will be on
@TodaywithClaire
tomorrow at about 11:30 discussing with
@GerHerbert1
on if Ireland should follow Norway's example and tax electric SUVs more?
What do we think..... should an Audi e-tron be taxed more than a Renault Zoe?
@RTERadio1
@tcdengineering
And he is correct! More funding into measuring the impacts of these schemes in Ireland would be one way to settle this argument.... did someone say trial?
Bike lanes damaging business is a ‘myth’ says transport chief
Investment in public transport always has such a high burden of proof level. We have not regretted previous investments in Luas and DART. Motorway and roads projects do not come under such scrutiny. 2/2
Blame the day job, but when I see "Research Shows", I expect citations..
@RSAIreland
Subtext is that children need to be ultra vigilant, wear bright green (hi-vis, unlike below) & pick routes to school well in advance as to not be hit by a car...what are they sending to drivers?
“We have to fit 50 years of public transport development into 10 years.
“I fear we’ll have the same conversation next year and the year after about missing targets until the public transport is delivered.”
Almost 20% of fuel consumed in transport is done in freight, this project could go some way to reduce freight emissions
Atlantic ‘railway spine’ from Ballina to Rosslare and higher-speed intercity travel proposed in rail review
Excited to have been appointed to the Royal Irish Academy Committee for Climate Change and Environmental Sciences. Lots of massive issues to be grappled with by this multidisciplinary committee. Congrats to all the other new members
@tcddublin
@RIAdawson
#SustainableTrinity
He's 100% correct!
"We really need to have more trains up and running. I know there are plans for it, but it can't be planning for the next ten years," he told Oireachtas members. "We need it now."
'We need more trains now' via
@rte
Birds eye view this morning of the extent of the works done to put in the new sustainable heating system for the one of the oldest buildings on the
@tcddublin
campus
Meanwhile in the
@TheSundayIndo
@GabbyMonaghan
is writing about how we can be car free. I am quoted on how issues in rural Ireland and how e-cargo bikes could be a game changer.
@FHmediastuff
discusses how her e-cargo bike has more or less replaced their car 👏
This would be great to see - the electric car target was not the way to go as the recent OECD report showed. More cars, regardless of how we fuel them, would continue to lock us into a car culture.
Looking forward to this latest version of a national rail review… I hope it includes a review of progress since the last review…. Review of Ireland's rail network set to propose restoring old lines in place of greenways (via
@thejournal_ie
)
Good luck to
@jackfchambers
with his new roles in transport. I do hope he finally gets road safety data for researchers released from the
@RSAIreland
. Hiding behind GDPR is not good enough when our EU partners have access to their national databases. Its needed for all road users
Dubliners lost on average 114 hours last year due to congestion according to the
@INRIX
traffic score card. It is the 12th most congested city in the world.
📢 Calling all current & potential EV owners. We are looking to determine the demand for fast EV chargers around the country 🛑we will close the survey at the end of the month 🛑
So far we have almost 600 pins dropped (see below)
Survey is here:
2,547 petrol & diesel SUVs sold in March 23 (14% of all new regs)
On avg 20% higher emissions compared to an avg medium-size non-SUV car. Very simplistic, but this 20%, in theory could have knocked out the benefit of 509 of the 3,421 EV sales in March - running to stand still
Sitting down to read my interview in the
@businessposthq
, mainly just to make sure I didn't say anything silly. Thank you again for the opportunity
@DanielTMurray
I think the podcast is out tomorrow
#fivedegreesofchange
A very important paper from yesterdays talk from Susan Handy. It uses the evidence to show what, if any impacts, increased cycling and walking facilities have had in many cities. Scientific evidence trumps whataboutery. Open access ⬇️
@EamonRyan
Great news today in public transport numbers... shows what happens when we invest & deliver. Imagine what will happen with BusConnects & Metro
Record numbers take public transport in 2023 via
@rte
Been fostering this little puppy (in the middle) for over a week for
@DogsTrust_IE
and found out earlier she’s found her forever home. Someone did the same for my rescue doggie, looking forward to fostering again thank you
@DogsTrust_IE
Delighted to be among those awarded a Sustainability Leadership Award in
@tcddublin
today, starting our 21st
#GreenWeek
Also today the
@IPCC_CH
6th Assessment Synthesis Report was published
@JaneCStout
& Mary Robinson spoke of the need for change
"Whoever takes over from Owen Keegan as chief executive of Dublin City Council in September .. should arrive with a huge vision for the city." well said
@UnaMullally
Una Mullally: Cars have to go. People can fight this all they want, but it has to happen
Quick budget takeaways for transport
€1.9bn in sustainable transport and €1.375bn for roads.....
Active modes, €360m announced again...
Nothing I can see on e-bikes, e-cargo bikes or shared mobility - a pity maybe more details will follow
So far this year we have sold 7,522 BEVs in Ireland. So we have given €75m to incentivise car purchase. To put it in context that about 20% of the cost of Luas cross city (in 4 months). In the 2:1 ratio (PT vs Roads) of transport spending does anyone know where this €75m sits?
If you are in the market for a new car, consider an electric vehicle.
🍃🚗€100 million investment in charging infrastructure over next three years
🍃🚗€10,000 in supports for private EVs available to help with the purchase price.
#ReduceYourUse
Its is good to hear
@jackfchambers
discuss the Speed Limit Review and discuss the evidence, facts and figures around how the review was conducted. When dealing with something as serious as road safety, facts, figures and analysis matter.
'This is about setting a better, safer baseline and then revising limits upwards where it's safe to do so,' Minister of State at the Department of Transport Jack Chambers said as speed limits are reviewed | Read more:
The 2024 climate action plan is out. In transport more or less all of the targets seem to be the same as in the 2021 and 2023 plans using Avoid, Shift & Improve. Once again released on Christmas Week 🧵
Happy
#CarFreeDay2022
from Dublin!! The difference between 2022 & 2021….. I’m at the top of the bus 🤷♂️ The good thing is the bus is very full but all onboard being equally delayed
My article in the
@irishexaminer
this morning. The magnitude of emissions increase we saw this week in transport needs to be flipped - but without urgent action, I fear the headlines we have seen this year will be repeated next year and so on....
The increase in transport emissions is not at all shocking. When will the penny drop - this will be one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise, because 1) its linked to where we all live, 2) delivery of big public transport projects is so slow 1/3
My contribution to the
@IrishTimes
today
“We have to take action so we can live in our city, reduce congestion and cut emissions.”
The Debate: Will the traffic plan for Dublin improve life in the city?
This is fantastic to see (I have been banging this drum for a while) - it is in rural areas that we need more electric cars. 🧵
Grants to buy EVs may be kept for motorists in rural areas as those for city dwellers end
Lots of talk this week on a "quick" new Luas line to the airport, while we wait for Metro. I am always for more public transport. But this option would not be quick.
The research and modelling we did 10 years ago looked at a bus rapid transit option using the port tunnel.
What you’ve seen in Galway - the problems and the opportunities are not unique to Galway, they are all over the country. What do you think needs to happen to Ireland’s transport system, now and in the future?
📣Calling all Irish EV owners. One of my masters students is doing a project on experiences using EV fast charging points in Ireland.
It is a very quick survey - if you have time we would appreciate completing and sharing... 🔌⚡️🚗
Today my 4th year students presented their projects that had looked at
@smartdublin
data on pedestrian and cyclist counts to examine pre & post covid trends. Marys St/Capel St was one. The results below show the huge increase in footfall.
@dccBETA
Great to chat with
@boucherhayes
about the transport elements of the Climate Action Plan this morning.
My last interview of the year, its been great to have the opportunity discuss & debate transport and climate issues this year.
Happy Christmas all🎄
3,413 petrol & diesel SUVs sold in Feb 23 (26% of all new regs)
On avg 20% higher emissions compared to an avg medium-size non-SUV car. Very simplistic, but this 20%, in theory could have knocked out the benefit of 683 of the 2,219 EV sales in Feb
I really think this system would work very well in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. 1/2
The Glider: Could Belfast's tram-like bendy bus be the model for other Irish cities? (via
@thejournal_ie
)