A transport researcher from Dublin has said that he believes the city has become less bicycle-friendly due to a lack of connected infrastructure and policing to keep cycling spaces clear, with many cyclists now fearing for their safety as they are not being recognised and being bullied by other road users.

In 2011, Dublin was named among the 20 most bicycle-friendly cities. However, the Global Bicycle Cities Index published last year placed it at the 60th spot, and it is the only Irish city to make it to the list. 

Dr Robert Egan, an engineer and research fellow at Trinity College Dublin’s Centre for Transport Research, told The Hard Shoulder radio programme: “Fundamentally there’s too many cars in the city. That makes it a very hostile and precarious environment for cyclists.”

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His work has involved interviewing men and women using cycling as a form of transport in Ireland, and he mentioned that one of the most common issues that pops up is the lack of connected cycling infrastructure. “There are pockets where you are in a cycle lane, and then suddenly you are amidst cars doing 30, even 50km/hr,” he said.

He added: “But another big part is the disregard for dedicated cycling spaces. You see cars being illegally parked where cyclists are supposed to go, but then where you’re on the road, you’re being beeped at, honked, and being close-passed, so you’re not being treated as a full, entitled road user.

“And finally, there’s a lack of protection for cyclists as well. There’s a lack of policing keeping dedicated cycle spaces clear, and a lack of appreciation for how frightening cycling can be, when you can be bullied off the road if somebody is not confident.”

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Dr Egan pointed out that the current scenario was caused by years and years of policy-making which prioritised driving, dependency on cars, and led to unchecked urban sprawl.

“You can see in the countries with high levels of cycling have fantastic integration of cycling with public transport. One of the aspects of that can be really good cycle parking, at railway stations, in particular,” he said, referring to studies and practices prevalent in countries like the Netherlands, also emphasising having good connectivity with trams.

But what about buses? “There’s a huge amount of work on that too,” said Dr Egan. “What I have looked at, in particular, is that cycle parking with buses is very effective, possibly because of the types of journeys that buses take, maybe because they are travelling long distances in some instances as well.”

“So yeah, that can work with buses too, but it works especially well with trains, and that’s visible from the investment in the long-term.”

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Dr Egan said proper cycle parking is particularly important in Ireland now due to the increasing number of people buying cycles through schemes such as Cycle to Work, as well as the explosion of e-bike purchases, which being more expensive make people less hesitant to leave in places susceptible to theft.

He also said that from his interviews, and other UK-wide research based on near-misses, which are way more common for cyclists than most people perceive, so much so that road.cc has a ‘NMotD’ series based on documenting driving resulting in dangerous close-passes, that there’s a lack of respect towards cyclists as road users.

“It’s about legitimacy on the road. It’s got to do with being subordinated, being bullied in a public space. It’s also very humiliating to be beeped at, for example. So I suppose aspects of cycling may not just be around danger, which is obviously awful to experience when trying to get from A to B, but also just being stigmatised,” he said.