Mr. Kevin Baker:

I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for inviting Dublin Cycling Campaign here today. I am the chairperson of Dublin Cycling Campaign and am accompanied by its vice-chairperson, Ms Louise Williams. Dublin Cycling Campaign is a membership based charity in Dublin which promotes cycling and is 100% run by volunteers. We have a shared vision for a more liveable Dublin where people of all ages and abilities can cycle safely and comfortably. We believe that if more people in Ireland cycled, society would be stronger, happier and healthier. Our contribution will obviously have a Dublin and urban focus but it can also be applied to many towns and urban centres around Ireland.

Why should we promote cycling? Cycling is an amazing tool that tackles many of the problems Irish people face. It is a congestion-beating mode of transport. Congestion is worsening and is stealing valuable hours from people's lives and destroying their quality of life. Walking and cycling both have a major role to play in improving public health in Ireland through exercise, as well as reducing air and noise pollution. Cycling can tackle social isolation and social accessibility. It is a cheap and easy mode of transport that connects people to vital services or to work. Cycling can also tackle our climate change objectives. When towns and cities are designed with walking and cycling in mind, as has happened in Seville, Strasbourg and Paris, people of all ages and abilities cycle, either for local trips or to connect to public transport for longer trips. The more the Government does to promote cycling, the stronger, happier and healthier Irish society will be.

People cycling face many problems that, if tackled, would enable and encourage more people to cycle. Dangerous overtaking is a serious issue and our members report instances of the practice on a regular basis. Many of these incidents are backed up by footage recorded on helmet cameras, which is terrifying to watch. There are three pillars involved in tackling this issue, namely, awareness, legislation and enforcement. The Road Safety Authority's, RSA, awareness campaign was the first step in dealing with this, and the new regulations introduced by the Minister were the second. The third and final step is strong enforcement of the new regulations. An Garda Síochána needs to be given the resources and training to enforce this new legislation. In the UK, West Midlands Police has seen great results from its Operation Close Pass. When a police officer is close passed on a bike, the police either offer to educate the driver or take the driver to court. An Garda Síochána could also allow members of the public to upload their video footage to aid in prosecutions, as London’s Metropolitan Police Service does.

Speeding is another issue people cycling face. The Road Safety Authority’s Free Speed Survey 2018 revealed that 98% of drivers in urban areas break the 30 km/h speed limits, and 81% speed in urban 50 km/h zones. This level of speeding is a major cause for concern for people who cycle, parents who bring their children to school and older people who should feel safe in their neighbourhoods.

Harassment and intimidation of people cycling is also a major concern for us. We are concerned at the level of verbal and physical harassment targeted at people cycling. We regularly hear reports of intimidation, with a number of women in the campaign subjected to both verbal and physical gendered abuse. We need strong political leadership on this issue in order to tackle it.

The number one thing the Government can do to promote cycling is build a network of segregated cycle lanes which protect people from motor traffic. The existing painted cycle lanes do not offer enough protection to people who cycle or provide enough incentive or confidence to people who would like to cycle but are too nervous or afraid to do so. Wherever high-quality segregated cycle lanes have been built, we have seen huge increases in the numbers and diversity of people cycling. All the cities in Ireland and all major towns in the greater Dublin area have plans for cycling networks - we just need to build them.

BusConnects Dublin offers a huge opportunity as it proposes to deliver 200 km of segregated cycle tracks. This will be transformative for Dublin and will provide the backbone of the greater Dublin area cycle network. The project is not without its challenges, which must be worked through. BusConnects alone will not deliver a cycling network for Dublin. We also need to complete many other projects, including the Liffey cycle route, the Dodder greenway, the Santry greenway, and the east coast trail. One of the issues in delivering these routes is the long lead-in time for infrastructure projects. The Liffey cycle route was first planned eight years ago and is no closer to construction today than it was then. The Royal Canal greenway in Dublin received planning permission in 2015 but the majority of it has not started construction yet. All these projects have been delayed again and again because of a lack of capital funding or human resources in either Dublin City Council or the National Transport Authority, NTA. Allocating 10% of the land transport budget for cycling, as recommended by the Joint Committee on Climate Action, will provide the resources these organisations need to deliver this vital infrastructure.

I will talk briefly about heavy goods vehicles, HGVs, in urban areas. In April 2018, Harry Boland, a 19 year old engineering student in Trinity College Dublin, was killed by a left-turning truck on the Stillorgan Road. Similarly, Neeraj Jain, 34, who came to Ireland from India to study and work, was killed by a left-turning truck in Kilmainham while cycling to work. HGVs are a leading killer of people cycling in urban areas. Educating people about the blind spots of HGVs or adding more cameras and mirrors is not a systematically safe solution. People are human and will make mistakes, but mistakes should not get people killed on our roads. The EU is requiring new HGVs produced after 2021 to meet high direct-vision standards. This effectively means that there are no blind spots around the cab of the HGV, which significantly reduces the number of fatalities for people walking and cycling. The five-axle truck ban in Dublin city is hugely beneficial for people walking and cycling. The next step is to provide legislation which would allow local authorities to only permit trucks that meet these high standards in tight urban areas. Many of those details need to be worked out, but local authorities must be granted some powers from the Oireachtas in order to do that.

I want to address the duty of the State to protect life. On the night of Neeraj Jain’s death 19 days ago, the cycling community and local residents held a vigil at the site of the collision. As we stood at the junction, we watched the traffic. Each local resident would tell a story about how they have almost been in a collision while walking or cycling at this junction. They told us that they have sent letters of complaint with regard to the traffic to Dublin City Council, An Garda Síochána and the Health and Safety Authority. The traffic around this area has only worsened because of the construction of the national children’s hospital. The junction is poorly designed and does not meet modern road safety standards. The risk to life was evident to us. Given that complaints had already been expressed about that junction, we must ask if the State is failing in its most fundamental duties to protect life.

I thank the committee.