Dr. Damien Ó Tuama:

I thank the Chairman. Following the pandemic, it has been said the future of mobility is not what it used to be. There has been a rapid change in thinking about mobility over the past two years, not just in Ireland but across all European cities. There has been an acceleration in the provision of wider footpaths and cycle lanes because people have been reluctant to take public transport. The pandemic has also accelerated the process of building cycle networks.

The greater Dublin area cycle network plan was published in 2013 but the pace of its implementation has been glacial at times. It has been very slow but the introduction of some of the quick-to-build cycle facilities has encouraged engineers to adopt a more experimental approach to trying out schemes. This is what the Dutch have been doing since the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. There was a reluctance among Irish local authorities to try out different schemes. We have had a wonderful opportunity to try out different schemes, do before and after monitoring and assess where they improve facilities and where the weaknesses are, which has been a very positive part, if one can say that, of the pandemic.

If we are trying to nurture a shift in travel patterns, we need coherent, cohesive and high-quality networks. I mentioned earlier that very few women are cycling. They are approximately 25% of commuters who cycle, as per the census data. In the previous census, just 693 secondary school girls nationally were cycling to school in 2016, which is a shocking figure. When I was in secondary school, almost 20,000 secondary school girls were cycling to school. A large part of it is due to a deterioration in road conditions arising from more motorised traffic, less quality space for people on bikes, bigger vehicles, higher speeds and a scary traffic environment.

The way we will transform our culture is by creating high-quality cycle networks in each of our five cities, in addition to our towns and rural areas, with signed cycle routes along Rothar roads, which are quieter and have lighter traffic. Electric vehicles certainly have a role, but we need to pay serious attention to the slow mode because it is win-win for everyone. If more schoolchildren cycle and up to 20% to 50% of trips are by bike, that leaves roads available for those who need to use them, whether it is for business trips or other schemes.