Dr. Damien Ó Tuama:

There is a rich cycling culture in Clonakilty with the festival and bike circus. Cyclist.ie has a vision for cycling in rural Ireland that is all about people on bikes being expected and respected on the roads, with lower, safer speed limits, infrastructure, signed cycling routes, and many other things that can be done to nurture a local cycling culture, especially for schoolchildren. A major shift in transportation over the past two decades and in society is the greater use of digital technology. Once upon a time, traffic engineers and transport planners thought about travel time as dead time. That is definitely not the case if people are using public transport and have Wi-Fi. I do not know how possible it would be to drive to Cork and then get the train to Dublin. There are three hours of high-quality time on the train where people can use their laptops or phones and do their business. It is the same on the way back.

When people are driving, it is not possible for them to look at screens safely, and even talking on a mobile phone is distracting when they are driving. There is a significant benefit. I think it is an undersold benefit of using buses or trains. People are able to work while they are moving or even have a nap for half an hour to get themselves together before they go back to using the computer. In a much more sustainable society, public transport use is seen as part of people's working time, and it is a much better use of time. At the other end of their trip, at Heuston Station, they can hop on a shared bike or e-bike to get over to the Dáil. The future is about shared mobility, shared public transport, good quality Wi-Fi on the routes, and people getting their exercise in.