No Cork City or County Council staff or councillors went on NTA-funded cycle study trips in 2023
Meanwhile, staffers and councillors from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Westmeath took multiple study trips to cities such as Utrecht where cycling culture is ingrained.
While councillors and staff from Cork City and County Councils travelled far and wide this year (Shanghai, San Francisco, Marseille), none of them made the relatively short trip to the Netherlands on NTA-funded cycle study trips in 2023.
Freedom of information data provided to Tripe + Drisheen show that while there was no uptake from the two local authorities in 2023 (so far) for the NTA-funded tours, other local authorities have been far more proactive in availing of the study trips which are designed to get boots on the ground and show how cycle infrastructure works up close and personal.
Out of the 32 local authorities across Ireland, only 14 have availed of the study trips which are funded by the National Transport Authority.
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Westmeath County Councils top the table; between the two local authorities they sent 66 participants on study trips across 2022 and 2023.
Typically, the trips are about two to three days in duration. They are organised by the Dutch Cycling Embassy and Irish outfit The Dutch Cycling Study Tours, run by Cian Ginty, editor of IrishCycle.com.
Eye-opening
The typical study tour includes both councillors and officials going over to the Netherlands and meeting experts and experiencing the cycling infrastructure, Ginty said. He started the study trips in 2015 and has been doing them ever since. While the pandemic forced him to pause the tours, he’s completed about eight trips in the past year with small groups of councillors and council staff.
“It’s one thing being told about the infrastructure, but it’s a completely other thing to experience it, and no video or lecture or presentation will give you the same experience,” Ginty said, adding that it’s not just the infrastructure but also how it’s used and the wide variation of people using it.
It’s an eye-opener for those on the trip he said, adding that in Ireland we’re still in the mindset that cycling is for a small, select group whereas in the Netherlands you get all ages and abilities on bikes.
Ginty said those who go on the tours are not just tourists; getting up on the bike is an essential part of the tour. While the impact is hard to quantify, Ginty believes that participants in the study tours will better appreciate and realise the benefits of cycle infrastructure as a result of the trips.
By way of example, he highlighted cities such as London and Paris which have learned greatly form study trips to cities in the Netherlands and Denmark.
Learning from the best, or not
Kevin Long, vice chair of Cork Cycling Campaign, acknowledged that for councillors and staff at Cork City and County Council it takes time to make time for these study trips, but added that they compare poorly to other local authorities.
“More funding than ever before is available for active travel infrastructure, but still we don't have a connected and coherent cycle network in Cork. Unfortunately new schemes are still being built, such as the MacCurtain Street upgrade, where cycle lanes effectively finish up on footpaths, and do not connect properly with existing nearby cycle lanes.”
Long said that the study trips are “vital to show what works and why it works”.
“Other councils are clearly taking active travel seriously and sending significant numbers of councillors and staff on these trips”, Long said, by way of highlighting Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown which sent 41 participants in the last two years.
“In Cork there is a lot of talk about creating a world class 15-minute city, prioritising sustainable and active travel, but it is not happening in practice - zero Cork City Council reps or staff have gone on these trips,” Long said.
“Councillors may not be too willing to go in early 2024 with local elections due, but hopefully more active travel team staff will go,” he added.
One bright spot is that there are councillors and staffers taking the initiative and organising to attend cycle study tours. This year Collete Finn, a Green Party Councillor and a cyclist, arranged to go on a study trip organised by The Dutch Cycling Study Tours. Some funding from Cork City Council was provided for that trip.
From the T+D archive:
Why not give Cork's Lord Mayor a complimentary bicycle?
It’s a ritual as old as it is familiar: for the past 30 years the Lord Mayor of Cork city is presented with a new Ford car. It’s usually the first registered car, and usually black. This year was no different: on July 2 Councillor Colm Kelleher, the new Lord Mayor, took delivery of a Ford Mondeo Vignale.
Your headline is missing one word, "unsurprisingly"