Galway no events posted in last week
The Wholesome Photo of the Month Thu May 09, 2024 11:01 | Anti-Empire
In 3 War Years Russia Will Have Spent $3... Thu May 09, 2024 02:17 | Anti-Empire
UK Sending Missiles to Be Fired Into Rus... Tue May 07, 2024 14:17 | Marko Marjanović
US Gives Weapons to Taiwan for Free, The... Fri May 03, 2024 03:55 | Anti-Empire
Russia Has 17 Percent More Defense Jobs ... Tue Apr 30, 2024 11:56 | Marko Marjanović Anti-Empire >>
Indymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.
Julian Assange is finally free ! Tue Jun 25, 2024 21:11 | indy
Stand With Palestine: Workplace Day of Action on Naksa Day Thu May 30, 2024 21:55 | indy
It is Chemtrails Month and Time to Visit this Topic Thu May 30, 2024 00:01 | indy
Hamburg 14.05. "Rote" Flora Reoccupied By Internationalists Wed May 15, 2024 15:49 | Internationalist left
Eddie Hobbs Breaks the Silence Exposing the Hidden Agenda Behind the WHO Treaty Sat May 11, 2024 22:41 | indy Human Rights in Ireland >>
Government Has Just Declared War on Free Speech Fri Jul 26, 2024 13:03 | Toby Young The Government has just announced it intends to block the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, effectively declaring war on free speech. It's time to join the Free Speech Union and fight back.
The post Government Has Just Declared War on Free Speech appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
I Wrote an Article for Forbes Defending J.D. Vance From Accusations of ?Climate Denialism?. Forty Ei... Fri Jul 26, 2024 11:00 | Tilak Doshi On July 18th, Dr Tilak Doshi wrote an article for Forbes defending J.D. Vance from accusations of 'climate denialism'. 48 hours later, Forbes un-published the article. Read the article on the Daily Sceptic.
The post I Wrote an Article for Forbes Defending J.D. Vance From Accusations of ?Climate Denialism?. Forty Eight Hours Later, Forbes Un-Published the Article and Sacked Me as a Contributor appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Come and See Nick Dixon and me Recording the Weekly Sceptic at the Hippodrome on Monday Fri Jul 26, 2024 09:00 | Toby Young Tickets are still available to a live recording of the Weekly Sceptic, Britain's only podcast to break into the top five of Apple's podcast chart. It?s at Lola's, the downstairs bar of the Hippodrome on Monday July 29th.
The post Come and See Nick Dixon and me Recording the Weekly Sceptic at the Hippodrome on Monday appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
The China Syndrome: A More Sensible Approach to Nuclear Power Than Britain Fri Jul 26, 2024 07:00 | Ben Pile While China advances with cutting-edge nuclear power, Britain's green zealots have us stuck with sky-high bills and a nuclear sector in disarray, says Ben Pile.
The post The China Syndrome: A More Sensible Approach to Nuclear Power Than Britain appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
News Round-Up Fri Jul 26, 2024 00:55 | Richard Eldred A summary of the most interesting stories in the past 24 hours that challenge the prevailing orthodoxy about the ?climate emergency?, public health ?crises? and the supposed moral defects of Western civilisation.
The post News Round-Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic. Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Netanyahu soon to appear before the US Congress? It will be decisive for the suc... Thu Jul 04, 2024 04:44 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N°93 Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:49 | en
Will Israel succeed in attacking Lebanon and pushing the United States to nuke I... Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:40 | en
Will Netanyahu launch tactical nuclear bombs (sic) against Hezbollah, with US su... Thu Jun 27, 2024 12:09 | en
Will Israel provoke a cataclysm?, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jun 25, 2024 06:59 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
No Rational Basis for Galway City Outer Bypass - Researcher
galway |
environment |
press release
Tuesday October 09, 2007 20:37 by Brian Guckian
City-wide Sustainable Transport Network could be Provided for Two-thirds the Cost
PRESS RELEASE 21/9/2007
THERE is no rational basis for the proposed Galway City Outer Bypass, and just two-thirds of the considerable cost of the road scheme - currently estimated at € 330 million - would provide a fully-integrated, sustainable transport system for the city instead, Transport Researcher Brian Guckian has said.
Mr. Guckian, who carries out research and development into sustainable transport and who has advocated light rail systems for regional cities, including the Corrib Light Rail proposal for Galway, as well as extension of the national rail network, said that the apparent reluctance to consider or implement successful transport strategies from the Continent, which stressed integration and sustainability, and which rejected car use, was disturbing.
"You have a troubling situation where the perceived 'solution' to transport problems in Galway, for example, is seen as an unsustainable, hugely wasteful road bypass of the city. This is an out-moded, ineffective proposal straight from the 1960s, and the apparent reluctance to embrace modern thinking is deeply worrying, and one has to ask why it is being pursued in the face of national and EU policies in relation to sustainable transportation and land use", he said.
Mr. Guckian added, "Study after study has shown that increasing available roadspace actually increases the volume of cars present through a phenomenon known as 'induced traffic'. More roads in fact encourage more people to drive, more frequently, and this also undermines the financial viability of sustainable transport modes such as bus, rail and light rail. The bottom line is that more roads do not solve traffic problems; the only solution is to cut car dependency via dramatically enhanced public transport provision and the conversion of roadspace in urban areas to create genuine, effective cycling and walking routes".
He continued that current best practice in sustainable transport and land use planning was concentrating on this creation of walking and cycling communities linked by light rail and bus networks, thus reducing oil dependency and dramatically improving energy efficiency, as well as cutting CO2 and other emissions responsible for global warming. He said that walking and cycling also had strong health benefits in terms of reducing obesity and exposure to diabetes and heart problems, as well as facilitating better community interaction and sociability.
Mr. Guckian stated that the responsible course of action for the authorities was to withdraw the Outer Bypass plan and instead spend two-thirds of the estimated € 330 million involved on a fully-integrated, sustainable transport system for the city, with the balance going to fund much-needed essential services. This would be a model for other cities and towns in the state to follow.
"Don't make the mistakes of other cities that are missing out on the economic, social and environmental dividends that sustainable development provides", he concluded.
ENDS
Contact: Brian Guckian 087 9140105 railprojects@eircom.net
|
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (3 of 3)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3The city of Hasselt (pop. 77k) in Belgium faced a similar problem in the mid 1990s as to whether to build another outer ring road and somehow sanity prevailed and they actually opted to make all public transport in the city free.
But before making it free, they increased the size of the fleet and improved the bus schedule by making them more frequent. They have never looked back since. Oh and yes, they found that they didn't need the outer ring road after all.
Full account of it can be found here at the URL below or just google around.
Nice idea Terence,
now let's see you put the following words in a positive sentence: government, public-transport, free.
I thought not.
The Hasselt experience is the way to go. It is only by making public transport free that it becomes attractive enough for many drivers to leave the cars at home, or even in the showroom. It also actually makes the provision of public transport more efficient, because the whole bean counting exercise of ticketing disappears!
Its' only problem is it does not suit the agendas of the road lobbies (less vehicles on fewer roads), or even the public transport providers (who dedicate significant resources into fare collection). No wonder this successful innovation is viewed as a scheme for crackpots!