Transport Forum
August '08
Sustainable transport around Kinsale is about to move into the fast lane! Since the introduction of the bus to Bandon and the trial of the new Land Train, everyone is asking for more. So with the help of West Cork Rural Transport, and the Land Train owners, it is now proposed to launch a Kinsale Circular Train route all day Monday - Friday, for the benefit of the community.
Early suggestions are for stopping points at the new bridge, Compass Quay, Hospital, Summercove, Haven Hill, Methodist Church, but maybe YOU have a better suggestion? And how much should you pay? Tell us NOW.
Text TTK at: 0877839446.
October '07
One of the more colourful plans in our efforts to improve transport in Kinsale is to purchase a land train which could serve as a way of bringing tourists around the town, taking children to school and perhaps as part of a park and ride scheme. Our good friends in Clonakilty are going to lend us their land train sometime before Christmas so that potential investors, Christmas shoppers and hopefully as many interested members of the community as possible will get to have a go. Watch this space for more details.
‘Top Tips for Town Transport’
The TTK Transport Forum has conducted a survey entitled ‘Top Tips for Town Transport’ in which participants were asked to give their top tip for one change that could be made to improve Kinsale’s transport system and that would cost under €1,000. Here is the top 10 as submitted via the survey:
1. Set up a Car Share Club for trips to Cork/Bandon etc.
2. Make Summercove Hill strictly one way (down to Bulman) or maybe install traffic lights.
3. Introduce No Parking along Pier Road on the water side to make it better and safer for pedestrians.
4. Increase One Way to keep cars off the pavements, especially between White House & Museum area.
5. More prominent P sign at Eastern Road entrance to town to make sure visitors know to turn sharp L for immediate parking.
6. Restrict area opposite SuperValu for ‘Deliveries Only 0600 - 1200’, to relieve congestion.
7. Enforce existing parking restrictions much more effectively e.g. keep tourist buses out of Long Quay bus stop area.
8. Run a trial closure of Pearse St. on Saturdays/Sundays in December.
9. Pedestrianise Short Quay permanently as on market day.
10. Publish pictures of illegally parked cars in Kinsale Newsletter and encourage citizens to email their pictures.
KINSALE LAND TRAIN - Chattanooga choo choo or LUAS for us?
Which would you like to see transporting people around the community?
Transition Town Kinsale is proposing to introduce a Land Train into town as both a community service and a viable commercial enterprise. The aim is to reduce the need for cars in the town centre, improve pedestrian experience, cut carbon emissions (its an electric train !) and make life in town more fun.
Investors and entrepreneurs should contact 021 477 3273 to find out more about how such a scheme can help move kids to school, shoppers to market, workers to offices, and visitors to hospital. As well as tourists to Charles Fort, holidaymakers to the beach, wedding guests to receptions, music lovers to the gig.....and back.
Text your vote for (a) Good Idea or (b) Bad Idea, and we'll publish the result in the Kinsale Newsletter next month. Text to 087 221 9266
You can see the full range of locomotives at http://www.dotto.com/
Traffic Management Plan for Kinsale
The TTK Transport Group has made a submission to the Town Council with proposals for its forthcoming Traffic Management Plan. Amongst the key points made are that the present system is flawed from an economic and social perspective and that any new plan should allow for decreased rather than increased car use. Peak Oil and its implications for transport must be taken into consideration and the overall plan must be people, heritage & landscape centred, rather than vehicle and construction centred.
TTK has suggested that Kinsale adopt the Charter of Pedestrian Rights established by the European Parliament in 1988, and already enshrined in transport policy for North Tipperary. Article 2 of the Charter states, ‘The pedestrian has the right to live in urban or village centres tailored to the needs of human beings and not to the needs of the motor car, and to have amenities within walking or cycling distance.’ (http://user.itl.net/~wordcraf/charter.html)
TTK is keen that any traffic management plan needs to be approved and implemented in a ‘joined up way’ with planners, community reps, school boards, housing developers, churches, Chamber of Tourism & Town Council representatives actively engaged.
Here is our wish list based on a survey carried out recently:
1. Pedestrianisation of town centre, specifically Short Quay and Main St.
2. Development of a one-way system so that pavements could be widened, and traffic flow improved.
3. Introduction of bike friendly routes, such as from The Dock to Charles Fort via town, & Compass Quay/Community School/Eastern Rd. corridor.
4. Improved public transport including more frequent Cork-Kinsale buses, a new Kinsale-Bandon bus, a car-share scheme, and horse drawn/cycle taxis.
5. An electric/bio fuelled Land Train for the town – as a feeder for a Park and Ride scheme, a means of getting to outlying tourist attractions such as Charles Fort, and for school trips, shopping access etc.
6. By pass – diverting heavy vehicles and through traffic away from the town centre
7. Connection/signage of the numerous walkways around town, from Dock/Compass Key to Charles Fort/Summercove.
8. Introduction of Park and Ride at ‘Goods Mills Crossroads’, and ‘New Bridge’ (NB Drawings were done in 2004 for a Park and Ride alongside the New Bridge)
9. Creation of biofuelling station for local residents & land train.
10. Taxi/Car share scheme; on-line/SMS based system.
11. Pedestrian ferry to the Dock/Charles Fort/Beach from new ‘Mill Site’ hotel pier.
Any suggestions to - Alan Clayton:alan.clayton@indigo.ie or Liz Creed:lizcreed@eircom.net
Bus Service
The importance of improving the local bus service further was reiterated.
March 2007
A preliminary meeting of the transport subgroup was held to discuss some of the issues facing Kinsale's transport situation. An efficient public transport system is vital in order to wean people off unnecessary car-use. Although huge advances have been made recently to increase the frequency of buses, bus arrival times are still unpredictable. The buses are rarely filled and beg the question, why don't Bus Éireann run smaller, more efficient buses at quieter times? People also need to feel confident about walking and cycling in the town, which can only happen when pedestrians and cyclists are included in the thinking behind our town planning.
The topics that were discussed at the meeting were:
1. Using a 'Land-Train'
The possibility of introducing a ‘land-train’ to Kinsale to connect the town with outlying tourist attractions such as Charles Fort. The train could also act as a community shuttle service for those without an independent means of transport. Towns like Clonakilty and Bray already benefit from a land-train service.
2. Collection of Traffic Pattern Data
It was agreed that data on the traffic patterns needs to be collected as a matter of urgency. We have seen huge increases in car ownership over the past five years and more cars inevitably means more accidents, more fossil fuel consumption and more carbon emissions. As the summer approaches, the influx of cars is set to increase dramatically. Does Kinsale have a coherent transport policy to deal with these extra cars? Where will they park, especially given that the central car-parking area adjacent to the harbour is soon to be re-developed? If an out-of-town site is chosen to replenish the car-parking space stock, will a free shuttle service be set-up, offering a park-and-ride facility that has worked so well in other urban centres?
3. Cycling
On the topic of cycling, a few ideas were explored to help encourage people to use their bicycles around town. Certain routes could easily be signposted to alert car-drivers to the presence of cyclists on the road. We are unfortunately far behind the rest of Europe when it comes to dedicated cycle-lanes, but as the maxim goes, 'tis better late than never.
To kick us off on the right track, a cycle lane could be laid down along Pier Road, past the New Bridge and out to the site of the proposed new Community Leisure Centre, thus providing people with the perfect opportunity to get back on their bikes. Pedestrians could easily continue to enjoy a footpath with a separate lane for cyclists to use adjacent to it. We have also heard reports that the number of school-goers cycling to school has collapsed in the past few years. The perception that seems to prevail is that cycling is a dangerous occupation these days, what with all those cars on the road. Unfortunately, such thinking is behind much of the increase in morning traffic, as almost every child that can't avail of the school buses has to get shuttled to and from school by their parents.
How do we reverse this vicious cycle?
- a) Make it safer to cycle to school. A cycle-run from a fixed meeting point, with an accompanying experienced member of staff would indeed obey the law of safety in numbers. Cycle lanes between the secondary school and the principle areas of habitation would be a significant improvement.
- b) Start a cycling incentive scheme within the school, awarding students who complete a certain number of trips to school by bicycle e.g. a voucher for bicycle gear for 2 weeks' cycling.
- c) Set up a cycling proficiency scheme so that all students can learn safer cycling techniques, and the basics of bicycle maintenance.
A bicycle is not only the most energy efficient mode of transport, it also brings independence, freedom and good health and costs the environment very little. If our leaders were serious about tackling climate change, the return of bicycles to our school-yards should be addressed immediately before it becomes, like many of our best ideas, a forgotten memory.