BusConnects good for Galway, but cyclist and pedestrian safety paramount
People Before Profit Galway supports the new BusConnects Galway initiative which unveiled its initial Dublin Road plans for public consultation this past month at the Renmore Community Centre.
PBP’s new Galway City East representative, Denman Rooke, attended the consultation stating, “I’m very excited about the BusConnects Galway project and the potential it has to encourage more public transport use and cycling in our city. This not only helps tackle overall emissions, but our major traffic issues as well. We need to drastically reduce our use and reliance on cars and that change needs to be systemic and not left to only personal choice. BusConnects is a step in the right direction.”
“People Before Profit has long campaigned for free, green, and frequent public transport to tackle the Climate Emergency”, continued Rooke. “The more Galway invests in public transport infrastructure now, the more likely we are to meet our climate targets.”
“While the overall plan is great, my main takeaway from the initial draft plans is that it is quite lacking in regards to cyclist safety through proper segregated cycle lanes. At the moment, the majority of the cycle lanes are only protected by a slight curb. This is not nearly enough to protect cyclists from buses and other traffic. Bollards or similar vehicle prevention measures along all the cycle lanes should be an absolute minimum. This plan needs to guarantee cyclist and pedestrian safety first and foremost, while providing the public transport system Galway needs, and ending the car-dominated planning of the city.”