Monday, 13 Mar 2023
Updated / Monday, 13 Mar 2023 15:42
By Sinéad Brennan
Teenagers in Dublin are being encouraged to embrace cycling as a
sustainable means of transport through a series of 'build your own
bike' workshops.
The Bike Hub in Crumlin is teaching pupils from local secondary schools
how to build and repair bikes which have been donated to the social
enterprise for upcycling.
Participants will be provided with their own personalised bike at the
end of the programme.
"They will take the bikes apart to become acquainted with the
components of the bike and the tools required to work on them," The
Bike Hub's Stephen McManus explained. "We try to stick to principles of
the circular economy so ideally nothing is dumped and everything as
possible is reused."
Transport is central to Ireland's target of halving its greenhouse gas
emissions by 2030.
In 2020, road transport alone accounted for 94% of transport emissions,
with private car use accounting for almost three quarters of all
journeys.
Only 2% of journeys are by cycling.
Stephen McManus shows the group how to take apart a bike so they can
learn to rebuild one
"Cycling must form part of the solution and the young generation is key
to embracing cycling as a reliable and sustainable means of transport.
A passion for cycling and a love of bikes must be encouraged and
nurtured from a young age," Mr McManus said.
"A lot of people seem to associate cycling with a certain demographic
and a certain type of clothing, but the truth is, where you have decent
cycling infrastructure, it’s a good mix of gender and age groups in
cycling lanes.
"The investment we need is not for existing cyclists, but for the
people who now can’t... I think over time, hopefully, combined with
government programmes in place, we will see improvement in people’s
willingness to try it out."
The workshops are sponsored by mobility company Bolt, which provides
green alternatives to car journeys.
"For a lot of our transport needs, Ireland is behind the curve," Head
of Public Policy for Bolt Ireland, Aisling Dunne said. "A European
Commission survey showed that over 70% of people in Ireland take at
least one car journey per day, which is one of the highest in Europe.
"I think a really big part of what will happen over the next ten years
is around sharing resources and reusing resources, so what's wonderful
is that The Bike Hub takes something no longer used or needed and turns
it into something useful and valuable, it wins on so many levels."
Simon Wiszczun plans to cycle to his part-time job with the knowledge
he can fix any problems
And among the students taking part in the workshops, there was a clear
consensus that knowing how to repair a bike does make cycling more
attractive.
"One time it happened to me that my chain broke in the Phoenix Park and
I'd to walk five or six kilometres home, but now I'm going to learn how
to fix it, it’s a useful tip for myself," Simon Wiszczun (15) from
Rosary College said. "I’ll be able to use it to get to my part-time job
when I’m 16 as well, and it’s great to learn a new skill for myself."
During lockdown, 14-year-old Aaron Harrison-O'Gorman from Clogher Road
Community College got really into cycling with his friends. "We’d
always be watching biking YouTube channels so it’s good to finally get
to do it for real now."
Earlier this week, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said he does not
think a congestion charge is going to be an immediate solution to
reduce car use as part of the Government's Climate Action Plan.
The Green Party leader said he believes "the immediate solution is to
reallocate space to make our buses get through quicker, to make it
safer to walk and cycle."
"It's in everyone's interest for us to start providing sustainable
alternatives so the traffic moves freely and so it's safer for our kids
particularly to walk and cycle to school and to get a transport system
that works," he said.
All over Ireland people are stepping up to tackle climate change and
protect the environment. If you have a story to tell, we would love to
hear it. Email: yournews@rte.ie