Smarter Travel

Trinity is working with the National Transport Authority to make Smarter Travel easier for students and staff.  We aim to make walking, cycling, using public transport or car pooling a simpler option for people. 

On Your Bike - Safe Cycling Workshop

If you are a bit leery about commuting to college on that shiny new bike then this basic cycling skills session might be for you! It is designed for those who are a bit fearful of using their bike to commute to college.

You will learn about road positioning, signalling, overtaking parked cars, making eye-contact with drivers and riding with competence, confidence and consistency.

We’ll point you to useful web-based instructional videos and John Franklin’s book: ‘Cyclecraft’.

Our TCD-based Instructors (Mike McKillen & Damien O’Tuama) are qualified to UK National Standards cycling skills syllabus (DfT).

When is it?

Monday 18th February at 1 o'clock in the Sports Centre. Meet at 12.50 at the goods lift door of the Sports Centre. It's in the pedestrian walkway opposite the entrance of the Science Gallery.

Who is this course for?

This pilot course is for staff of Trinity College Dublin.

What do I need to bring?

You will need your bike – meet at the goods lift doors opposite the Science Gallery entrance to the Sports Centre at 12:50. You will be escorted to 1st floor Hall. Please wear trainers/runners.

How do I book?

You will need to quote your staff ID to book a place. You can book as follows:
By email: Send an email to gillian.ogrady@tcd.ie.
By phone: Ring the Sports Centre reception desk on 01 8961812
In person: Speak to the reception team in the Sports Centre
Places are limited so book early!

Bike Repair

Get your bike repaired or serviced halfway between the Cricket pitch and the Rugby pitch in the main Trinity campus. Details of the day the Spokesman is onsite are here.

Leap Student Travel Card

The Leap Student Travel Card can be used by students as an ID to buy special student travel tickets as well as to pay-as-you-go for travel in the Dublin area by topping up with travel credit and using it like a Leap Card.

More information and an application form can be found on www.studenttravelcard.ie

National Journey Planner

An easy way to plan personal journeys, door-to-door, anywhere in Ireland, using public transport and/or walking. The National Journey Planner is unlike anything seen in Ireland before:

• It’s national – covering all 26 counties, plus stops from RoI services in Northern Ireland
• It’s multi-operator, with bus, rail, tram, taxis and ferries included – private operators as well as the CIE companies. 
• It has a huge scope, with 9,600 bus stops across Ireland included, 750 different routes, 152 train stations, and route and timetable information from 120 different transport providers. 
• It gives fully mapped-out route information, printable timetables and details of overall journey times – all in one place
• “Advanced Settings” feature allow you to set your own preferred walking time and speed, your willingness to make interchanges between services, or any preference for one travel mode over others

Facilities

In 2011, Trinity installed approximately 40 additional Sheffield Hoops under the viaduct at the Sports Centre. We are working with Dublin City Council and the National Transport Authority on an on-going basis to obtain more.

Bike to Work Scheme

Human resources open the Bike to Work scheme for applications in January with vouchers issued in March. To find out more click here.

Travel Tax Saver Scheme

Information on the Travel Tax Scheme can be viewed here.

Dublin Bikes

We’re surrounded by Dublin Bikes here in Trinity.  This excerpt from Capital D capture what a success the scheme is.  It’s a great way to introduce yourself to cycling in Dublin at a low cost. 


For information on how to sign up go to www.dublinbikes.ie

Cycling and Heavy Goods Vehicles

Big trucks and little bikes don’t always mix.  Check out this video by the Road Safety Authority about how to keep yourself safe on your bike. 


This leaflet by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council also has some useful information in it.  http://www.dlrsportspartnership.ie/images/docs/Bike_Week_brochure.website.pdf

Ideas for 2013

The Smarter Travel Trinity Committee has come up with the ideas below for getting people using alternative methods of getting to and from Trinity. If you've any suggestions for other activities we could do please email the College Health Promotion Officer on healthp@tcd.ie.

~ Bike training pilot in Feb possibly as part of Green week
~ Bicycle Users Group (BUG) training to show people how to cycle safely
~ Cycling challenge in December
~ Information days on tax saver scheme
~ Regular bike maintenance workshops on campus
~ We are working with Dublin City Council and the National Transport Authority on an on-going basis to obtain cycle parking facilities.

Committee

The Smarter Travel Trinity Initiative is managed by a committee of Trinity staff and students. It includes representatives from Students Union, Health Promotion, the Sports Centre, Facililities, Human Resources, Security, the Environmental and Green Society, Communications and St James's Campus Committee. It is being run in association with the National Transport Authority's Smarter Travel Workplaces Initiative.

Launch

Trinity’s Smarter Travel initiative was launched on Thursday 10th of November 2011 at 1pm on Front Square. The Provost Dr Patrick Prendergast, the Lord Mayor of Dublin Andrew Montague and the President of the Students’ Union, Ryan Bartlett all spoke about the Smarter Travel Initiative and Trinity College’s involvement in it.  A sleek Felt Bike donated by EuroCycles, a voucher for two for Restaurant 1592 and a gorgeous BEAR Bicycle donated by GreenAer on Pearse Street were all given away on the day. The event was a great success, really well attended and showed how much support there is for Smarter Travel in College.

Trinity's own Prof. Iggy McGovern (School of Physics) wrote this poem about bicycling! 

O Lord, preserve me on my bike
From theft and from insurance hike
From all the motoring Sons of Psych
From buses to (and from) Klondyke
From joggers powered up by Nike
From prams containing someone’s tyke
From potholes, tramlines and the like
From wind and rain and lightning strike
From glass and nail and marlin spike
From dog and cat and crow and shrike
Preserve me, for the love of Mike!               

Prof. Iggy McGovern (1 May 2004)

Actions to Date

College-Wide Survey: Based on the results of the Trinity-wide survey completed by all staff and students, we've taken the actions below. To see the survey, click here.

Bike Repair: The Spokesman offers mobile bike repair halfway between the Cricket pitch and the Rugby pitch in the main Trinity campus. You can see what day he's there by checking out his calendar here.

Pedometer Challenge: Trinity took part in the National Transport Authority's Pedometer Challenge in September. Nine teams from College 'virtually' walked to some warmer and drier destinations including Lake Como in Italy, Cannes, Monaco, Hawaii and Long Island Beach in New York without leaving the country! What's more, a chocolate bar index which measures in chocolate bars how many calories our participants burned by walking or cycling instead of driving shows that they used the equivalent of 1,719 bars of chocolate! Well done to all who took part! Listed below are  figures that relate to the number of drive alone car journeys that were substituted by walking, cycling, public transport or car sharing.

Bike Parking Facilities: In 2011, Trinity installed approximately 40 additional Sheffield Hoops under the viaduct at the Sports Centre.

Cycle Challenge: Our inaugural Spinathon in aid of C.R.O.S.S. took place in July. Over 80 people took part in this cycle challenge in the Sports Centre. Some chose to do one hour, and others tried to go the full distance.  This was a great event getting some people on to a bike for the first time.

Tax Saver Schemes: Human resources offer Tax Saver Schemes on travel passes in November and July. More details available here.

Bike to Work Scheme: Approximately 100 people per annum avail of the Bike to Work scheme run by HR. Details above.