”

achieve an award to assist them to improve their scores and work towards at least the bronze level certification. Details about the Mark and the list of awardees can be found here.

will contribute to building essential skills and sharing successful strategies, as well

Two portions of the Longford Town Core Cycle Network - the N63 Majors Well Road and Ballinalee Road projects – have been completed and a further section is on track to be delivered later in 2024. Two sections of the Cork to Waterford Inter-Urban Demonstrator Pathfinder, namely Bilberry to Waterford City and Dunkettle to Carrigtohill, were completed in June 2023, with the Dunkettle Interchange Link substantially completed and further sections progressed through 2024. This pathfinder is helping to create a seamless cycling link between Cork and Waterford.

as providing a repository of information about new

sustainable mobility

initiatives.

multi-disciplinary group of 86 participants from local authorities, regional assemblies and Local Link coordinators.

Work has also progressed in delivering the South Dublin County Council Pathfinder projects. The Active Travel elements of the Castletymon District Centre Enhancement Project were completed in December 2023, while Phase one of the D24 Neighbourhood Cycle Network was completed in Q2 2024 and was formally opened on 5 July.

The Sustainable Mobility Academy, an online platform originally designed to facilitate peer learning across local authorities, was developed as part of this Accelerator Programme. The Academy was launched publicly by Minister Ryan at the second National Sustainable Mobility Forum in May 2024, and is now accessible to a broad range of practitioners in the sustainable mobility space. It is intended that it will contribute to building essential skills and sharing successful strategies, as well as providing a repository of information about new sustainable mobility initiatives.

Phase one of the College Green/Dame Street project led by Dublin City Council was implemented in May 2023 with the introduction of a 24/7 bus gate through College Green. It is intended that phase two of the project, which will see the removal of all vehicles from this area, will be rolled out in coordination with the BusConnects project rerouting buses from College Green.

The SMP Leadership Group, and Delivery Team, will continue to monitor progress across all pathfinder projects as the programme progresses.

Progress has also been made on the Smart and Sustainable Mobility Accelerator Programme pathfinder. This is a three-year education and capacity-building programme for local authorities and key stakeholders, including local councillors, who are working and innovating in this space. The first series of workshops took place from September to November 2023 and delivered training to a

Case Study | CycleRight – The National Cycle Training Standard

CycleRight is the National Cycling Training Standard launched by Cycling Ireland in January 2017. Training is delivered to primary school children, usually in 5th or 6th classes, and funding from the Department of Transport, both directly and through the Road Safety Authority (RSA), allows the expansion of the training programme with increased numbers year-by-year.

CycleRight Core Training teaches children the basics of cycle safety, including core bike-handling skills, traffic manoeuvres, group cycling, traffic simulation, speed and judgement, and all-road awareness and observation skills. In addition, a specific course for individuals with a disability is delivered and allocation for up to 1,000 students to receive this course is made per annum.

Departmental funding goes towards reducing the cost of the training programme for students, with a subvention of €35 per student provided. In 2023, funding was provided for the subvention to be increased for students in DEIS schools, who receive €45 towards the training programme. Around 9,000 students from DEIS schools received training in 2023, and a target of 10,000 (included in the overall target of 40-42,000) has been set for 2024.

15,300 students were recorded as having received training in the first year of the Programme, and, excluding 2020 and 2021 which was impacted by school closures during COVID-19 lockdown periods, this number has risen consistently in the intervening years. Around 35,000 students received the training in 2023, and a target of 40,000 - 42,000 students has been set for 2024 in line with the target outlined in the National Sustainable Mobility Policy of an additional 5,000 students trained under CycleRight per annum.

The Department of Transport is committed to continuing to work with Cycling Ireland and other stakeholders, to ensure that the children have access to this important safety training, thereby encouraging them to use this sustainable transport option for both school and leisure activities.