Galway Chamber last week circulated members with details of the Pedestrianisation/Shared Surface Proposals for Galway City Centre meeting, which took place this morning. This meeting forms part of a range of stakeholder meetings underpinning the development of the Smarter Travel Stage 11 Bid for the Galway Metropolitan Area. Galway Chamber will update our members on such meetings and on the progress of the bid.

Speaking of 'smarter travel', this week also saw the introduction of the new 30km/hr speed limit in Dublin city centre. Already in place in parts of Dublin, it has been extended to a wider area of the city centre this week.

Dublin City Council says the decision was taken because dangerous and inappropriate speed is the primary contributing factor to road fatalities. Without being flippant, it is hard to see how motorists can work up speed in the gridlock that is Dublin traffic. The council claims 45 per cent of pedestrians are killed when hit by a vehicle travelling at 50km/h, but this reduces to five per cent when the vehicle is moving at 30km/h.

Dublin City Council says the new limit will also help encourage more people to walk and cycle around the city centre. This is also one of the aims of the smarter travel proposals here and most of us would agree that walking, cycling and public transport usage lends to a more pleasant city centre. Not everyone agrees, however, with some commentators calling the measures 'anti-car', adding comments about motorists soon having to drive their cars in reverse.

Whether we like it or not, we are currently a car-based society. Suburban living as it exists in Galway city doesn't lend itself to 'car-lessness'. If we want to encourage people to 'Bus it, Bike it, Walk it', we must put suitable measures in place. Park 'n' Ride, bus lanes, covered bus stops, increased bus frequency and bike parking are all measures that must be available to encourage people to choose modes of transport other than the car where practicable.

There will often be a need to take the car. For this reason, we have recently announced an initiative to give our members money off vouchers for a local car park. It's never as simple as 'one or the other'. What we really need is good weather and an abundance of public transport.

In the run up to the pedestrianisation of Shop Street in 1998, there was some ferocious opposition to the plans. People were genuinely worried about the effects of the proposals on their businesses. But if you were to change it back now there would be equally fierce opposition. Does anyone remember it prior to pedestrianisation? Two-way traffic, buses, parking? The pedestrianisation of Shop Street was the first move to make Galway city centre people friendly and the shared surfaces proposals (can also be used for cycling and public transport) for Eglinton Street are a continuation of this.

Change is always controversial and, as creatures of habit, we find change difficult. But change is less difficult when initiatives to facilitate that change are implemented and communicated in advance. We will do our bit to inform and facilitate our members in this regard. Please contact us if you wish to add your thoughts and feelings to what is, after all, the future of our city.

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