UCD are an active Smarter Travel Campus Partner and engage in a number of initiatives during the year to promote smarter travel. This includes their annual Bike Day where they provide advice on safe cycling practices and bicycle security, not to mention coffee and snacks!
It takes place at the lakeside, on the Belfield Campus, and those in attendance are given information on cycle times and routes around University College Dublin as well as free Hi-Vis jackets, reflective “slap straps” and shopping bags, courtesy of the National Transport Authority. UCD’s Bike Shop staff also get involved annually. They carry out free bicycle health checks and give advice on bike maintenance.
Hosted by UCD Campus Services, in 2013 Bike Day included a live demonstration. This simulated road accident had full participation by local emergency services; Gardaí, Dublin Fire Brigade and HSE National Ambulance Service Paramedics, who were on hand to discuss the unfolding scene with the crowd and an announcer who provided live updates and interviews with the incident commanders. After the event road safety advisors provided safety equipment and information to the spectators. A cycling instructor was also in attendance to speak with people on safe cycling and to give refresher cycling training to interested viewers.
This event was organised in conjunction with Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council’s Winter Road Casualty Reduction Programme and received large media coverage.
UCD’s efforts in Smarter Travel were recognised when they won the Best Campus Award at the 2017 Smarter Travel Awards. You can read about what they had achieved in the Smarter Travel Campus programme here.