10 Minute Towns |Access i b i l i t y & Framework Repor t
8 Conclusion The “10 Minute Town” concept is about creating connected communities – understanding how our neighbourhoods work and to map out how a more compact and permeable urban form can provide high quality and safe links to public transport, shops, services, green spaces and to other neighbourhoods. This will in turn reduce the need to travel by car and therefore reduce carbon emissions. An implementation tool was used to assess the three towns – Carlow, Tralee and Ennis to identify the existing walking and cycling catchment to different services. A variety of constraints were identified for the three towns which are potentially the reasons why services/facilities cannot be accessible within 10-minutes. It was found that there is a common trend in constraints, which are as follows: • Lack of direct walk/cycle access from residential estates to local and regional roads, thus limiting their connectivity between important education, employment, leisure, healthcare and retail services; • Severance between residential estates (e.g. cul-de-sacs and fences); • Low cycle usage from census data (1% mode share for each of the three towns); • Bus services are generally limited (e.g. infrequent and does not cover parts of the towns) and tend to only cover specific corridors within the towns; • Poor infrastructure, particularly cycling; and • Lack of services, particularly in the outskirts of the town centres.
Through this, a range of recommended improvement schemes were identified which would assist in increasing the 10-minute catchment areas in the three towns. Some of the recommended improvements include: • Provision of walk/cycle bridges across rivers to connect areas currently deprived of services; • Provision of connections between residential estates, for example, through knocking down walls and fences, as well as providing paths between cul-de-sacs; • Provision of connections to existing walking and cycling facilities; • Improvement to bus services with provision of local services within the town, increase in frequency and widening the public transport catchment through additional bus stops and new bus services. The recommended physical improvements incorporated in the implementation tool and results have shown that the walking and cycling catchment areas for most services could be increased. It is important to note that infrastructure interventions alone will not necessarily result in improved sustainable mobility. The baseline catchment analysis has shown that almost all towns are within a 10-minute cycle to services and yet census data indicate that only 1% of those working or studying in each town commute by bike. A range of supporting initiatives to change travel behaviour, such as, promotion of the use of new walking and cycling routes, such as public awareness campaigns and increased use of wayfinding and signage will be needed for a greater uptake in using the physical infrastructure. Therefore, there is a need for a twin track approach to support the provision of facilities (e.g. new cycle lanes and secure parking) and the promotion of the use of sustainable modes of transport to the residents and visitors of the three towns.
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