The 2015 Copenhagenize Index of Bicycle Friendly Cities has been released, and Dublin ranked in 15th place, which was down from 10th place in the previous index published two years ago. The rankings focused on 122 cities in the World, all with a regional population of over 600,000. The index was developed by Copenhagenize Design Co. in 2011, and the purpose was to identify which cities are the best for urban cycling.

They work with cities around the world to provide them with a score in order to determine the best and most effective method for reestablishing the bicycle on the urban landscape.

This is what Copenhagenize had to say about Dublin as a cycling city:

The Lowdown
Dublin has been a darling on the Copenhagenize Index since 2011 and the city has been inspirational for the rest of the world in its efforts to increase cycling levels. Once the third great cycling city in Europe after Amsterdam and Copenhagen, Dublin has the historical background for bringing the bicycles back. Dublin seems to be suffering from the same malady as other cities that have made impressive progress. They have seemingly slipped into apathy – and a few places down the Index. What Dublin has achieved over the past few years is fantastic. The perfect cocktail of politicians who get it, investment in infrastructure and facilities, traffic calming measures and an epic bike share system accelerated the city’s journey to urban modernisation. You can’t take that away from Dublin, but you could wish for another period of concerted effort.

The Region
It’s a long way to anywhere interesting when you are Dublin. Great Britain obscures the view of like-minded, bicycle-friendly cities in Europe. Between the Irish capital and the Continent is London, who is slugging it out for a Top 40 finish on the Index and of little inspiration to Dublin.

The Fixes
The National Transport Authority has been putting their back into it but the City of Dublin hasn’t been lifting their share. Building upon their successes is of paramount importance. Choosing sub-standard infrastructure along the Quays is not exactly the way to go if you’re trying to develop a cohesive network for the next 100 years. The bike share rocks, but now a your network and bicycle strategy should be developed and followed to the letter. You’ve come so far but you’re not there yet.

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