THE GOVERNMENT is planning to encourage 150,000 commuters to abandon their cars and get on their bicycles by 2020 to help reduce Ireland’s growing carbon footprint.

Department of Transport officials are finalising a scheme that could see motorists banned from entering several city centres.

Transport minister Noel Dempsey wants to shift commuter habits away from the car in the coming decade. He will bring his department’s Sustainable Travel and Transport Action Plan (STTAP) to cabinet in the coming weeks, proposing several cyclist-and pedestrian-friendly measures to encourage forms of commuting that have a lower environmental impact. He hopes to ensure that 10% of all trips — business and pleasure — are by bicycle.

The plan envisages Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway following in the tyre tracks of Amsterdam, Copenagen and Portland, Oregon, to join the ranks of cycle-friendly cities around the world.

STTAP proposes the exclusion of cars and trucks from parts of city centres in daylight hours and the conversion of many central thoroughfares to cycle and pedestrian zones. It will need cabinet approval, but with carbon outputs rising this year it may not be opposed.

The plan will be published before Christmas and is due to be followed by more detailed national strategies for cycling and walking. One government source said: “Over the next few years key streets in Dublin city centre will be severely disrupted by construction works for Metro North, the interconnector rail line from Heuston to Connolly stations and the joining of the two Luas lines.

“When that disruption is over, the streets are unlikely to be handed back to the car in the same way.”

Pro-cycling campaigners yesterday welcomed the proposals while voicing doubts about their implementation. David Maher of the Dublin Cycling Campaign (DCC) said: “I would say 10% [of all trips by 2020] is completely achievable, but we’ve found in the past that there is no follow-through from policy to reality on the ground. You can make all the cycle tracks you want, but if the gardai are going to allow people to park all over them they are more of a hazard than a help.”

The STTAP strategy will also commit government to “creating a culture of walking in Ireland”, providing safe pedestrian routes to serve those commuting to the workplace, school or college. Pedestrians would get more priority time at traffic lights in urban centres and enjoy larger traffic-free areas in cities. Separate campaigns will seek to encourage more schoolchildren to walk or cycle to school and make it safer to do so.

Under both the cycling and walking strategies, 30kph city-centre speed limits would become the national norm, according to government officials. Speed limits near schools would become lower still.

Despite his concerns about the government reaching the target, Maher said the policy document would strengthen the hand of the pro-cycling lobby in talks with agencies such as the National Roads Authority and Irish Rail.

Car-sharing will also be encouraged under the STTAP strategy, either through websites or the establishment of car-sharing clubs — commercial ventures that give individuals shared ownership of a car in return for an annual membership fee.

Other bicycle-friendly cities:

1. Bristol: The British city is considering banning cars from its centre as part of a plan to double bike users from 30,000 to 60,000. The council wants a reduction in speed limits to 20mph, contraflows to allow cyclists to travel in both directions on one-way roads and improved signs and traffic lights.

2. Amsterdam: Four out of 10 traffic movements involve pedalling in the “bike capital of the world”. The city recently created a “green wave” for cyclists on the Raadhuisstraat, one of its main streets. Bike-users doing 15-18kph do not have to stop at red lights.

3: Copenhagen: The “city of bikes” has an extensive network of bicycle paths separated from main traffic lanes. The Christiania area is completely bike-free. Like Amsterdam, the Danish capital also has a “green wave” that allows cyclists to travel on the Norrebrogade at 19kph without stopping. At present 32% of workers commute by bike.

4. Portland: This city in Oregon, in the United States, has 250 miles of bicycle network and plans another 38. In some areas, 9% of commuters cycle. Low-earners get free bikes.

5. Trondheim: The hilly city in Norway offers cyclists a bike lift. Inspired by ski-lift technology, it pushes cyclists uphill, making it a hit with tourists as well. At least 18% of the population pedal to work or school.

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