“As simple as it may sound: get a Leap Card.”
Location
South Dublin (D14)
Name
Maeve
Useful Links
TFI Travel Apps https://www.transportforireland.ie/available-apps/
Impact:
2.4 kgs CO2 per week, or 123 kgs CO2 per year: the equivalent of over 8 trees.
My personal sustainability action was
I stopped taking lifts and started taking the bus.
Why did you make this change?
It didn’t make sense to me why I would travel by car when the damage it does to the environment is so evident. It’s wasteful, considering the damage petrol and pollution does. It’s also healthier and more convenient for me – I don’t have to wait on anyone to be available.
The impact of the change
I’ve gained much more independence – I can travel where and when I like. It’s also given me a much better understanding of Dublin geographically; you can spend your whole life somewhere and not know one end from another when you rely on other people to drive you.
Tips and advice for sustainability actions
As simple as it may sound, get a Leap Card. The city’s public transport may not be the best in the world, but it’s well connected when you have the right tools available.
Bus travel is sustainable travel – and it’s getting ever more so
Maeve is a recently graduated Engineer. At the moment she is working part time she uses the bus multiple times per week to make a variety of journeys, but on average she says that she spends about 2 hours journeying by bus per week traveling 28kms (the journey from her home to the city is 7 kms and takes 30 minutes by bus.
If we take it that most of the time, duration of a direct bus journey is similar to a direct car journey (bus lanes speed up bus journeys. Cars have to find parking, which in the city takes time, but cars do not stop to pick up passengers.
The estimated gCO2 per km are 120.4g CO2 for a petrol car, and 35.98 gCO2 per passenger on a diesel bus in Dublin [1]. This means that Maeve saves 84.42gCO2 per kilometre travelled by bus: a total of 2.4 kgs CO2 per week or a really whopping 123 kgs CO2 per year.
As bus companies change to Electric and other sustainable fuels, Maeve’s bus journey will become even more carbon free.
NTA Announces Historic Agreement for 800 Battery-Electric Double-Deck Buses 13TH JUNE 2022
[1] From O’Riordan V, Rogan F, Uidhir TM, Ó Gallachóir B, Daly H. Passenger transport demand, fuel consumption, and emissions data for the Irish Passenger Transport Emissions and Mobility (IPTEM) model. Data Brief. 2022 Apr 11;42:108154. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2022.108154. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9043639/
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