Commuting

Brave New Post Lockdown World: Same Office, Different River?

Ciaran Ward on November 6, 2021, 8:38 am

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In the early 2000s, TV viewers were invited to see the funny side of the drudgery and monotony of the white-collar workplace. The Office starring Ricky Gervais as David Brent, a deluded manager at a regional branch of paper merchant’s firm Wernham Hogg cashed in on the then-new trend for reality TV, presenting itself as a fly-on-the-wall “mockumentary” and revelling in the incidents of social awkwardness, gaffes, flirtations, clashes of egos and professional rivalries which permeate workplaces throughout the world. If …

Bike to School Week is a sick joke…

Brian O'Neill on September 27, 2021, 12:53 pm

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Today is the start of bike to school week. Or a more realistic name for it would be watch your child die under the wheels of a car week. I am a cyclist but the last thing I would ever do is bring my child out on the roads of Belfast. The cycle lane infrastructure in Belfast and throughout Northern Ireland is absolutely pathetic. In Belfast there are only 2 miles of protected cycle lanes in the whole city. The …

People need to want to go to Belfast City Centre, not be forced to…

Brian O'Neill on August 20, 2021, 8:39 am

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As the Chief Executive of the Belfast Chamber of Commerce, it is Simon Hamilton’s job to fight for the success of Belfast City Centre. In an article for the Belfast Telegraph, he warned that working from home could turn central Belfast into a ghost town. For those of us who grew up during the troubles, this was the default state of the city centre for decades. Great coverage in today’s @BelTel of @BelfastChamber’s ‘Returning to the Office’ survey. The findings …

With the opening of a new 575 space car park in Belfast City Centre can we remove 575 on street car parking spaces and replace them with bike lanes?

Brian O'Neill on September 16, 2020, 6:52 pm

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2020 has not been a good year for the McCausland family. Firstly they own Value Cabs, which has been hit hard by COVID, then they open up a new car park just as the city has record low levels of commuters. I am sure all of you working from home really miss having to pay £20 a day to park in Belfast. Still, they have been in business over 100 years so I imagine this too shall pass for them. …

#TheReset – Belfast City Centre’s loss is the rest of Northern Ireland’s gain…

Brian O'Neill on September 4, 2020, 8:02 am

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I have not been in the City Centre since February and to be honest, I have no desire to rush back anytime soon. Even before the pandemic, it was not a great experience – noisy, dirty, lots of traffic, a harsh natureless environment, a notable increase in beggars and addicts. It is a pity because having a wander around the city centre was an activity that many of us grew up on. But lately, it has lost its attraction. Of …

#InConversation podcast with Greg Keeffe from Queen’s about rebuilding our cities and societies after Covid-19…

Brian O'Neill on August 15, 2020, 7:47 am

| Readers 381

Greg is one of my favourite guests. He is a very imaginative thinker who really makes you see the world in a new light. He has a very down to earth casual manner that explains complex topics is an accessible way. You will be guaranteed to learn something interesting from our chat. Greg is Head of the School of Natural and Built Environment. He is an academic and urban designer with 25 years of experience. In this podcast we chat …

The sunday debate – tell us about your commute to work…

Brian O'Neill on October 1, 2017, 1:34 pm

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In the bar last night I was talking with a guy who lives in Belfast but works in Swords in North County Dublin. He commutes around 3 hours 10mins a day, nearly 16 hours a week. He is up at 6am leaves the house at 6:30am and is in work for around 8am. He leaves work at 4 and is back home around 5:45pm. When I looked at him in amazement he said that is nothing, there is a guy in his firm commuting …

We need to remove the Translink monopoly on bus routes to deal with congestion and get people out of their cars…

Brian O'Neill on August 2, 2017, 5:02 pm

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If you commute into Belfast by car, you will know it is a pretty hellish experience. Congestion is getting worse. At peak times the Westlink is like a car park. Trains are already at capacity, so the best option is to increase bus usage. The Guardian has this to say about the benefits of bus services in England: The M25 has 790 miles of lanes. If these are used by cars carrying the average load of 1.6 occupants, at 60mph …

Corbyn, the man who can’t even find a properly busy train in the UK:

Pádraig Belton on August 23, 2016, 4:15 pm

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CCTV photographs show Corbyn’s photograph sitting on the floor of a ‘ram-packed’ train actually was staged on a train full of unreserved seats – including the one he went back to sit in after. Virgin’s press release: ‘Seats were available on the train in which Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn was filmed sitting on the floor, Virgin Trains has found.’ ‘CCTV footage taken from the train on August 11 shows Mr Corbyn and his team walked past empty, unreserved seats in …