Ireland's State of the Environment Report 2024

299 Chapter 11: Environment and Transport The simulation does not assume that vehicles are electric; thus, supplying electric shared mobility options could cut emissions even further (ITF, 2018). Another study shows that the introduction of shared cars in Dublin, assuming a certain level of uptake and that all vehicles would be electric, could save emissions of 84 kt CO 2 eq annually (Rabbitt and Ghosh, 2016). The Yuko scheme in Dublin was found to decrease emissions and reduce car ownership (Caulfield and Kehoe, 2021). Over recent years the number of shared bike schemes across the country has grown substantially. Each of the five cities in Ireland now has a shared bike scheme, and many of the larger towns across the country are introducing similar schemes. In addition to systems already available, such as docked or dockless e-bikes and e-scooters, new solutions such as e-mobility hubs are being tested. The hubs centralise the availability of various forms of micromobility and electric cars, often interconnected through a unified digital platform. Such solutions are currently being tested in Ireland in projects including eHUBS (Interreg NWE, 2023), TRACT (SEAI, 2023a) and ROBUST (SEAI, 2023b). Freight transport. A particularly difficult challenge for decarbonising the transport sector has been encountered in the haulage and heavy goods road freight sector, which, together with emissions from the light commercial vehicle fleet, accounts for 43% of total transport emissions. Collectively, the commercial goods fleet comprises over 385,000 commercial vehicles (as at end December 2021), of which approximately 40,000 are HGVs, which are heavily reliant on diesel fuel for their operation (Topic Box 11.3). Topic Box 11.3  Freight transport Integrating road, rail and maritime freight transport The optimal strategy for freight transport is to integrate road freight, rail and maritime transport and to shift economic incentives to favour rail freight (OECD, 2021). The All-Island Strategic Rail Review (DoT and DfI, 2024) and earlier Rail Freight 2040 Strategy (Irish Rail, 2021) propose to integrate rail in more pronounced ways into existing freight corridors. The rail review (DoT and DfI, 2023) aims to increase rail freight’s share of total freight transport to 10%, from a current historical low of below 1% of total tonne-kilometres. The proposed recommendations include creating a sustainable first mile–last mile access system for Dublin Port, lowering track access charges for freight services, enhancing rail connections to major ports, and establishing a network of inland terminals near major cities on the rail network. The estimated reduction in emissions resulting from these changes is not known. Nevertheless, Irish Rail estimates show that rail freight produces 76% less emissions per tonne-kilometre than road transport even if not electrified (Irish Rail, 2021), and thus the savings are likely to be substantial. This is a long-term plan and it will be important to monitor and evaluate progress to ensure effective and timely delivery. New last-mile delivery options For the last mile of delivery, e-cargo bikes, which are designed for transporting heavy loads, are equipped with an electric battery to reduce the physical strain on the rider. Given that a substantial amount of the transport of goods by HGVs occurs within urban areas, identifying an alternative such as e-cargo bikes is crucial for reducing traffic congestion. These bikes are versatile and suitable for various urban freight needs, including postal deliveries (Topic Box 11.4), food and drink deliveries, and essential service maintenance (Blazejewski et al. , 2020). Internationally, e-cargo and cargo bikes are commonly used for last-mile deliveries, moving goods from city hubs, micro-hubs or directly from local businesses to customers (Büttgen et al. , 2021; Katsela et al. , 2022). A recent simulation for Padua suggests that using e-cargo bikes for last-mile deliveries could reduce costs by 27–45% and emissions by 71–79% and also shorten delivery times in the case of e-cargo bikes (Ceccato and Gastaldi, 2023). Research indicates that infrastructure improvements, such as segregated cycling lanes that can make deliveries by e-cargo bikes more efficient than vans and trucks, are expected to increase uptake. Other infrastructure improvements include better parking facilities and improved access for cargo bikes (Sherriff et al. , 2023).