Limerick students pedal a smarter way to travel

LIMERICK, Ireland - Dec. 1, 2014 - PRLog -- A group of Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) students have narrowly missed out on claiming the top prize in a competition recognising third level campuses that go the extra mile to promote sustainable travel.

Limerick Smarter Travel hosted the National Transport Authority's prize giving event for Limerick entrants to the Student Cycling Challenge on Wednesday (26th November).

The aim of the Challenge, which is open to all campuses who are partners of the Smarter Travel Campus Programme, is to clock up as many cycle trips as possible over the ten-day challenge.

LIT's Biotech Team came in second position in the national event having clocked up 371 trips, narrowly missing out on first position by eight trips to UCD’s Victorious Vets.

There was further success for Limerick entries however, with Ciara Meikle from University of Limerick winning the Best New Cyclist Story Category. Ciara, referring to herself as "a born-again cyclist", wrote about how the Student Cycling Challenge helped her to rediscover her love for cycling.

UL also won Best Campus Award for the highest weighting of trips across all students participating from their campus. Meanwhile, Limerick Smarter Travel Coordinators, Ross Higgins and Sean Collins won the Best Campus Implementation Team Award in recognition of their promotional work and efforts to motivate UL students to get involved in the Challenge.

Commenting on the Student Cycling Challenge, Pat O'Neill, Project Manager, Limerick Smarter Travel said: "Limerick Smarter Travel is continually looking at new and innovative ways of encouraging commuters and residents of Limerick City to consider alternative methods of transport. The Student Cycling Challenge is an excellent initiative as it encourages students to consider using their bikes when travelling to and from college as well as during their day-to-day lives."

Limerick Smarter Travel, co-funded by the ERDF and DTTAS, is in its third year and won the 2014 National Chamber Excellence in Local Government Award for Smarter Travel.

Other Student Cycling Challenge winners:
•    Social media prize draw: Sofie Dragsted, Awesome Wheels UL
•    Spot prize for being in the top 20 teams on the final leaderboard: The Blackberries UL (captain: George Laskos)
•    Spot prize for being in the top 20 teams on the final leaderboard: Windmill Swag UL, University of Limerick (captain: Adrian Kelly)
•    Best team member runners up: Eadaoin Slattery, University of Limerick
•    Best team member runners up: Kieran Ralph, University of Limerick
•    Photo comp runners up: SLTS2B, University of Limerick (captain: Hannah Pfaff)
•    Photo comp runners up: Pedal Pushers, University of Limerick (captain: Eoin O’Callaghan)
•    Social media prize draw: Sofie Dragsted, Awesome Wheels UL, University of Limerick
•    Spot prize for being in the top 20 teams on the final leaderboard: The Blackberries UL, University of Limerick (captain: George Laskos)
•    Spot prize for being in the top 20 teams on the final leaderboard: Windmill Swag UL, University of Limerick (captain: Adrian Kelly)
•    Best team member runners up: Eadaoin Slattery, University of Limerick
•    Best team member runners up: Kieran Ralph, University of Limerick
•    Photo comp runners up: SLTS2B, University of Limerick (captain: Hannah Pfaff)
•    Photo comp runners up: Pedal Pushers, University of Limerick (captain: Eoin O’Callaghan).