Impressions of Sustainable Transport Design in Dublin and Antwerp
It’s not uncommon in the United States to hear admiration for the high-speed trains and cycling cultures of European cities. With public transport becoming increasingly important in the context of carbon emissions, I wanted to learn more about what makes these systems so effective. With the support of the Nanovic Institute, I was able to document and explore these questions firsthand to inform the design of better transport back home.
The ability of trains and buses to act as meeting places and environments for more direct social interaction are essential to their place in the cultural rhythms of a city.
The first half of my study looked at Dublin, which lies in the middle of the spectrum of transportation development. On my first day, I rode the city’s two tram lines, the Luas Red and the Luas Green, to their endpoints. I observed the tram to facilitate social interaction: people getting on and meeting their friends a few stops later, coworkers riding together on the way home after work, and families venturing into the city center for shopping trips. The ability of trains and buses to act as meeting places and environments for more direct social interaction are essential to their place in the cultural rhythms of a city.
The next day, I woke up early to catch the morning commute in Ballymun, a disadvantaged suburb of North Dublin with a high migrant population. I went to explore how transit infrastructure serves the poorest parts of a city. What I found was eye-opening: poorly lit, monolithic bus stations devoid of signage or art, trash and broken glass littering the area nearby, and walls between social housing divisions and the road where the bus passed. These issues diminish the perceived safety of waiting for the bus, especially for women and the elderly, and present obstacles to accessing the station. Comparing my experience in Ballymun and other disadvantaged neighborhoods with those in wealthier areas, I found these problems to be much more pervasive in the former.
While Dublin is more sprawled and less developed in its transportation infrastructure compared to similarly sized European cities, impressive progress and new projects promise to transition the city toward a more sustainable future. By comparison, Antwerp’s transport systems are more developed: the city is more condensed, has 14 tram/pre-metro lines that extend far outside the city center, and is the 4th best cycling city globally, according to the Copenhagen Index.
Trams made not having a car not only possible, but easy.
The tram system in Antwerp is fundamental to the lives of its residents, taking the place of buses as in Dublin. In the bitter cold mornings, commuters met friends on the walk to tram stops. In the afternoons, parents met their children at school and rode back home with them, crowding the carriages with strollers and the sounds of screaming kids. Venturing out to the city’s park-and-ride facilities, I saw how commuters in the suburbs could safely park their car or bike and easily switch to the tram to get into the inner-city. Trams made not having a car not only possible, but easy.
However, these systems were not perfect. Many of the biggest stations that intercept multiple train lines lacked elevators and working escalators, making access difficult for mothers with children, the elderly, and the disabled. Bike parking near stations, especially in the disadvantaged areas like Seefhoek, was inadequate and resulted in dozens of bikes locked to fences and signposts. I also found that the density of stops was too high, especially outside the inner-city, resulting in exceedingly long commute times. Experiencing this firsthand helped clarify what Antwerp’s transport objectives define as their main issue: transit system efficiency and interconnectivity between different modes.
The fastest and easiest way to get around Antwerp was undoubtedly by bike. Thousands of cyclists take to the streets during commute periods and dedicated bike lanes exist on almost every major street, while smaller roads and neighborhoods have special demarcated roads, called Fietsstraat, where cars are not allowed to pass cyclists. Large and secure bike parking facilities exist around the city, and cheap bike rentals are available on every block. Overall, I felt Antwerp truly cares for its cyclists like few other cities.
In many ways, Antwerp serves as a model for transit design globally, but there is still progress to be made. I look forward to seeing how the planned transport policies streamline mobility and make these systems more effective for everyone.
Cian Gross '26 is a Notre Dame student from Woodstock, Illinois, majoring in Environmental Engineering and minoring in Energy Studies. He is currently an undergraduate research assistant for the Atmospheric Modeling Group on campus, and in past summers he has served as a Project Development Engineer intern for Envelop Group and a Sustainability intern for the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County. In Winter 2025, he traveled to Belgium and Ireland with support from the Nanovic Institute to study public transportation systems.
Originally published by at nanovic.nd.edu on March 18, 2026.