joeSoap
25/04/2005, 1:20 PM
Car commuters in grip of gridlock for years to come
THE commuting nightmare for motorists which has slowed rush-hour car journeys almost to walking speed on key Dublin approaches is to continue and worsen for many years, the city's director of traffic admitted yesterday.
As new figures show the average car journey time is now less than 14kmh (under 9mph), Owen Keegan frankly admitted yesterday there was no solution in the short or even medium term. Matters are even going to get worse for drivers.
An exasperated Mr Keegan revealed that:
Huge chunks of road space - 50pc - are shortly to be allocated for bus lanes, even though Dublin Bus has no extra buses ready to put on them.
Chronic delays on the M50 are going to worsen during upgrade works on the M50 for at least two years.
Government "paralysis" over deregulation of the Dublin bus market is preventing Dublin Bus from getting the extra buses it so badly needs.
"I can't see how there is going to be any improvement in car commuting in Dublin in the short to medium term," Mr Keegan told the Irish Independent yesterday.
"It has been steadily getting worse. Where is the improvement going to come from? I honestly cannot see any great relief."
Drivers, currently taking 67 minutes to travel just seven miles into Dublin city, are in for even longer journey times.
"The existing road space that is there is going to be reduced. If we open a quality bus corridor you take 50pc of the road space and you have one lane for buses and one for cars instead of two," said Mr Keegan.
In a controversial outburst, the traffic supremo accused the Government of "complete paralysis", similar to the Aer Rianta and airport debacles, regarding the deregulation of the Dublin bus market.
The Government was refusing to give Dublin Bus any extra buses until deregulation was sorted out for fear of giving the company a commercial advantage over other operators.
It was not Government policy, he pointed out, to improve the lot of motorists. Their policy was to improve all other modes of transport, thereby encouraging motorists to leave cars at home.
He said allocating road space in favour of buses was "entirely defensible" given the huge amounts of commuters that can be carried on buses instead of cars. But it needed extra buses.
Car commuting was "a bit like unemployment" and people "would not endure endless delays" and would respond by changing modes of transport, he predicted.
Mr Keegan supported in theory the introduction of London-style congestion charges to stop cars coming into the city. In a "win-win" situation, the charge would apply to those wishing to drive into a zone around the city. It therefore would reduce the number of cars by encouraging people to use public transport and free up congestion for those determined to drive.
Figures from the Dublin Transportation Office (DTO) recorded before the metric changeover showed the average speed from the capital's suburbs into the city centre ranged from 7mph (11.47kmh) for Ballymun, to 7.8mph ( 2.58kmh) for Monkstown.
On the notorious N4 route from Lucan to the city centre, where it recently could take 2.5 hours to travel just six miles into the city, the average speed was 8mph (12.8kmh).
Journey times last year were 15 minutes slower than in 2003.
The speed on the M50 averaged 44kmh (27.7mph) going north and 42.4kmh (26.5mph) heading south. The road has a speed limit of 120kmh.
A nine-mile route starting and ending at the Custom House recorded a walking speed for cars during the busy morning peak. The journey time recorded by the DTO stood at just 10.15kmh (6.3mph), a fall from 6.6mph in 2003.
Mr Keegan also said even if a Metro is announced it would be a number of years before it is built.
The DTO figures showed that at 8am a journey from Tallaght to O'Connell Bridge via Harold's Cross took 67 minutes, 15 minutes slower than in 2003.
THE commuting nightmare for motorists which has slowed rush-hour car journeys almost to walking speed on key Dublin approaches is to continue and worsen for many years, the city's director of traffic admitted yesterday.
As new figures show the average car journey time is now less than 14kmh (under 9mph), Owen Keegan frankly admitted yesterday there was no solution in the short or even medium term. Matters are even going to get worse for drivers.
An exasperated Mr Keegan revealed that:
Huge chunks of road space - 50pc - are shortly to be allocated for bus lanes, even though Dublin Bus has no extra buses ready to put on them.
Chronic delays on the M50 are going to worsen during upgrade works on the M50 for at least two years.
Government "paralysis" over deregulation of the Dublin bus market is preventing Dublin Bus from getting the extra buses it so badly needs.
"I can't see how there is going to be any improvement in car commuting in Dublin in the short to medium term," Mr Keegan told the Irish Independent yesterday.
"It has been steadily getting worse. Where is the improvement going to come from? I honestly cannot see any great relief."
Drivers, currently taking 67 minutes to travel just seven miles into Dublin city, are in for even longer journey times.
"The existing road space that is there is going to be reduced. If we open a quality bus corridor you take 50pc of the road space and you have one lane for buses and one for cars instead of two," said Mr Keegan.
In a controversial outburst, the traffic supremo accused the Government of "complete paralysis", similar to the Aer Rianta and airport debacles, regarding the deregulation of the Dublin bus market.
The Government was refusing to give Dublin Bus any extra buses until deregulation was sorted out for fear of giving the company a commercial advantage over other operators.
It was not Government policy, he pointed out, to improve the lot of motorists. Their policy was to improve all other modes of transport, thereby encouraging motorists to leave cars at home.
He said allocating road space in favour of buses was "entirely defensible" given the huge amounts of commuters that can be carried on buses instead of cars. But it needed extra buses.
Car commuting was "a bit like unemployment" and people "would not endure endless delays" and would respond by changing modes of transport, he predicted.
Mr Keegan supported in theory the introduction of London-style congestion charges to stop cars coming into the city. In a "win-win" situation, the charge would apply to those wishing to drive into a zone around the city. It therefore would reduce the number of cars by encouraging people to use public transport and free up congestion for those determined to drive.
Figures from the Dublin Transportation Office (DTO) recorded before the metric changeover showed the average speed from the capital's suburbs into the city centre ranged from 7mph (11.47kmh) for Ballymun, to 7.8mph ( 2.58kmh) for Monkstown.
On the notorious N4 route from Lucan to the city centre, where it recently could take 2.5 hours to travel just six miles into the city, the average speed was 8mph (12.8kmh).
Journey times last year were 15 minutes slower than in 2003.
The speed on the M50 averaged 44kmh (27.7mph) going north and 42.4kmh (26.5mph) heading south. The road has a speed limit of 120kmh.
A nine-mile route starting and ending at the Custom House recorded a walking speed for cars during the busy morning peak. The journey time recorded by the DTO stood at just 10.15kmh (6.3mph), a fall from 6.6mph in 2003.
Mr Keegan also said even if a Metro is announced it would be a number of years before it is built.
The DTO figures showed that at 8am a journey from Tallaght to O'Connell Bridge via Harold's Cross took 67 minutes, 15 minutes slower than in 2003.