Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Traffic congestion in Dublin, in particular in the city centre, has become a major problem for commuters, businesses and residents. It has impacted on the city by increasing travel times and imposes a negative cost on job growth and productivity. It may also result in increased carbon dioxide emissions. Restricting the use of private cars at College Green at peak times has resulted in minor improvements in traffic flow in the area, as did the new traffic arrangements on the north and south city centre quays. Commuting across the city has proved to be a nightmare for commuters who have to cross it to travel to work. There seems to have been very disjointed thinking in the delivery of public transport services in the city centre. Dublin Bus has greater capacity, but the Luas has dominance when it comes to infrastructure. Congestion in the city centre, even on a normal day, can cause the traffic to back up as far away as Finglas, Ballymun, Santry and Drumcondra. Traffic in Dublin can come to a virtual standstill if there is an unplanned incident such as a breakdown or a collision or as a consequence of harsh weather conditions.

There are plans to alleviate the congestion. Metro north was originally part of Transport 2021 which was announced in 2005. It was expected to carry roughly 35 million passengers a year and take 120 million km of car journeys off the roads. It was also intended to supply a vital link to the main airport from across the city. However, the Taoiseach suspended the plan in 2011 when he was Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. At that stage, €200 million had already been spent without a single passenger having been moved or a single track laid. Metro north is now part of the national planning framework and the national development plan with a new completion date of 2027. That will not solve the current congestion problem, although it might go towards doing so in the future.

It seems to be a question of nothing being done now and it all being left to the future. What we really need is an effort to tackle the obvious problems facing commuters. They include park and ride and set-down facilities at stations such as Broombridge and the provision of feeder buses to and from the surrounding areas.

Another obvious issue is the M50 which resembles a car park at peak hours. Previously, there were plans to build an outer ring road to take traffic off the M50 at an earlier stage. This project must be reconsidered.

Traffic in Dublin will not improve; it will only get worse. What is needed is a fit-for-purpose traffic management plan to remove cars from the roads and that will concentrate on developing our public transport services. I remember the rolling out of BusConnect with great fanfare. Three routes had been identified and bendy buses were going to be used. The Minister might remember that we talked about this in the past. Bus services must be enhanced. Buses have been taken out of areas in which a lot of senior citizens live. They are not profitable routes, but we cannot simply walk away from people in that way. We must enhance services in these areas. There is a level crossing in Ashtown which is mechanically driven. That makes no sense and holds up traffic heading out into the country. We must look at cycle ways to a greater extent. The Minister has talked about the route along the Royal Canal, the likes of which will help to bring more traffic into the city on bicycles or even on foot. These are some of the ideas that could help address the traffic issue.

See this speech in context