Journey Times Fall Amid First Phase Of Traffic Changes In Dublin City Centre

Private car use in Dublin has dropped significantly due to changes to traffic flow on the quays under the Dublin City Transport Plan.

The National Transport Authority hosted their first meeting yesterday to monitor the implementation of the new traffic measures on the city centre quays

According to a recent survey, there has been a 60% drop in private car use on the quays, with 400 less cars per hour going through the city.

The breakdown reveals 270 less cars an hour on average on the south quays and 170 less an hour on the north quays.

The meeting also heard there have been improvements for public transport, with an 11% increase on the number of people using it since August 25.

The NTA also highlighted that public transport journey times have reduced by roughly 24% over the past month on both the north and south quays.

Dublin Lord Mayor James Geoghegan said: “We heard from the NTA, who indicated that their data shows public transport journey times have reduced by over 20pc on routes which include the north and south quays.

“Several retail and business representative associations were present and Dublin Town, who deploy footfall counters throughout the city, indicated that footfall in the city has, in fact, increased in the month of September during the period of the traffic plan’s introduction,” he said.

For the past month, traffic has been blocked between 7am and 7pm from passing O’Connell Bridge on the north and south quays.

“Representatives from Disability Persons Organisations were also present, and proposals were put forward about blue badge holders being able to access routes where bus gates are present. The NTA committed to exploring this proposal.” the Lord Mayor added.