- by Bill Bunson
Dublin car numbers exceed 2016 prediction
24 February 2003: Traffic in Dublin is now so bad that car numbers have already exceeded alarming levels predicted for 2016.
Since 1997, car numbers in the capital have doubled. They are now at 600,000. And they are projected to rise to 700,000 within three to four years.
The so-called boom, the parallel increase in population. The jobs boom, plus a significant increase in population, has sparked a huge rise in car ownership. As many people now own a car as the statistics people expected would do so in twelve years time.
The problem is concentrated in the greater Dublin area. There are now 720,000 at work in the capital - up from 452,000 in 1991. And that, inevitably in the absence of a proper public transport system, has led to massive commuter congestion.
Senior members of the Dublin Transportation Office say no one could have forecast the gridlock because no-one could have anticipated that Ireland would have nearly ten years of double-digit growth from 1993.
Apparently the DTO's traffic predictions for 2001 had to be lowered because people told them they were crazy and that they were off the wall with their original predictions.
Car use for morning commuter travel was expected to reach 488,000 journeys by 2016, but is already at 428,000, according to figures prepared by the DTO.
While car use has increased by 100 percent in five years, Dublin Bus passengers are up by 40percent in the same period. But public transport has only increased its share of the commuting market by 2percent relative to the private car since 1997.
* 600,000 cars are used in the Greater Dublin Area. Expect another 100,000 in 3-4 years.
* Most people use a car to get around the city. Around 300,000 are used during morning peak times.
* Personal journeys into Dublin have soared from 172,000 in 1991, to 250,000 in 1997, 428,000 in 2001, and will reach 580,000 in 2016.
* Numbers using Dublin Bus are up by over 40 percent. Almost 100,000 (19%) of morning peak commuters now take one to travel to work.
* Some 4percent of people cycle to work while 11percent choose to walk.
The DTO says the DART service needs to be improved to reduce dependency on private cars from those commuting from Dundalk, Drogheda, and Balbriggan to the city centre corridor.
There is also an urgent need for a separate Metro line from the city centre to Dublin Airport.
There is enormous potential to develop rail services along the routes from Maynooth, Kildare, Drogheda and Arklow.
©2003 irishcar.com