ESRI suggests charge for cars driving into Dublin city centre

Charging cars for access to Dublin city, large increases in parking fees and an efficient park-and-ride system are among the recommendations of a new ESRI profile of the Dublin region. The report, "Analysis Of The Economic, Employment And Social Profile of the Greater Dublin Region", says the pressure on existing infrastructure in the Dublin region is "now so great the additional investment in infrastructure is urgently required".

Though it acknowledges planned infrastructure increases in the National Development Plan, it says delays in its implementation "are likely to occur". "There is therefore a need for other measures such as congestion pricing [charging for vehicle access to the city] which are likely to affect the behaviour of individuals and business."

The public transport system has not kept up with the demands placed on it by a growth in population from 1.4 million in 1996 to a projected 1.6 million in 2006, says the report's author, Mr Edgar Morgenroth.

It is "either seen as impractical, expensive and unreliable".

The proportion of people driving a car to work has increased in Dublin from 45.1 per cent in 1996 to 50.3 per cent last year. In the mid-east region - Kildare, Blanchardstown, identified as a region from which a high proportion commute to Dublin to work - the proportion travelling by car has increased from 51.8 per cent to 59.7 per cent. At the same time the proportion using public transport and cycling has decreased.

The proportion travelling by bus in Dublin fell from 17 per cent in 1996 to 16.1 per cent last year and the numbers cycling from 5.6 per cent to 3.7 per cent.

The proportion travelling from the mid-east who use buses has fallen from 4.8 per cent to 4.6 per cent and the proportion cycling from 2.7 per cent to 1 per cent. Car-based commuting generates a higher level of pollution per person than any other form of land transport, according to the report.

"Furthermore, this increase in car usage also increases congestion, which reduces the usefulness of roads, increases the cost of transport to the individual . . . through higher fuel costs and longer time spent travelling and increases transport costs to industry, making Ireland less competitive."

Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, Mr Morgenroth said charging for access to the city centre had been very successful in Singapore where there had been "a severe problem with traffic".

"For relatively little cost you can have a fairly sophisticated system. It could be staggered so that charges were higher at peak times, which could distribute the flow of traffic into the city centre."

The charges should be sufficiently high to discourage people bringing their cars into the city centre.

Calling this a "politically unlikely runner", he said the next best option would be higher charges for parking, again sufficiently high to discourage people bringing their cars into the city centre.

He also said an efficient park-and-ride system should be provided.

While traffic commuting to the city centre moved relatively freely for the start of their journeys the "real nightmare" began at the city's outer boundaries.

He said a network of secure car-parks at the boundaries, with frequent buses to the city centre, would take "a huge number" of cars of central Dublin's roads.