ALMOST 3,700 more cars were driven into Dublin city during the daily morning peak period last year than during the same time four years ago, according to Dublin City Council figures.
The council’s annual traffic count shows a 12 per cent decrease in cars entering the city each morning over the last 10 years.
However, following a low of 60,600 cars making the morning 7am-10am commute in 2005, car traffic increased to 64,254 last year.
Increasing car usage coincides with a fall in buses coming into town in the morning last year for the first time in more than a decade. Some 5 per cent fewer Dublin Bus vehicles entered the city in the mornings last year than in 2008, according to the council’s statistics. The dip follows a steady increase in services since 1998.
The development of the quality bus corridor (QBC) system has helped the progress of buses into the city, with a 13 per cent increase in Dublin buses entering the city on QBC routes in 2004-2009.
The dedication of traffic lanes to buses has not unduly impeded motorists over the same period. The number of cars passing into the city on QBC routes increased by over 3.4 per cent in 2004-2009, while the number of cars entering on non-QBC routes was just slightly higher, having increased by 4.4 per cent in the same period.
The council’s figures show a huge increase in cycling. Over the 10-year period from 1999, the number of cyclists commuting into the city in the morning increased by 27 per cent. The greatest increase was in the 2004-2009 period where numbers increased by 74 per cent from 3,941 to 6,853. From 2008 to 2009, there was a 12 per cent increase in cyclists.
The number of pedestrians walking into town, 7am-10am, has decreased by 17 per cent in the last 10 years. However this drop would be considerably higher were it not for an 18 per cent increase between 2008 and 2009.
The count of vehicles is taken at each road into the centre between a cordon stretching from the Royal Canal to the Grand Canal from 7am to 10am.
