Sir, - Dr Martin O'Boyle's letter of January 10th expresses doubts about the figures contained in the AA's recent statement on the car population of Dublin as compared to that of other European cities.
Dr O'Boyle first questions why the chart accompanying the article contained only ten of the cities on the survey. It should be said that the chart was not prepared by the AA; we released the data on all sixteen cities in table form.
The AA took the population of Dublin city and county as 1,056,666 which is the figure from the census of last April. The total number of private cars in Dublin is 331,248 according to the most recent Bulletin of Vehicle and Driver Statistics. Divide one into the other and you get 3.18 people for every car in Dublin, not three to eighteen as the article suggested. I can accept some measure of responsibility for this as our original press release could have been clearer.
That ratio of people to cars ranks Dublin as the second least car populated city on a survey which included 14 EU capitals (the Netherlands was the exception) and the Swiss cities of Bern and Zurich. Copenhagen had marginally fewer cars, most cities had many more.
Based on these data, the AA makes the observation that one can hardly blame Dublin's car numbers for congestion. Other cities cope perfectly well with many more motorists. The difference has to be the availability of good quality public transport, especially for commuters.
The excellent success of Operation Freeflow, for which we whole heartedly congratulate Dublin Corporation and the Gardai, demonstrates that when properly managed Dublin call cope with its cars. One must look elsewhere to find the villain of the piece. - Yours etc.
Public Affairs Manager, The Automobile Association, Blackrock, Co Dublin.
The chart, prepared by The Irish Times, was incorrect. It stated that it showed total numbers of vehicles but actually showed populations. Thus, Dublin was shown incorrectly to have approximately one million vehicles, instead of approximately one million people. Apologies for the confusion - Ed, IT.