The cost of traffic congestion in Galway will be equivalent to almost €1,000 per year for every one of its inhabitants by 2040, a new Department of Transport report suggests.
The report suggests there will be substantial increases to the cost of congestion in Cork and Waterford too, with a doubling overall across the three metropolitan areas.
The greatest impact to be felt in Galway, however, where the cost per head of population will reach €891 if action is not taken, well ahead of the equivalent figures for Cork and Waterford at €309 and €207 respectively and almost on a par with Dublin, where it is estimated the economic cost is set to be €1,047 per year in 15 years’ time.
The Economic Cost of Congestion in the Regional Cities 2022-2040 report suggests the combined cost of traffic congestion in the three metropolitan areas will increase from €98.6 million in 2022 to €226.5 million in 2040 with the cost in Galway expected to more than treble from €35.3 million to €106.9 million.
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A similar report for Dublin published in December 2023 suggested the cost of congestion in the capital had been €336 million in 2022 and was on course to reach €1.5 billion in 15 years’ time.
All of the figures involved are at 2016 prices, when an earlier study was conducted, and are based on current plans and policies.
In the new report, Galway also stands out due to the expectation its congestion problems will be more spread across the day, more than doubling at lunchtime, rather than being driven to a substantial extent, as in the other cities observed, by worsening problems during rush hours, especially the morning one.
“Travel patterns in Galway will be different to other cities due to the employment patterns and industry and increasing share of congestion experienced by goods vehicles,” the report says.
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The authors suggest significant infrastructure projects currently in the pipeline, particularly in Cork, will deliver some benefits over the latter half of this decade but that congestion and the costs associated with it will then start to rise more quickly again during the 2030s.
“Results show that planned transport interventions in each city’s transport strategies will have an impact in reducing the overall cost of congestion. However, they are not sufficient to offset most of the increased cost, which is driven by factors such as population, employment and economic growth.”
Government projections for the three cities suggest they will experience an increase in population of almost 150,000, an increase of about 40 per cent on current numbers.
The report suggests a variety of mitigating actions could help reduce the impact with greater numbers of people working from home potentially reducing the cost involved by between 21 per cent and 31 per cent by 2040.
It says, however, that increased public and active transport options will be needed to curb the scale of the increases.
A key difference between the regional cities and Dublin, it suggests, is the greater proportion of private cars involved outside of the capital, 75 per cent of vehicles involved, compared with 48 per cent, with lower figures for public transport, cycling and walking.
“This reflects the insufficient scale and coverage of the public-transport network as well as poor frequency and accessibility in regional cities,” the report finds. “These results indicate that road space may be occupied by single- or low-occupancy vehicles and reducing private cars from the road will be a key measure to reduce congestion in regional cities.”
The findings will are expected to influence policymaking at the department in the coming years.
