A Dublino non verranno introdotte tasse sulla congestione, nonostante il peggioramento del traffico

Menawhile…Dart+, Metro Link, LUAS expansion, bus connects corridors all chugging along at a snails pace despite a lot of shovel ready aspects…

Good. A far better approach (if you insist on using a stuck in the first place) is to remove them entirely from, say, 20%, of city centre streets, then gradually increase that percentage until it’s, say, 80%.

Our lazy government should be looking at the ATM trams used in san Francisco and Milan. Fantastic system that criss crosses both cities. This system would be far cheaper then a luas to install and could be used to link busses, trains and the luas.

The ATMs could run down narrow streets right through the city center linking all areas at a fast pace. This system could even be used in the suburban setting like Tallaght. Linking the shopping center, Tallaght village, big estates and clondalkin village.

How about forcing or incentivising employers to go back to WFH practices for at least 2-3 days a week? This should be doable for firms which require employees to come in to attend calls on Teams or Zoom.

Everything has noticeably changed since the return to office agenda started.

Everyone agrees it is prudent to use less resources (fossil fuels and electricity) and yet here we are.

The most important figure that isn’t being shared is the efficiency of the bus network.

Traffic doesn’t just delay buses, it reduces their carrying capacity.

A Bus that was so delayed by traffic that it misses its departure at the terminus gets cancelled and drops off the Real Time (A ghost bus).

But lets not for get that that’s a bus load of people now being squeezed onto the following service. Which causes buses to fill up faster than anticipated, leaving people left at bus stops.

Those are the two number one things that cause passenger frustration, which pushes people into cars.

Traffic caused by drivers creates more drivers. The only solution is militant bus priority, with bus lanes, Camera enforcement and actual punishment for drivers.

I live on the Finglas Road and the bus lane that leads up to the junction with Old Finglas Road might as well not be there as its always full of drivers turning left. Breaking the law, delaying the network and making the problem worse for everyone, without any repercussions.

That’s what I mean when I say we need to talk about the efficiency of the network. How many bus journeys are lost due to congestion, because we can sit still for 5 years and wait for a rail line to be built or upgraded or we can do everything in our power to make sure what we have now works to its MAXIMUM capacity.

I mean they have the ultra low emissions zone in London which is basically the same thing. London also has an extensive metro system plus buses and it’s still one of the most congested cities anywhere.

So I’m not sure how this would benefit the people of Dublin considering the public transport system is piss poor.

Instead, go a stage further. Green Tax the central city companies that have banned remote work. Use an increasing daily rate over each month.

Now who’s the populist party?

WFH would solve most of this.

Make roads all one way flowing to specific key locations (I.e. Multi story car parks) and keep everything moving.  Ideally off from the busiest pedestrian roads. 

Pedestrianise everything else with bus routes.   Remove all on street parking. 

Free shuttle on mass for within centre commuting. Push other operators towards the boundaries to change over to shuttles. 

Permits for deliveries or for door step access. 

Specific access for local residents to and from the one way system if they have a driveway or loading. 

Litterally thousands of options.