I think you’ll find that helps traffic flow!!

That’s true at peak times Brian, but at 3am is utterly unnecessary.

When people in the middle of the day are going a certain way and they have to do tortuous turns and block everyone else then 24 hrs of no right turns is counter productive… at peak times yes but in the middle of the day when people are trying to get deliveries and other work done its a complete torture.. At 3am same thing.

How would an expensive rail link relieve congestion? It would have almost no effect on day to day traffic flows. Unfortunately, the problem is that bad planning and corruption have led to a city that is sprawling and makes building rail links unviable. Bus services are the solution but aren’t attractive to commuters because busses end up in the traffic snarl ups.

BTW why would you pat 60e in a taxi when you get an AIrcoach or Dublin Bus service to the city centre (and beyond) for €7?

I never paid €60 from the airport to central Dublin, €25-€30..

Taxi from the rank on Dame St / O’Connell St to airport is €20 for up to 4 passengers. The caveat is that the drivers on the Gresham rank are most unpleasant.

Metro to airport should go ahead.

@Brian Daly

Bus services can hardly be the solution if they end up being in traffic snarl ups now can they? You answered your own question.

Time and time again railways are proven to be the most efficient way of travel. Relatively few delays and right of way at crossroads.

So it really comes down to which you prefer. Plodding along in a coach or taxi that could take anywhere from 30 mins to 2 hours (depending on traffic) or 20 mins on a train everytime.

Dublin does need an underground badly, They should have built it 20 years ago, 15,000 could be created during construction of metro north and Dart underground. The government should apply to the EU investment bank for funds to develop these projects.

It’s also an absolute disgrace that the airport of such a major city has no rail link, what must tourists make of spending an hour plus on a bus for such a short distance

I would agree that not expanding the DART in 1984 to the other rail lines around Dublin e.g. Maynooth was a real mistake. It would have made a big difference. However, extending the DART to Drogheda/Dundalk is a red herring and a disservice to people in Dublin and those towns. The DART should be limited to the city “proper”. The folks in Drogheda, Mullingar etc would be better serviced by regional express trains.

Metro North is a white elephant and the longer it stays on the drawing board the better. DART underground should be prioritised as it will be ultimately more beneficial to the city.

I always thought metro west was a mad white elephant but I can’t agree with you on metro north, the north side and in particular the airport need a high speed mass transit system that is unaffected by traffic, building it and extending the DART to the airport should have happened years ago!

Stockholm virtually has no rush hour??

I live here and I can tell you that from my office window looking directly out onto the E4 just north of Karolinska sjukhuset, there’s very much a rush hour every morning and afternoon.
It’s not too bad at the moment as pretty much the whole city is off to their country houses for the month of July.
But yes, the T-Bana is faster than driving during morning and evening rush hours. Pendaltåg better still.

Vi hörs.

I love seeing the glum faces on everybody stuck in traffic as I flake past them on my bicycle in the bus lane with a big cheesy grin on my face.

same here Ger, little sad drones in their boxes, always a treat to whiz past them.

And Dublin is one of the safer cycling cities in Europe due to the HGV ban and the increased numbers of cyclists on the sreets.

Gerard and Leo. You should keep your eyes on the road. If you look into the face of every motorist you pass you spend more time looking behind. Crashes involving motorists and cyclists it’s always the motorist gets the blame.

Sean, Leopoldo never said he looked at their faces…

This history of Ireland in the last 100 years has been severe under-population, we have an exceptionally low population density.

10 million people would fit on to this Island in even smaller urban space than now, with proper planning and good management.

I personally think the suburban sprawl that makes up the majority of Dublin is caused in part by our obsession with owning our homes. Many European cities have far larger urban areas, less suburban areas and populations where just over 50% rent rather than buy. Buyers are more likely to want the most for their money, so they will have a bias towards houses. Apartments provide convenience but are not “stand-alone”, so they are more attractive to tenants. Reform tenant’s rights and we could see a shift from suburban to urban, and so a reduction of road congestion.

Suburban Dublin is urban, you mean more densely populated high rise buildings? Something Dublin councils seem to be afraid of.

It works well enough on the continent. There shouldn’t be a need for people to sit in traffic for 90+ minutes to go from a residential suburb to their workplace in the city centre or in an office/industrial park. Higher buildings means shorter distances to travel so less need to travel by car and so less congestion. Suburb cities have huge drawbacks.

I agree with you karswell, Dublin has to expand upwards to grow, it can no longer grow outwards, I lived in LA for 3 years and traffic is hell, im from London and live in central london, i could not sit in traffic for an hour +, Dublin councils need to realise this and start building high rise and an underground for the city, airport and suburbs.

I always wanted to spray lying bastards over that ridiculous poster they had up!

The Dutch have a country with a qtr of the land that we have, but a population of 17 million. They still a massive agricultural producer. Not that I think that we should aim to have 68mn people that a beermat calculation implies.

Bangladesh is 2 times the size of Ireland, it has 150mn people living there. It must be hell tho.

Belgium is a 1/3 of our size yet has 11 million people there. When you drive through it, it has less one off housing and building blight than we do.

We could readily double the population here, and have a better organized society at same time.

It’s not roads we need, cars cause congestion not roads, we need proper joined up and integrated public transport to get those cars off the road!

There is Dublin bus and yet still people use their cars.
The reason for that is because people want the comfort of their own car, the comfort of knowing they can leave when they want and go whatever route they like.

Did they? When exactly did they vote for reduced infrastructure? If you mean the referendum, people voted for or against an amendment to the constitution. Nothing about reduced spending on infrastructure..

No they didnt Rob. FG promised delivery of both Metro North and DART underground to Dublin voters, then slapped them in the face as soon as they got in power.

Karswell,

The referendum brings spending cuts of €5 billion – where do you think this money will come from? Hint: no new investment in infrastructure as a starting point.

@ Rob : an old, tired argument. The yes result in the referendum did not force €5 billion in cuts. We have a public spending deficit. Anyone with a trace amount of common sense were aware that there would be cutbacks. The referendum result would not have changed that. The money trees were only fantasy, alas.

Because as the caption under the picture say, its an image of congested traffic in bristol….where most of the cars are gonna have UK registration plates.

I find it helps to read the captions myself.

They could’ve showed a picture of Irish License plates.

@ Rob – Whats the point in that? All they are trying to show is an image of congestion…what difference does it make about the licence plates?

We want good, pure and above all Oirish number plates, none of this inferior foreign muck. Is that what you mean, Rob? Sure, we don’t know where these “other” number plates are coming from. They’re probably riddled with diseases and will murder us in our beds.

Louise.
I feel sorry for you as you have been unfairly targeted by the “thumbs down brigade”.
Your observation and ultimately valid question has not been understood by some.
But if it makes you feel any better.
Here is a thumbs

But one economic area, they group themselves together whilst attempting to attract people and investment to the area as both are very close to one another and pretty small cities in comparison to others in the UK.