Car commuters could find themselves having to pay for the privilege of crossing Dublin's canal ring or using the M50 motorway following the outcome of a study commissioned by the Department of the Environment from British transport consultants Oscar Faber.
For the past 10 months, the consultants have been assessing the potential for introducing such road pricing in Dublin to deal with what they called "the growing gap between travel demand and transport supply". The findings of the study are due to be published at the end of next month.
The economic rationale for road pricing is to change usage patterns by charging motorists for the use of road space.
It is grounded in the fact that every driver using the roads in congested conditions imposes delays on everyone else, and these delays have a cost not taken into account in his or her personal choices.
According to Mr Pierre Laconte, external affairs adviser to the International Union of Public Transport, the area taken up by a private car for a five-kilometre journey in normal conditions ranges from 30 square metres per hour for short shopping trips, to 90 square metres per hour for home to work trips, including parking space at work.
Given the huge volume of cars now using the roads in Dublin during peak periods, congestion is the inevitable consequence. The challenge facing the authorities - and increasingly being taken up by them - is to reallocate road space for more efficient modes of transport and to put the emphasis on moving people rather than vehicles.
Road pricing has obvious potential in helping to achieve better traffic management. It was pioneered in 1975 in Singapore, where charging tolls to enter the city centre is now fully automated. Electronic surveillance cameras monitor compliance as the tolls are deducted from pre-paid cash cards in units fixed to the dashboards of all cars.
Combined with the provision of an efficient public transport system, this has reduced traffic levels in Singapore by 17 per cent and raised the average speed at peak periods to an astonishing 60 k.p.h.
Cars are also very expensive and require a "certificate of entitlement", of which only 3,000 per month are auctioned at prices as high as £26,000.
Singapore is far from the front rank of democratic countries and its people are well used to restrictions on their freedom. However, European cities are moving to follow its example, on road pricing at least.
Oslo is set to become the first European capital to introduce electronic tolling for cars entering the city centre, using the same system as Singapore.
Zurich does not need to involve itself in road pricing. Over recent years, it has progressively reduced the availability of parking to non-residents to a maximum of 90 minutes, forcing commuters to park at the edge of the city and take a bus or tram. The speed limit on many streets has also been reduced to 30 k.p.h. (18.6 m.p.h.).
In Amsterdam, there is no sense of a city dominated by cars. One of its main streets, Damrak, is slightly wider than Westmoreland Street with a potential five traffic lanes. Instead, in a classic example of allocating road space, it consists of two wide footpaths, two wide cycle tracks, two tram lines and a single lane for cars.
There is no traffic congestion in Stockholm. The Swedish capital has an excellent public transport system, based on a metro with 102 stations, 99 of which are disabled-accessible, supplemented by suburban rail, buses and, lately, a light rail line looping around the inner suburbs. It is also starting to demolish city centre "parking houses".
Athens is considering restricting access to zero or low emission cars because of alarmingly high levels of air pollution, threatening public health as well as the Acropolis. It first tried restricting access to cars with even-number registrations one day and odd-numbered registrations the next - though this discriminates in favour of two-car families.
In Britain, following publication in July 1998 of the government's white paper "A New Deal for Transport", the treasury estimated that the income from road pricing measures would exceed £1 billion by 2005, with this revenue being used to fund improvements to public transport, according to the deputy prime minister, Mr John Prescott.
Mr Prescott, who has a fondness for Jaguars, also plans to impose a tax on workplace parking to discourage car commuting, though lobbying by supermarkets and shopping centres saw off plans for a similar parking levy.
The car would still have an important role, he said, adding: "Mondeo Man can breathe a sigh of relief."