ALAN CANTWELL, TV3 NEWS READER: How do you travel to and from work? By car from Dún Laoghaire to Ballymount Industrial Estate, which is the first exit off the M50 after Tallaght.How long does it take? 35 minutes to get there and to get home.
What time do you leave home? 10 a.m. or 2.30 p.m. depending on what shift I'm on.
What time do you arrive back home? 3 p.m. or midnight.
Do you travel the same route every day? No, on my journey to work I travel from Dún Laoghaire to Cabinteely to Leopardstown and Sandyford, where I join the M50. On my journey home, I travel across the mountains, leaving the M50 at Firhouse and travelling up past Marlay Park to Lamb Doyle's pub and then into Sandyford, Leopardstown and Foxrock and along the dual carriageway to Cornelscourt, Cabinteely and into Dún Laoghaire.
What do you enjoy about your commute? The lack of traffic and the relaxed nature of my journey because I mostly travel against the traffic on the back roads. If I went the conventional route, I would get hammered by traffic. I also enjoy listening to the radio: I tend to flick around the dial between BBC Radio 4 and RTÉ Radio 1.
What bothers you most about your commute? The fact that I have to commute by car. I'd love to be able to take public transport to and from work. When I worked on a radio station in town, I used to travel to work by DART.
Also, it bothers me if I get stuck behind a truck on the back roads. This can destroy my car and add an extra 10 minutes to my journey. Also, the generally appalling nature of Irish driving - from both male and female drivers. I see at least two instances of red lights being broken every day and I'm amazed at how many accidents nearly happen because of this.
Would you change your mode of transport if you could? Yes, absolutely. I toyed with the idea of getting a Vespa scooter, but my wife wasn't keen on the idea for safety reasons and also because from next month, I will be dropping my baby to the creche for 9 a.m. on my way to work.
How could your journey be improved? If there were car pools set up in many workplaces. I think we are all guilty of wanting to travel to work alone in our cars but car pools would improve peak-hour traffic problems and gridlock. It works for the school runs, so why not for the journeys to and from work?
