Traffic jams are a sign of how the rights of the individual are taking precedence over the public good in our society, the Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, told a conference on Dublin's transport crisis yesterday. He said there would have to be some restrictions on private transport in the city centre. He was speaking at a conference, "Dublin's Traffic Gridlock - A Green Paper from Fine Gael", which was attended by representatives from many of the main organisations representing transport, commuter and business interests in the city.
Restrictions on private motorists "should be targeted to remove particular bottlenecks at particular times of the day in particular places," Mr Bruton said. "They need not apply all the time. But without some restrictions, I do not believe people will make the psychological switch to public transport." The Fine Gael "Green Paper" was weak on the specific form the crackdown on private motorists should take. However, it did contain proposals covering 10 aspects of Dublin's transport crisis.
It backed the establishment of a Dublin Traffic Authority to replace the Dublin Traffic Organisation, which co-ordinates rather than directs the activities of local authorities, Government departments, the Garda Siochana and other agencies. It says the new body should have statutory powers, a budget, and play a role similar to that of the National Roads Authority in the rest of the State. Fine Gael also proposes an integrated computer-based traffic control system for the Dublin region at an estimated cost of £10 million. This could improve traffic flow by 20 per cent.
The party supports the port access tunnel to direct freight away from the city centre. While the tunnel is being built, there should be a Designated Truck Clearway with a "green wave" of traffic lights from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. to coincide with the arrival of the three morning ferries at the port.
It calls for a 40 per cent increase in the capacity of Dublin Bus to deal with peak demand. Half of this could be achieved by relieving congestion and increasing the turnaround times of buses. The other 20 per cent could be achieved by contracting out work to private operators and by fleet expansion.
Fine Gael says it is fully committed to the Luas project and favours the overground system adopted when the party was in power. It calls for an expansion of the "grossly underdeveloped" commuter rail system. The 20 per cent increase in taxi licences envisaged by the four local authorities is welcomed as an interim measure. Developments in tourism, the growing demands of travellers, including those with disabilities, and the drink-driving laws require "vastly increased taxi numbers", it says.
A systematic cycle network for the city is proposed. The document claims this could convert "6,000 daily commuting cars into 8,000 cyclists".
For those motorists resistant to conversion, Fine Gael accepts that sterner measures might be required. These could include a benefit-in-kind tax on the provision of free off-street employee car parking in the city and a requirement in the planning process for all new city-centre developers to include a commuter plan for employees.
The system of travelling expenses for public servants could be changed to make public transport more attractive, the party says. Tolls and other "road pricing" techniques should be looked at and the revenue from such levies used to resource the DTA and improve public transport.
The director of traffic at Dublin Corporation, Mr Owen Keegan, confirmed that car clamping would be introduced later this month with the assistance of Central Parking Systems (Ireland) Ltd, part of a US-based multinational.