Sir, – The acceleration of traffic restrictions across Dublin city centre would not result “in a car ban – not completely”, according to Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan (News, October 18th). Make what you will of the above equivocation but it’s looking ominous for car drivers in the capital! – Yours, etc,
TADHG McCARTHY,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
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Sir, – Eamon Ryan is looking to remove cars from the city centre within three years. While this is a laudable plan, in some respects it presents issues.
As a resident of the north inner city, currently traffic is nothing short of abominable. A trip to the gym at 6am in the pitch dark (so not suitable for walking) used to take four minutes, it now takes at least 10, often more, getting home. The last few mornings it has taken 15 to 20 minutes to more or less drive around the corner on the morning commute.
This is necessary as, working in a different part of Dublin, it is not possible to take public transport to work, which would necessitate leaving the house before 6.30am and using at least two forms of public transport (or three, depending on the route chosen) to get to work for an 8.35am school start. This is not an efficient use of time to do this twice a day. Cycling is not an option for a 50km round-trip every day, nor carrying in and out books and corrections. I would much rather be reading my book on the train in the morning than worrying about what traffic jam I’m coming to next.
Previously, I would have been in town both for groceries and other shopping, entertainment or general perusing, several times a week, often stopping after work; however, the introduction of one lane of traffic on the quays has stopped me returning home this way and pushed me to the M50 for the return journey home, and thus has sent my business out into the suburbs, where there is also easier parking, despite my love of town. In terms of buying groceries, it isn’t suitable to walk into town and carry a full shop two miles home. Moreover, in recent years, I feel far less safe walking through Dublin 1 at most times of the day and fewer people being in town contributes to this feeling. Recently having had to wait for a bus in the dark in Parnell Street for 15 minutes was less than a pleasant experience, having been accosted by an individual, and I can’t say that is the first time that has happened.
Using services or seeing family and friends isn’t limited to the area you live in, or at least it isn’t for me, and once again these changes seriously impact your ability to do that. It is getting harder and harder to cross from the northside of the city to the southside by car to do this. While riding a bike is laudable and enjoyable for some, it can be quite a dangerous activity. Having had a couple of bad falls and a few near-misses with cars, I’m far less likely to do so these days, but I feel we are being forced by middle-aged men in many cases to make that decision. If Eamon Ryan wants town to be car free or have fewer cars, public transport needs to be rapidly improved. It needs to be frequent, cheap and reliable, which it currently is not. Is this going to happen in three years?
The northside has been particularly neglected in this regard, waiting two decades for the sod to be turned on Metro North, with at least another decade to go. Until that happens, and it is easy for people to complete their daily tasks using it, people will be in cars, and what they will achieve by taking cars out of town is the death of Dublin city centre. – Yours, etc,
NIAMH BYRNE,
Fairview,
Dublin 3.
Sir, – Tim Sweetman’s (Letters, October 18th) experience with fickle bus services surely highlights the need for extensive inter-urban and intra-urban rail networks in order to provide a reliable means of public transport that is shielded from the congestion associated with road traffic. Rather than almost exclusively, and shortsightedly, focusing on motorways, successive governments in Ireland should have instead sought to expand the rail network to the point where road transport is largely the preserve of rural travel and work vehicles. – Yours, etc,
WILL BREEN,
Cork.
Sir, – “Passengers complain of constant delays to Bus Éireann service on the Waterford-Tramore route” (News, October 17th).
Bus Éireann accepts it has “service delivery” issues on the Waterford-Tramore service caused by the “non-availability of sufficient driver resources on the day”. Can we take it they meant they had “a shortage of drivers on the day”? – Is mise,
TED O’KEEFFE,
Dublin 6.
Sir, – There has been a lot of correspondence in your pages about phantom Dublin buses, buses that disappear from the display while you wait for them.
However, I had the experience of a phantom bus route last Friday. I was waiting at the top of Camden Street for the 83 or 83A to take me across town. The display showed that the 83A was due but instead a bus marked 83C turned up. The driver informed me that it was stopping in the city centre, which was not much use to me.
I’ve looked for the 83 C route on the Dublin Bus app but there is no such route. Can they just make up a route like this when it suits them? – Yours, etc,
TOM FULLER,
Dublin 11.