Car use rises in Dublin city

The number of cars travelling into Dublin city centre increased last year despite the provision of more buses.

The Canal Cordon Count complied by Dublin City Council showed that the number of private cars has increased for three years in a row.

The increase of private cars was 0.4% last year. However, this means that overall there were 3,300 more cars coming into the city centre than in 2005.

There was also a big increase in the number of taxis, despite the fact that the number of buses increased by more than 12%.

There were also more cars using routes covered by quality bus corridors.

Chairman of the council's transport committee Cllr Sean Kenny said the opportunity provided by the ban on heavy goods vehicles had failed to result in a bigger shift to public transport.

He said a new strategy is needed.

The cordon count showed that the number of pedestrians was down 1% but cyclists showed another increase of 8%.

Friends of the Earth said the increase highlights the need for a congestion charge in the city.

AA Ireland's Policy Manager Conor Faughnan says the figures for Dublin buck the national trend of a 4% decrease in traffic nationwide over the past year as economic activity declined.

He said the HGV ban had made more free space in the city for private cars and the M50 upgrade works forced more motorists in the city centre.

However, he said he does not expect the trend to continue this year.

Proposals to ease Dublin city congestion

A ban on parking along Dublin's North Quays, along with an extension of the boardwalk, are part of a series of proposals to ease the capital's traffic congestion.

The City Centre Transportation Plan states that by 2020 an extra 100,000 trips into the city will have to be accommodated without using private cars.

The report recommends the growing numbers of pedestrians and cyclists be given special priority routes in the city centre.

It also supports the proposals including a 30km/ph speed limit in the city, a bus gate at College Green and bus priority at traffic lights.

All of which are due to be considered soon by the council's transport committee.

The report also recommends a ban on cross-city trips on the St Stephen's Green to Parnell Square axis.

Increase in demand for NCT

The company that runs the National Car Test Service says there has been a huge demand for bookings at test centres around the country today.

It follows the announcement that motorists who fail to have an up to date NCT certificate could receive five penalty points from next month.

Vehicles of four years and older must undergo a test every two years.

A spokesperson for the SGS Group said the volume of people trying to make bookings online resulted in the ncts.ie website crashing this afternoon. It is back online now.

There has also been a significant increase in the number of motorists trying to make bookings over the phone, which led to lengthy delays.