A new report has called on the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, to authorise hundreds of new buses for the Dublin Bus fleet over the next five years.
The report, which was commissioned by Dublin Bus, says that congestion in the city is a major obstacle to promoting bus use and calls for radical changes to the way the bus network operates.
This report will be seen by Dublin Bus as adding weight to its call for additional vehicles.
Congestion in the city centre means that, even in bus corridors, average speeds as low as 7.2km/h have been recorded.
The report predicts that the changes envisaged under the Government's Transport 21 strategy will have had little effect on this by 2010, so bus travel will have to be made more attractive.
It calls for around 400 additional buses to come on stream by the end of 2010.
Some of these would be based in new bus depots outside the M50, as there will be no room for them in the city.
Bus routes will be made more efficient with fewer terminating in the city centre. New routes around the city will also be looked at.
The plan recommends better fares and ticketing, but other road users may be less impressed by calls for further quality bus corridors and more restrictions on cars in the city centre.
