Shuttle to Croker one of many proposals to reduce car emissions
SHUTTLE buses to Croke Park for All-Ireland matches all day, hiking the cost of car parking and reducing the number of parking spaces are all set to be considered by Government to encourage people to get out of their cars.
Green Party leader and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan has confirmed that a consultation on the new demand management strategy will be brought to Cabinet in the coming weeks. ‘Everything is on the table’ to help Ireland reduce its emissions from cars.
Another Government source stressed that it was important to ‘bring people along with large changes’.
Shuttle buses from the outer boroughs of Dublin into the centre and on towards the northside for big game days such as the All-Ireland finals are on the cards, instead of driving all the way into the city centre. Senior Government figures were keen to stress that it is being ‘carefully crafted’ so that there is not a backlash to the proposals.
‘The only way this is going to work is if people say “well fair enough, we have a train every three minutes, so we can go from A to B”,’ the source said.
‘It will be a set of options, instead of being prescriptive.
‘A draft hasn’t been finalised or agreed yet. My understanding is that the party leaders will look at a draft before it goes any further,’ they added. ‘All the suite of options are in it. The way it will be presented there will be a consultation on options. So it will say “here’s all the options we can do in urban and rural centres”.’
‘Following that, there will have to be a decision on what will be in the policy, local authorities will then have to decide what they will do. It won’t be top down, it will give a framework for demand management.’ Dublin City Council has moved ahead with plans to ban cars from the city centre from August, in a sign of how policy is now rapidly shifting to promote public transport and discourage the use of the car.
Under the plans, from August, private vehicle traffic along the North and South Quays will be removed at these locations leaving the space for buses, taxis, cyclists and pedestrians only. The city centre will be accessible by private car only to maintain access to car parks for workplaces and residences and multi-storey car parks where it does not interfere with the overall aim of the plan, to allow servicing and deliveries at the appropriate times and to maintain access for emergency vehicles.
Mr Ryan also flagged that his department had already reduced the number of car parking spaces available for them to use. He said: ‘We have reduced our car parking in the Department from approximately 120 vehicles to 40. We are leading by example. It is not impossible.’
Speaking in the Environment Committee last week, Minister Ryan said: ‘The demand management strategy with which we are due to go to Government in the next few weeks will be key in a variety of these areas, including promoting shared mobility, looking at how we manage parking and examining other demand-management measures.’ This will include potentially increasing the cost of car parking, with proposals to reduce the number of car parking spaces within certain urban areas. A spokesman for Mr Ryan said that work on the development of a new National Demand Management Strategy commenced in 2023.
The Strategy is seeking to identify and address any national barriers to implementation at a local level.