[Article] Dublin traffic chief charges media and politicians with 'blame culture'

Victor

Dublin traffic chief charges media and politicians with 'blame culture'
From:ireland.com
Saturday, 11th October, 2003

The director of traffic in Dublin, Mr Owen Keegan, has pointed the finger at politicians and the media for promoting a blame culture where the capital's transport and traffic problems are concerned.

He also said people should not dismiss buses as a low-cost solution to transport problems, and the idea of providing financial incentives to schools to change their opening hours should be examined.

Mr Keegan, who was addressing the Kenmare Economists Conference in Kerry last night, had strong words for the media and politicians for their approach to congestion.

Rather than undertake serious analysis of the problems, Mr Keegan said, journalists found it hard to resist "scapegoating soft targets".

The political system had also been very keen, particularly in recent months, to attribute blame to the agencies which are responsible for delivering transport services and avoid its share of the responsibility.

Coverage of Dublin's traffic problems featured "almost Malthusian despair and lack of confidence in our capacity to deliver a good-quality transport system and services in the Greater Dublin Area", he said.

"There is some justification for blaming the media for this unsatisfactory state of affairs," he continued.

"The temptation for journalists to simply reinforce the prejudices of a sceptical public by scapegoating soft targets rather than undertake serious analysis of complex issues and confront the public with the harsh realities of urban transportation systems will always be difficult to resist."

The fact that the political system had been very keen, especially in recent months, to blame the same agencies in order to absolve itself of its share of any responsibility had only served to reinforce the blame culture.

Media commentators expected congestion-free urban roads and that public transport should not be overcrowded, but given the high peak levels of travel this would not be possible at any reasonable cost.

Stoutly defending his office, he said public policy was to try to move people out of cars and into public transport, but his office was still blamed for increasing congestion.

However, he said, reversing this trend in congestion and car commuting times was not something the City Council had been seeking to do in recent years.

Floater

He's spot on in terms of the "blame culture" issue. It has taken over from statesmanship, vision, leadership, knowledge of best practice, logic etc.

Never before has a country had so much and achieved so little.

Floater

Bee

Oh Dear, a typical civil servant statement, blame the media for highlighting the gross failure to carry out his job as Dublin traffic Tsar. I have read many reports highlighting many ways that traffic congestion could be eased by a little application of intelligence and planning, both lacking in DCC.

The problem with a time serving civil servant like Keego whose dept has demonstrably increased trafic congestion thru' management failure is that he can't be sacked for ineptitude.

Remember the signage fiasco?, the redesigned signs was was supposed to be ready last year sometime, but hey ,when you spend tax payers money who cares!

When it comes to traffic management, 'zero consultation' decisions are now an everyday occurrence by DCC. The end result is to concentrate ever-increasing traffic into fewer arteries which are already heavily congested

An example of poor management decisions that created traffic congestion was the failure to finish the Blackhall Bridge development before starting work on the spire on O'Connell Street that created huge delays.

The continuing failure of consultation with stakeholders in the city before critical design decisions are made e.g. the decision of city authorities to specify an operational height limit of 4.65 metres for vehicles using the Dublin port tunnel

Cyclist killing footpath extensions were installed at the junction of O'Connell Br and Aston Quay then after numerous accidents and cyclist deaths were eventually removed.

Painted cycleways ,used as an excuse to remove on street parking facilities, useless to cyclists and damaging to business have been laid out in a ridicoulous manner.

Pearse St etc never recovered from the congestion created by the no left turn from Dawson Street on to Nassau Street and no right turn from South Great Georges Street on to Dame Street.
The new system has clogged Pearse Street, Christchurch and has had ramifications around the Grafton St area.

On an urban level Pay and Display has been installed making deserts of business areas as all day parkers simply relocate onto non pay and display residential areas damaging the local enviorment.

Until traffic managers can be held responsible and are renumerated on success rather than time serving we will have to put up with the Keegos of the world.

Bee

Floater

Originally posted by Bee
Oh Dear, a typical civil servant statement...

It seems to me that a large number of journalists in Ireland all too often do not take the time to inform themselves of best international practice in any area before writing on the matter! We end up with uninformed opinions, blame and a misinformed public (except for those who take the time to inform themselves through other means).

Needless to say some of this blame could be avoided if the civil servants and politicians also took the time to inform themselves of best international practice and proceeded to implement same in their day to day duties!

That signage system was the nearest thing I have seen to making the city easily navigable for visitors (ie a good starting point to get one nearly to one's destination). It didn’t comply with signposting colour standards (and could easily have if there was a bit of consultation). Dubliners themselves generally know their way around and don’t need signs, and will look at them somewhat differently from a visitor who is dependant on them. When Dubliners do get lost and have to resort to a map, the colour coded routes and junction numbers on the proposed signage system should be quite easy to understand. (Didn’t like the colour scheme though – is he colour blind I ask myself!).

He moved too fast with the bus lanes IMHO. Aside from a dearth of public transportation Dublin suffered (and still does) from appalling traffic light coordination and management. Making traffic signals part of the problem rather than part of the solution. The roads are wide. I’d have focused on getting the traffic signals right and not installed bus lanes (which greatly reduce the vehicle carrying capacity of the road network) to give me breathing space while high capacity rail infrastructure was being commissioned. Bus lanes and parking reductions can follow in the centre once people have a civilized alternative to completing their journey without a car.

I wouldn’t blame the tunnel planners for the 4,65m height restriction – that is as high as you will get in Germany or France or virtually anywhere else. The Jack Lynch Tunnel has a 4,60m limit and there is no evidence that any vehicle ever touched the upper limits of the portals of this system AFAICS. The trend across Europe is the opposite. People don’t want trucks. Increasingly trailers with their loads are being put on trains for the long distance segment of their journeys – traveling more quickly (eg 160kph) using electric traction which can come from renewable sources.

As an example the new Gotthard Base Tunnel system (2 x 57km tunnels) which is under construction along the North South axis in Switzerland (due to open 2011). It will take more than 300 trains per day (mixed passenger and freight operational 24/24h. More than 70% of the loads will be freight). If truck loads are permitted to get incrementally bigger beyond European norms the trailers won’t be able to fit in virtually any of the European tunnel systems – existing or under construction. Even if the chain store mafia get their way in Ireland and an additional few hundred million is spent increasing the height of the Dublin Port Tunnel by a few cms, what about all the other bridges in the country? Do we replace all these too?

I suspect that freight volumes are coming to a peak in Ireland and will stabilize or even fall a little as the country moves from a manufacturing to a service economy.

Floater

Victor

Originally posted by Floater
He moved too fast with the bus lanes IMHO. Aside from a dearth of public transportation Dublin suffered (and still does) from appalling traffic light coordination and management. Making traffic signals part of the problem rather than part of the solution. The roads are wide. I’d have focused on getting the traffic signals right and not installed bus lanes (which greatly reduce the vehicle carrying capacity of the road network) to give me breathing space while high capacity rail infrastructure was being commissioned. Bus lanes and parking reductions can follow in the centre once people have a civilized alternative to completing their journey without a car.

Actually bus lanes work admirably - you will notice two instruments on the roof of a bus - one of these can talk to traffic lights sensors and prioritise the lights for the bus. Hence at rush hour, many a bus on a (complete) QBC stops only occassionally.

Floater

Originally posted by Victor
Actually bus lanes work admirably - you will notice two instruments on the roof of a bus - one of these can talk to traffic lights sensors and prioritise the lights for the bus. Hence at rush hour, many a bus on a (complete) QBC stops only occassionally.

I’m sure they do. Given all the money spent on the QBC system and all the dedicated road space consumed, this is the least one could expect! No doubt Victor and Michael O’Leary consider them to be a great investment! At what price though?

It seems to me that a bus lane is earning a poor return in terms of the number of people it carries during the day – per square metre of road space dedicated to it.

It is easy to forget the cost. Many Dublin streets that carried four lanes of traffic are now down to two lanes for ordinary vehicles. You could call it the Jack Lynch Tunnel effect. Close one of the tunnels and operate the other on a contra-flow basis and look at the traffic mess it creates! Very visible and can be switched on and off at the touch of a button. You are cutting a four lane road down to a two laner. Almost half of Dublin’s arterial road space has been shut down to general vehicular traffic. Not as visible because it has happened slowly over a period of several years.

While QBCs are accessible to a minority of commuters (based on where they live and where they work), the entire city is paying the price for them.

You mentioned the bus priority system at traffic signals. This is a bolt on to the traffic control system – rather than using a traffic control system that has been designed from the ground up to deal with public transport (trams, buses etc) by allocating priorities to each vehicle based on it type and whether or not it is running to schedule. These half baked systems also impose costs on the general efficient movement of traffic.

I’m all in favour of everybody using public transport all the time, particularly in an urban area and this posting should be seen as a criticism of the way Keegan approached the problem rather than any suggestion that Los Angelization is best.

The bus is best as a shuttle / feeder device to get large numbers of people on the nearest high capacity high speed suburban rail system. The bus is also suitable for direct cross suburban journeys. By concentrating large numbers of people on rail one can provide a frequent service and by minimizing the number of stops on the rail system the trip into town from the outer suburbs could be cut to a matter of perhaps 10-12 minutes. Rail (should) also allow one to bring a bicycle to finish one’s journey.

Works in Zurich. Eg Swords to O’Connell Street type of distance in 10 minutes at rush hour on a wet Friday afternoon. With or without your bike (which one can plonk on a rack next to one's seat). Try that on a QBC!

Floater

Victor

Originally posted by Floater
Rail (should) also allow one to bring a bicycle to finish one’s journey. Eg Swords to O’Connell Street type of distance in 10 minutes at rush hour on a wet Friday afternoon. With or without your bike (which one can plonk on a rack next to one's seat).

I (as treasurer of the Dublin Cycling Campaign) met with some of the "big people" in Irish Rail on Monday, bikes on DARTs off peak is out for the moment, but they are putting in several hundred bikes racks in Connolly and "as appropriate" at other DART Stations. The racks will generally be covered and of the inverted "u" type (or varient). Additional advertising will be done in stations telling people they are "x" minutes walk / cycle from local focal points.

sceptre

Originally posted by Victor
Additional advertising will be done in stations telling people they are "x" minutes walk / cycle from local focal points.

... which will be bugger all good for the cyclists given that they've just left their bike at Connolly (or elsewhere) before getting there but at least it's a start (and useful for those on Shank's Mare)