Dublin City Center Car Free...?

Dub13

Did I read somewhere a while ago that The Greens said if they got into power that they would make Dublin City Center car free...?or more specially Collage Green.

I think this is a great idea,what do you lot think...?Now that the Greens are in do you think there is much chance of it happning...?After all I would imaging this is a decision for Dublin City Council and not the Central Government.

spacetweek

It's a great idea that the city badly needs, we could terminate buses outside the zone and put the taxis somewhere else, only the Luas would be allowed in.

However it's a lot of change in one go and it might need to wait for the completion of Luas BX (city centre link up).

Victor

It has been suggested by the city council. It needs to happen before BX to allow breathing space for construction.

jjbrien

Its a good idea in principal but since public transport is a mess. The goverment first need to make a public transport system for Dublin that works and then the city can be car free.

_Kaiser_

Exactly.. another one of these ideas that aren't practical in the face of reality.

Besides, who wants to lug the week's shopping around on buses/the LUAS? All that'll happen is that people will just go to the suburban shopping centres more than they do now, city centre businesses will start complaining, and the idea will be dropped.

Victor

Kaiser2000 wrote:

Besides, who wants to lug the week's shopping around on buses/the LUAS? All that'll happen is that people will just go to the suburban shopping centres more than they do now, city centre businesses will start complaining, and the idea will be dropped.

Oh really? do you know how much the shop owners in Grafton Street creamed their pants when Luas opened?

AlekSmart

Lugging shopping around...?
A chore of the past surely...sure isn`t that what the Filipino maid is for..?
And while we`re at it why not try lugging it around on something from this...

www.tbus.org.uk

_Kaiser_

Victor wrote:

Oh really? do you know how much the shop owners in Grafton Street creamed their pants when Luas opened?

Why is it then that car parking in the city centre on a Saturday is manic? People in doing the shopping!

Sure if the bus/LUAS is such a great option for these people then why aren't they using it? I can be in town by car in about 25 minutes from Blanch (and change the way I get there as traffic conditions dictate - not something you can do on a bus).

On the bus I'd be looking at about 50 minutes to an hour (or longer) because of the mystery tour that is the 39, to say nothing of maybe having to stand all the way in/back with the shopping.

Now tell me again why I'd want to do that??

jjbrien

Kaiser2000 wrote:

Why is it then that car parking in the city centre on a Saturday is manic? People in doing the shopping!

Sure if the bus/LUAS is such a great option for these people then why aren't they using it? I can be in town by car in about 25 minutes from Blanch (and change the way I get there as traffic conditions dictate - not something you can do on a bus).

On the bus I'd be looking at about 50 minutes to an hour (or longer) because of the mystery tour that is the 39, to say nothing of maybe having to stand all the way in/back with the shopping.

Now tell me again why I'd want to do that??

Well you could be in town in 20 mins if you take the arrow from Coolmine. But its a real drag as to drag your shopping up from Henry St or Granfton St to Connolly or Tara St. Public tansport is not really an option.

_Kaiser_

jjbrien wrote:

Well you could be in town in 20 mins if you take the arrow from Coolmine. But its a real drag as to drag your shopping up from Henry St or Granfton St to Connolly or Tara St. Public tansport is not really an option.

Yep. And until that changes, people will continue to use their cars in town, not because they WANT to (who wants to pay several Euro an hour on parking?), but because Public Transport in this city (and it's worse nationally) just doesn't work well enough to be a viable option for most people who can afford a car.

And while I'm lucky enough to live close to Coolmine station on the Maynooth line, the same can't be said for the majority of the Blanchardstown/Castleknock area. Same thing would apply to the LUAS or DART.

bk

It is a great idea, but a lot needs to be done before it happens.

1) Most of the T21 projects including Luas BX, Metro North and the interconnector need to happen before it would be practical.

2) The Eastern By Pass needs to be built and the port moved out of Dublin, remember a lot of traffic is going from one side of the city to the other. It would be unreasonable to force it out to the M50.

BTW Prague has this, no cars and buses in the city center, only lots of Trams and some Metros and it is fantastic.

We couldn't go quite that far, even with the BX line we still wouldn't have enough trams so you would still need buses.

jjbrien

The problem with Public Transport in Dublin is nothing connects properly. For example if you live in Swords and you need to go to Lucan you have to take the 41 in to town and then walk to the quays and then catch a 66 or 25. In Liverpool a city with roughly the same size as Dublin they have orbital bus routes that you dont need to go into the city to get to the other side.

The problem with the city centre is that if you have kids and need to go shopping in town the car is your only option. Also you cant really ban cars from the city as there are limted places you you can drive across the lifffey outside of the city. Most of the traffic has to either go via the quays or down the m50 to cross from one side to the other.

monument

jjbrien wrote:

The problem with the city centre is that if you have kids and need to go shopping in town the car is your only option. Also you cant really ban cars from the city as there are limted places you you can drive across the lifffey outside of the city. Most of the traffic has to either go via the quays or down the m50 to cross from one side to the other.

People always talk about such a ban as if the only way could be ban cars from every inch of the city center - there could easily be a number of crossing points/paths laid out.

Still, I'd be very wary of the planning of any ban for two reasons... the question of if there is enough public transport being in place and any fast or sweeping moves might spark up the possible opposition too much.

There looks also to be a nearly anti-bus sediment here and on past threads on this subject.

Anyway in the short to medium term I think the focus should be on making streets safer for pedestrians and and cyclists, as well as more bus lanes etc.

Victor

Macken Street bridge should be in place in 18 months, but to be hoenest, in going from a to b, you have a lot more options than College Green, which is hte focus of the proposals.

monument wrote:

There looks also to be a nearly anti-bus sediment

monument

lol at my self...

Well you know what I meant, although it's sometimes apparent there could be some of that involved too.

egan007

Yes great idea now that i drive a bike

seriously though there is no alternative....

I take 3 buses to get from Swords to East point (at Dublin port)

Seems like a good idea but it isn't due to the SEVERE lack of an alternative.
But as we've demonstrated in this country - we don't want an alternative...

Zoney

Kaiser2000 wrote:

On the bus I'd be looking at about 50 minutes to an hour (or longer) because of the mystery tour that is the 39, to say nothing of maybe having to stand all the way in/back with the shopping.

I still have nightmares from days using the 39. It's an absurdity, the astonishing thing is the numbers using it despite it's hellish nature. It's a disaster that the Blanchardstown centre isn't along the railway line. At the least though the bus route should be separated with different buses serving the outer, middle and inner stops.

AlekSmart

And the frightening aspect to all of this is that Blanchardstown Centre along with The Square,Liffey Valley et al represent the very pinnacle of our modern Built Commercial environment.

My last visit to Nottingham brought me to a medium scale City Shopping centre called the Victoria Centre (?)....Here one had a very smoothly operating herringbone Bus Station with enclosed passenger waiting area and a Bus Priority Traffic Light system to facilitate exit....I felt like a refugee from darkest Africa as I stood and gawked at such wizardry.

Do our Town Planning courses have a special module where ALL mention of Public Transport is removed from course work ?
I cannot reconcile a City Centre such as Dublin having several major Shopping Centre developments constructed within the last 10 years,NONE of which have a SINGLE public transport space included in the design.

Even in out of town locations such as the Square we saw the Bus facility stuffed into the most open wind and rain swept aspect of the development and this appears to have been latched onto as a best-practice aspect of each and every development since !!

Of course we are constantly reminded of the sheer professionalism and dedication of our Town Planning professionals,one of which will be along in a minute to explain things !! :eek:

lostexpectation

does it progress getting traffic( too many buses etc ) off oconnell street yes?