[Article] Car usage down 21% on Luas lines

Time Magazine

From rte.ie

LUAS leads to big reduction in car use
Thursday, 5 July 2007 07:25

A report out today suggests that Dublin's LUAS service has led to big reduction in car usage among commuters living within its range.

But the report by the Dublin Transportation Office also found that the bus service was faring badly by comparison.

For people travelling within the Red and Green line areas car usage is down by 21%.

Commuters said speed is the principal reason for the switch but also parking charges and traffic congestion.

The study found that around one-third of respondents also said the LUAS influenced their decision to move into an area.

35% said they had made more journeys over the past two years because of the service, mostly for shopping.

But Dublin Bus seems to have become less desirable with its usage halving in the LUAS areas.

Reliability of journey time was the biggest problem with the bus service. The Dublin Transportation Office suggests that travel information should be provided at bus stops in the same way as the LUAS.

markpb

Ibid wrote:

But Dublin Bus seems to have become less desirable with its usage halving in the LUAS areas.

Why on earth would that be an issue? As long as people are using public transport, who gives a damn which mode it takes? Did people boo hoo over DB's loss of passengers to the Dart twenty years ago?

From breakingnews.ie

A survey by the Dublin Transportation Office has reportedly found that the introduction of the LUAS has failed to have a significant affect on car usage.

Reports this morning say the study found that car usage in areas served by the tram system is down just 2%, compared to a 4% rise in areas not served by the system.

Bus usage in LUAS areas has almost halved in the same period, while it has increased in areas with no access to the light-rail system.

Ste.phen

So is car usage up or down?

I was about to post the breakingnews link.

[edit] I see what happened, they quoted different figures, the rte figures was for people travelling approximately on the corridor served by LUAS, the breaking news figure is likely for people who live near LUAS but are travelling to destinations not on the line [/edit]

HelterSkelter

Found this really bizzare. RTE and breakingnews.ie with totally different conclusions based on the same report...

http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0705/transport.html

Luas leads to big reduction in car use
Thursday, 5 July 2007 10:22

A report out today suggests that Dublin's Luas service has led to big reduction in car usage among commuters living within its range.

But the Dublin Transportation Office report also found that the bus service was faring badly by comparison.

For people travelling within the Red and Green line areas, car usage is down by 21%.

Commuters said speed is the principal reason for the switch but also parking charges and traffic congestion.

The study found that around 33% of respondents also said the Luas influenced their decision to move into an area.

35% said they had made more journeys over the past two years because of the service, mostly for shopping.

But Dublin Bus seems to have become less desirable with its usage halving in the Luas areas.

Reliability of journey time was the biggest problem with the bus service. The Dublin Transportation Office suggests that travel information should be provided at bus stops in the same way as the Luas.

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/mhkfqlqlkfoj/

LUAS has failed to significantly reduce car usage
05/07/2007 - 08:20:09

A survey by the Dublin Transportation Office has reportedly found that the introduction of the LUAS has failed to have a significant affect on car usage.

Reports this morning say the study found that car usage in areas served by the tram system is down just 2%, compared to a 4% rise in areas not served by the system.

Bus usage in LUAS areas has almost halved in the same period, while it has increased in areas with no access to the light-rail system.

Four-fifths of people involved in the study said they believed the LUAS had made travel to the city centre easier, but 40% said it had not eased overall traffic congestion.

Bluetonic

Pity you didn't find this too

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055116844

NIBBS

Bluetonic wrote:

Pity you didn't find this too

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055116844

that's a good link to this thread......:p

HelterSkelter

Bluetonic wrote:

Pity you didn't find this too

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055116844

Sorry about that, hope I didn't waste too much of your precious time :rolleyes:

Bluetonic

Or me yours with the link mix up

Slice

Given that car usage went down in Luas line catchment areas while car usage went up everywhere else I would be inclined to believe the RTE story. What would be more informative is if we had a breakdown of percentage of journeys into the city centre for cars in areas served by Luas over areas not served by Luas.

Capt'n Midnight

Predictable journey times are more important than speed.

many people are familiar with getting two buses and the knock on effect of a delay that results in missing a connection

Victor

The report.