Traffic Congestion.

I think everyone is right.

Some people don't explore all the options and some people don't really have any options at the moment.

The routes are always changing. You might find something that works then there's a small change and it becomes unviable.

I've rotated through driving, cycling and public transport, then rotated back through them all. I've gone multi modal switching between them in the same journey and even on different days.

The city is both vastly better in terms of transport and also worse with lots of poor design decisions.

I always thought this was a no-brainer.

A series of park and ride around the m50 and train link to Dublin.

Then they did it. Lovely big one at Dunboyne. Nobody uses it!!!

Half the carpark is actually rented out to Intel for the construction staff!!

That train before lockdown was packed to over capacity. There is no way to fit any more people on those trains unless they put more on and make them bigger. I stopped using it because of the overcrowding. In fact since it got busier they made them shorter.

Dunno what is like now.

I assume those getting on at the park and ride don't all get off at clonsilla and mostly all get on in the docklands coming home. So regardless where people get on they'll get to enjoy the experience of a sardine for most of their journey.

I not back in the office, but if I was I wouldn't fancy being back on that train

If people that genuinely had a better option chose to take that better option and left the roads to people that didn't have a better option, then the roads into Dublin would be fine.

By better options I mean working from home at least part time to take them out of a commute at rush hour, or staggering work times by an hour or 2, taking bus and trains, cycling, walking, car pooling.

If I was a planner and people looking for more roads, underpasses, roads in the sky I'd be telling them to exercise their options and I bet lots of people have options. Take a few cars (20-30%) off the roads and see the difference, apparently my route to work in Dublin was empty this morning between 8 and 9 o clock, I didn't go to office until now though as usual. I can't be convinced 20 to 30% of people don't have better options and could change their habits without much hassle.

It's a human behaviour problem, not a planning problem. Blame someone else culture.

That will have been me that mentioned Carlow, Cavan and Portlaoise and your presumption that these people moved to the areas to get a bigger house is just that.... a presumption. The people I know are locals to their areas and could not find suitable work in their localities due to the fact that Dublin has the most opportunities for employment. Couple that with the high cost of buying, building or renting in Dublin, this left them with little choice but to buy local (also to be close to family/where they grew up). While I realise they may not be the majority, they are certainly not the only commuters in this predicament, where continual policies on growth and employment have favoured a Dublin centric model. People in commuter belts have little choice but to get in their cars and drive to Dublin if that is where their employment is. They have not made the choice to "have the rest of society pay the price in terms of increased emissions, particulate matter, congestion and noise pollution" as you so eloquently put it. They have made the choice based on available options to them in terms of employment and cost/quality of living.... as would anyone. Also, being a "Dublin taxpayer" has nothing whatsoever to do with anything. All the taxes you pay are for the benefit of society, not just of one city or area in the country. I say this as someone who lives in Dublin and has to deal with congestion. Vilifying or otherwise criticising people commuting from outside the city by car is not offering any solutions and if someone wishes to live a "bucolic" lifestyle, then let them.

As an aside, traffic in Galway city has returned to pre-pandemic levels also and they are experiencing the same issues of delays and traffic jams. The issue with Galway is that most of the large employers have been setup in business parks to the east of the city whereas quite a substantial part of the population live on the west side of the city. This has caused massive tailbacks in the morning and evening and the local council have reduced or altered traffic light times to give more priority to foot traffic. While this policy is to be lauded, it has actually made matters worse now that people are back in the office. There is no viable alternative to the car in Galway city as the bus service is sub par so commuters have no choice there either. Talks of a city bypass ring road have been ongoing for the better part of 30 years and come around every election cycle, I doubt I will see this road before I retire. There does not seem to be the will to tackle the problem in the city at all.

The "new normal" of working from home that was being championed at the beginning of the Pandemic is now turning into the "get back to the office" normal as companies realise they have to continue paying for buildings and facilities that are not being used. Those in charge of traffic management and public transport need to get their heads back in the game as I think they may have been lulled into a false sense of security by all the talk of working from home being the way of the future. A big push by all employers to stagger working from home days for their staff could make a difference but without a forward thinking Government and the civil servants in charge of transport issues, we are still going to be faced with congestion.

Never once said tax anyone.

I said incentives for others.

You seem to be equating workers with motorists. Not all workers drive. The current default model of free parking for employees discriminates against those who don't drive - those who walk, cycle or use public transport. The employer is investing considerable resources in providing a facility that will only be used by a subset of employees. Imagine if the employer came out with a nice new canteen that can only be used by staff earning above €50k pa and all the others can feck off to the sandwich bar? That's effectively what is happening here. If employers want access to the best of employees, they need to treat their employees fairly, and not subsidise the transport choices of some employees but not others.

You might want to read up on how roads are funded btw. Cyclists pay tax - surprise surprise. Other countries are looking at actually paying cyclists to cycle, as well as many other kinds of incentives given the overall benefits that arise for society - reduced traffic congestion, reduced pollution, more space on public transport, improved public health. And you think we should be placing more barriers in front of those who are considering cycling?

Do pedestrians need to be paying a footpath tax?

The tax is to discourage traffic.

It's not used solely for transport infrastructure. So someone who walks every where will be contributing to the general tax pool that pays for transport infrastructure. Same as a motorist same as cyclist.

I've a few old cars. I bet I'm paying more motor tax than average. I also have a few bikes. You're saying I should pay even more road tax for a few bicycles as well.

Ultimately what your are saying is you want to entourage more driving less cycling and thus more traffic and more pollution. The 1960s called,.... it wants you back.

That must be some kind of magic car you have if you don't emit tyre particles and brake pad particles, pollution that society as a whole ends up paying for through healthcare and more.

More cyclists actually makes things safer for cyclists - safety in numbers, motorists more likely to open their feckin eyes and see what's going on around them instead of playing with their phones. And more cyclists generally means less cars, so when the operator does something stupid, they're a lot less likely to harm other people on their bike than in their car.

And again, the reason you should pay a tax on the space you're using is to be fair to your fellow employees who aren't using a space.

Who else should pay it?

The title is " Traffic Congestion" and EV is traffic. Lots of EVs IS congestion.

If you had no where to park, you'd be unable to drive to that location. Hence no driving less traffic, less congestion.

This is not rocket science.

So it emits tyre particles and some brake particles - not exactly 'nothing' there.

Is it fair for you to pay for parking if you have to go to the airport? Is it fair for you to pay for parking if you have to go to town? What's so different about paying for parking at your workplace, other than it not being the traditional way?

We had tax on parking spaces 100 years ago? I didn't realise the Edwardians were so progressive.

I agree with Mad_Lad here as electric vehicles are generally less polluting than their ICE powered counterparts (and I am not going to be getting into the whole debate of manufacturing emissions malarkey). Bicycles must "emit" rubber particles too in any case, they have tyres that wear out in the same manner as car tyres do. Same with their brakes, which are mostly rubber with the exception of the newer disk type brake systems. I am all for accuracy of language when formulating an argument online however, sometimes it borders on pedantry in this forum!

For parking; if an employer sets up shop in somewhere like a business park or industrial estate outside of the city, of course the employees are going to need parking. To say otherwise is simply denying reality! While there may be 1 or 2 busses that will go to that business park, they usually come from "Insert City" centre so someone would have to get there in the first place to be able to catch the bus.... This is simply not practical for someone coming from outside of the city. There are many, like Mad_Lad, who have to commute, as any other option just does not make sense (either time or expense wise, or both). I have worked in countries where the public transport systems are leaps and bounds ahead of our own, yet there is still a need for parking wherever businesses setup. Even in the Netherlands, which has a huge proportion of cyclists, there are still large companies with huge car parks simply because there is no alternative for their employees. Personally, I would rather sit in traffic for an hour, than to trudge and get a bus into a city centre and another one out to get to my destination. As for the expense of having a vehicle over that of using public transport? The vehicle can take me where I want, when I want... not just to work.

Until the public transport system in this country (not just in Dublin) is planned in a more cohesive way, then these congestion issues will continue well into the future.

You pay for fuel when you travel. You pay for insurance and wear and tear on your vehicle. Why would you expect free storage space?

All parking costs money. The only question is whether that money is paid by everybody or paid by those that enjoy use of the parking.