Commuting by car is king!

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

Mutlinational.
To look at the HR bit of the website you'd think it was a great place to work.

Don't want to stay too far off topic - but Being honest i'd move jobs. I know the jobs market is not hectic at the moment in some industries, but if it's what you've described above it looks like a place you're better off being shot of. No workplace should have the potential to damage your physical or emotional health to that extent.

Chemical Byrne wrote: »

I work for a consultant's and I was told about a guy there previously who was nicknamed the "Greyhound" cos he had no car and used to get around on the buses for going to meetings etc.
He was pulled aside one day by management who told him in no uncertain terms to go and get a car as you can't be rocking up to meetings with clients on a bus as it makes him and the company look bad.
It's not about practicality, it's just a cultural thing.

As long as he was on time for the meetings and looked presentable, I can't see what the issue was.

The story seems a bit embellished, but in certain industries there would be an unspoken expectation to have an outward appearance of success at every turn. Still, in central Dublin I'd be surprised if anybody ever made a comment about coming into work/meetings on bus/bike/luas/what-have-you.

Its funny, every second moped driver you see on the streets of Rome is wearing a suit, I'm sure some of them are lawyers and accountants.

There can sometimes be a sense of keeping up appearances in Ireland. I think it comes from the Irish mammy who is always obsessing about what others would be thinking or saying about them behind their back.

There is a simple answer, I suspect if the conditions are right, ie comparable or better timings , convenience of timing ,comfort , people will switch modes of transport , even if there is a difference financially ( positive or negative )

Cars win , because provide unrivalled levels of convenience and in generally a more comfortable and often faster point to point.

It's still significantly quicker for me to travel into the city centre or especially the outskirts of Dublin if I use my car. Otherwise I faced with a 15 walk to a bus , then a dwell time delay , then a further allowance for transferring to another route then a 10 minute walk at the end. I can nearly always beat the point to point time using my car.

So it's simple , if the public service is convenient to you, offers comparable timing, then people will use it. Unfortunately for the majority , it is not convenient to do so. What the planners however are attempting, is to reforce a 19 century form of travel ( where people simply had no other option) onto a population with radically different transport needs

BoatMad wrote: »

There is a simple answer, I suspect if the conditions are right, ie comparable or better timings , convenience of timing ,comfort , people will switch modes of transport , even if there is a difference financially ( positive or negative )

Cars win , because provide unrivalled levels of convenience and in generally a more comfortable and often faster point to point.

It's still significantly quicker for me to travel into the city centre or especially the outskirts of Dublin if I use my car. Otherwise I faced with a 15 walk to a bus , then a dwell time delay , then a further allowance for transferring to another route then a 10 minute walk at the end. I can nearly always beat the point to point time using my car.

So it's simple , if the public service is convenient to you, offers comparable timing, then people will use it. Unfortunately for the majority , it is not convenient to do so. What the planners however are attempting, is to reforce a 19 century form of travel ( where people simply had no other option) onto a population with radically different transport needs

Had this discussion with a neighbour and work colleague recently. I was working in city west and a neighbour who worked near me enquired how long it took to get to work (around 18km). I said quicker than driving - he wasn't convinced. We jokingly set about a race one morning - I gave a nod as I passed him on his driveway. I waited for him at the n7 flyover - he was about 5 minutes behind.

In my current job a colleague who is also a neighbour asked how long to cycle the 13km home - to which I replied 35 to 40 minutes. He had an hour in his head as the time on a bike. It's pretty constant no matter what traffic or weather. Another challenge accepted - evidence was a photo if the front door upon arrival. Again I was there before him. It took him about 20 minutes alone to travel down Pearce st.

Obviously there are scenarios where cars are more convenient and quicker. If you have an open road from a to b a car will beat a bike. I've yet to see this commuting into Dublin city centre - a bike will more often than not beat a car in the majority of scenarios.

Pinch Flat wrote: »

So in this situation I can't see how the longest commuting choice that is somewhat unpredictable getting from a to be can be a viable alternative - other than having your own space and a warm car surrounding you.

Garret Fitzgerald was once rumoured to have said, " yes its fine its works in practice, but will it work in theory"


your argument is beginning to sound like that, Whatever the theoretical arguments, about 80% of all travel in dublin is by car, lets live with that and move on. The car is king, whatever you , I or owen keegan wishes it were not.

BoatMad wrote: »

Garret Fitzgerald was once rumoured to have said, " yes its fine its works in practice, but will it work in theory"


your argument is beginning to sound like that, Whatever the theoretical arguments, about 80% of all travel in dublin is by car, lets live with that and move on. The car is king, whatever you , I or owen keegan wishes it were not.

No the examples I gave were real based on personal experience - completely unscientific and unverified of course.

The car is king here - there is no denying that the vast majority of people that travel into Dublin use it. But will it be king for much longer? Dublin City council have openly admitted they have stopped catering for the private car in Dublin City centre. This is enshrined in the current city development plan - Luas improvements, rapid bus connections and cycling being promoted to decrease the over dependence on the private car.

http://dublincitydevelopmentplan.ie

So where it is certainly king at the moment - partly due to the destruction of the world class public transport system we had here in the latter half of the 20th century - this picture is rapidly changing - driving a car into Dublin on an already over subscribed road network will be come more and more difficult and inconvenient. It will intimately culminate in a congestion charge or other disincentives to prevent private cars clogging up the streets for users of public transport, or those who wish to walk or cycle.

Reading the development plan, there are no plans for dual carriageways, underground roadways, increased parking or other facilities to encourage the private car. The change is already in the pipeline

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/cars-to-be-banned-from-one-side-of-college-green-in-trial-run-1.2016416

It's a start - the private car has destroyed the inner city leading to a carcentric area that is hostile to pedestrians and cycling.

Cycling still represents a low percentage (but steadily rising) means of getting in and out of the city in terms of usage.

Many people who would have never dreamt of cycling to work are seeing the folly of lost hours in the car - it's negative impact economically, socially and on people's health.

So where it is certainly king at the moment - partly due to the destruction of the world class public transport system we had here in the latter half of the 20th century - this picture is rapidly changing - driving a car into Dublin on an already over subscribed road network will be come more and more difficult and inconvenient. It will intimately culminate in a congestion charge or other disincentives to prevent private cars closing up the streets for users of public transport, or those who wish to walk or cycle.

Reading the development plan, there are no plans for dual carriageways, underground roadways, increased parking or other facilities for the private car. The change is already in the pipeline

sorry that peaked by interest , Im a bit like HOUSE MD, i find it " interesting"

what "world class public transport system we had here in the latter half of the 20th century", do you mean we had a world class system in the 1980s , seriously. I mean you can look at 19 and 20th century rail returns in Ireland, in reality we never had any world class systematic passenger system, most of our railways for example were built for freight ( primarily the movement of livestock) Kingbridge had originally only three platforms, today it has triple that


Im not arguing that the car is not damaging, Im merely arguing that it is the preferred mode of transport users. I do resent attempts to " force" people out of cars. But I fully accept the role they played in the 50s through the 90s in damaging Dublin. Im a great supporter of our motorway network though