BusConnects Dublin - Big changes to Bus Network

City centre car parks and cars should have a congestion charge, but that's apparently knocked on the head until public transport magically improves without impacting cars.

interesting concept. Tell that to the new flagship H&M, about to open in Clerys. Or Penneys, Arnotts, Sports Direct etc.

Dublin city centre has the highest footfall of any retail destination in the country and should always have the broadest choice of retail.

Same goes for any capital city.

You can get items delivered these days.

a taxi in to pick up a tv and a taxi back again? when someone already owns a car?

delivery is an option, but if you want to see the product in person and habe driven in to do so, why would you leave and then pay extra for delivery, when youve to drive home anyway.

Most people buy sofas by picking them out in the shop and then getting a delivery date. It's not a unique situation.

Plenty of people drive in and out to Blanch shopping centre just to do that

I'd be surprised at how many people driving to Arnotts or Brown Thomas are trying to shove some bulky item into their car.

Why would you drive in to the city centre when it is so difficult to do so?

The cost of a car park for four or five hours while you look for a TV is probably more than the delivery charge.

Think Power City have free delivery.

Your most value option would be to bus into city centre, look around for tv you want, check Power City online for price and order from them. Bingo, four euros spent.

That proves that city planners should make decisions, not the consumers as they lack of logical healthy way of thinking what's the most rational to the city. Shops will have customers anyways. We have a growing population with many houses built each year. There's a demand for appliances and we shouldn't attract more cars into town when we already have clogged bus lanes and overcrowded and very narrow pedestrian paths. If those shops would be moved from town away and be even bigger, never, better, than they will have even more customers for a convenience. If those shops are so afraid, they could keep showrooms in town without any parking!

We need to ask ourselves why a lot of people go to town for shopping? Is it because there's nothing better to do in the middle of the day during a miserable weather? Do they actually need all of that what they buy? Perhaps they could spend their money for something more sustainable: not disposable clothing, but more variety of entertainment? More parks, more plazas with street markets and coffee shops? You're keep focusing to what it is instead of what it could be. A bit of innovation wouldn't hurt as Dublin city is already behind in so many areas.

Exactly, capital city has more shopping points than just a city centre! And that's my point. You're keep saying that everything should be focused in town while my idea is that everything should be spread away with more than just a few shopping options. This would help residents to have their shopping points closer to them and would take the pressure off the city centre.

The main purpose of the city centre shouldn't be just shopping as that's what the shopping centres are for. It is extremely snobby to see the same shops in town vs shopping centre away from centre. The centre has to provide much better getaway experience.

@CitrusB: "That proves that city planners should make decisions, not the consumers as they lack of logical healthy way of thinking what's the most rational to the city".

Oh, for the good old days of the USSR!

A city centre should have retail but other options too. Dublin city centre does have a lot of cafes, bars, cinemas etc as well. As do all the other captial cities.

Is there a specific city you are trying to emulate in your vision here?

depends how big your car is :)

Maybe its a 40 inch tv, plus some homewares from 2 or 3 different shops. You wouldnt really want to be paying delivery from 4 or 5 different shops.

There will always be a need for some people to bring a car into town, if we want to make town attractive to everyone.

I agree that some people drive in that dont need to, of course. But i wouldnt agree with a blanket ban on cars coming into town, especially when our PT is so poor overall.

We can't and shouldn't make town attractive to everyone. It should offer something else what the suburbs don't, and also be attractive to the tourists! They don't come here to buy a telly!

You keep repeating that our PT is so poor and that's why people use cars to get to town. Our roads are also poor, particularly in town. Why does that not stop people from using their cars? Exactly, because they don't care. People are naturally lazy and will drive as long as have a car. They won't switch to PT not because it's poor, but because of any million of reasons they can think of. We need to ban city centre transit, as other European capitals have done, and still having successfully flourishing businesses.

Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo, Hamburg, Milan, Lisbon... These cities take care of their old town much better. We just dump everything in Dublin centre hoping to please everyone. During the day we have no plazas, very little public toilets, we have no open air arena for small free events, no fountains, no parks without scumbags, no place to feel safe in the evening as many are drunk, especially underaged being illegally drunk. We should have pub free streets, more pedestrian streets (so also less road signs, less traffic lights). Basically, city centre is only for those who want to spend money. But shopping centres should be for that. We should have more free options to enjoy the town. We are so proud of our nature and heritage, yet we destroyed a city centre with regular commercial units and the nature is long forgotten in the heart of the city due to traffic - anywhere you look, it's just a concrete/asphalt.

We don't have a cathedral or town hall surrounded by plaza with lots of cafes without cars buzzing between. Too little planters and trees. Too many cars and vans.

There are plenty of varied restaurants in the city centre. More than any other city in the UK/Ireland outside of London.

We could do with a large outdoor market. I think thats something Dublin city centre certainly is lacking.

Though Smithfield Fruit market and St Andrew Church will fill the void. About time! Possibly Bolands Mill, also.

Lighthouse and IFI are good cinemas.

The large central square will come with College Green.