[Article] Dublin traffic chief charges media and politicians with 'blame culture'

He's spot on in terms of the "blame culture" issue. It has taken over from statesmanship, vision, leadership, knowledge of best practice, logic etc.

Never before has a country had so much and achieved so little.

Floater

Originally posted by Bee
Oh Dear, a typical civil servant statement...

It seems to me that a large number of journalists in Ireland all too often do not take the time to inform themselves of best international practice in any area before writing on the matter! We end up with uninformed opinions, blame and a misinformed public (except for those who take the time to inform themselves through other means).

Needless to say some of this blame could be avoided if the civil servants and politicians also took the time to inform themselves of best international practice and proceeded to implement same in their day to day duties!

That signage system was the nearest thing I have seen to making the city easily navigable for visitors (ie a good starting point to get one nearly to one's destination). It didn’t comply with signposting colour standards (and could easily have if there was a bit of consultation). Dubliners themselves generally know their way around and don’t need signs, and will look at them somewhat differently from a visitor who is dependant on them. When Dubliners do get lost and have to resort to a map, the colour coded routes and junction numbers on the proposed signage system should be quite easy to understand. (Didn’t like the colour scheme though – is he colour blind I ask myself!).

He moved too fast with the bus lanes IMHO. Aside from a dearth of public transportation Dublin suffered (and still does) from appalling traffic light coordination and management. Making traffic signals part of the problem rather than part of the solution. The roads are wide. I’d have focused on getting the traffic signals right and not installed bus lanes (which greatly reduce the vehicle carrying capacity of the road network) to give me breathing space while high capacity rail infrastructure was being commissioned. Bus lanes and parking reductions can follow in the centre once people have a civilized alternative to completing their journey without a car.

I wouldn’t blame the tunnel planners for the 4,65m height restriction – that is as high as you will get in Germany or France or virtually anywhere else. The Jack Lynch Tunnel has a 4,60m limit and there is no evidence that any vehicle ever touched the upper limits of the portals of this system AFAICS. The trend across Europe is the opposite. People don’t want trucks. Increasingly trailers with their loads are being put on trains for the long distance segment of their journeys – traveling more quickly (eg 160kph) using electric traction which can come from renewable sources.

As an example the new Gotthard Base Tunnel system (2 x 57km tunnels) which is under construction along the North South axis in Switzerland (due to open 2011). It will take more than 300 trains per day (mixed passenger and freight operational 24/24h. More than 70% of the loads will be freight). If truck loads are permitted to get incrementally bigger beyond European norms the trailers won’t be able to fit in virtually any of the European tunnel systems – existing or under construction. Even if the chain store mafia get their way in Ireland and an additional few hundred million is spent increasing the height of the Dublin Port Tunnel by a few cms, what about all the other bridges in the country? Do we replace all these too?

I suspect that freight volumes are coming to a peak in Ireland and will stabilize or even fall a little as the country moves from a manufacturing to a service economy.

Floater

Originally posted by Victor
Actually bus lanes work admirably - you will notice two instruments on the roof of a bus - one of these can talk to traffic lights sensors and prioritise the lights for the bus. Hence at rush hour, many a bus on a (complete) QBC stops only occassionally.

I’m sure they do. Given all the money spent on the QBC system and all the dedicated road space consumed, this is the least one could expect! No doubt Victor and Michael O’Leary consider them to be a great investment! At what price though?

It seems to me that a bus lane is earning a poor return in terms of the number of people it carries during the day – per square metre of road space dedicated to it.

It is easy to forget the cost. Many Dublin streets that carried four lanes of traffic are now down to two lanes for ordinary vehicles. You could call it the Jack Lynch Tunnel effect. Close one of the tunnels and operate the other on a contra-flow basis and look at the traffic mess it creates! Very visible and can be switched on and off at the touch of a button. You are cutting a four lane road down to a two laner. Almost half of Dublin’s arterial road space has been shut down to general vehicular traffic. Not as visible because it has happened slowly over a period of several years.

While QBCs are accessible to a minority of commuters (based on where they live and where they work), the entire city is paying the price for them.

You mentioned the bus priority system at traffic signals. This is a bolt on to the traffic control system – rather than using a traffic control system that has been designed from the ground up to deal with public transport (trams, buses etc) by allocating priorities to each vehicle based on it type and whether or not it is running to schedule. These half baked systems also impose costs on the general efficient movement of traffic.

I’m all in favour of everybody using public transport all the time, particularly in an urban area and this posting should be seen as a criticism of the way Keegan approached the problem rather than any suggestion that Los Angelization is best.

The bus is best as a shuttle / feeder device to get large numbers of people on the nearest high capacity high speed suburban rail system. The bus is also suitable for direct cross suburban journeys. By concentrating large numbers of people on rail one can provide a frequent service and by minimizing the number of stops on the rail system the trip into town from the outer suburbs could be cut to a matter of perhaps 10-12 minutes. Rail (should) also allow one to bring a bicycle to finish one’s journey.

Works in Zurich. Eg Swords to O’Connell Street type of distance in 10 minutes at rush hour on a wet Friday afternoon. With or without your bike (which one can plonk on a rack next to one's seat). Try that on a QBC!

Floater