Galway traffic

https://www.businesspost.ie/transport/galway-shows-the-direction-that-commuting-should-take-5d327549

Galway shows the direction that commuting should take | Business Post
The Department of Transport has shown some signs that it is serious about tackling congestion, and it‘s bad news for drivers.
Parking bans and congestion charges in city centres are among the measures the state has put on the agenda for its public consultation on how to address congestion.
As part of the process, which runs until January 24, the department has published a series of background papers that point out some of the obvious repercussions of heavy traffic.
Congestion leads to lost time, increased vehicle operating costs, emissions and pollution. There are also wider economic repercussions, with the costs of doing business increasing and making Ireland a less attractive investment prospect.
A 2017 report calculated that congestion costs the greater Dublin area €358 million a year and forecast this figure would swell to €2.08 billion by 2033 if there is no intervention.
One city crippled by congestion on a daily basis is Galway. It is brought to a standstill during rush hour, with its infrastructure barely able to cope with the influx of private vehicles.
The west of Ireland hub has struggled with its own congestion problems, but the whole country could learn a lot from the research that Galway has put into fixing its oversubscribed transport network. A lot of commuters are not going to like the findings.
A plan to create a ring road around Galway city was first raised in 1999. The bypass was seen as the answer to the city’s traffic problems.
Galway authorities have poured significant resources into the plan. Figures from earlier this year revealed that nearly €30 million had been spent on researching and planning the ring road. However, research in the past five years has found the city has been trying to solve the wrong problem.
Based on research by Arup, the international consultancy, the results are clear – and applicable to all Irish cities. Forget about a ring road or wider roads; congestion can be solved by making policies that prioritise every mode of transport except cars.
In fact, Arup found that a very small number of Galway commuters would use a bypass. Only 3 per cent of travelled between the two outer edges of the city each day, while 60 per cent of trips involved workers starting and ending their commute by car within city limits.
A separate study has found that the ring road is needed in addition to other measures, but at its core, Galway’s congestion plan has been focused on getting commuters out of their cars and onto public transport – not catering further to car users.
Buses are going to be given priority through the city, which would result in normal traffic being removed from University Road, across Salmon Weir Bridge, onto Eglinton Street and around Eyre Square.
These are all plans in the pipeline, so Galway has not got to grips with congestion quite yet, but everyone should pay attention to the city’s research. The harsh truth is that cars cannot be at the centre of transport policy any more.
The existing “smarter travel” policy for 2009-2020 targeted a reduction in commuting by car from 65 per cent to 45 percent. The state is expected to miss that target by some distance, with Census 2016 results showing that 61 per cent of commuters drove to work.
In the concluding remarks of its recent report on congestion, the Department of Transport said a combination of demand-focused and supply-focused interventions would be used to address congestion. That means additional charges for drivers, coupled with more investment in public transport infrastructure.
It’s a carrot-and-stick approach, but as has been evident in Galway, transport authorities will not be shy of using the stick in the coming years. Cars are going to be less of a priority, and commuters will have to get used to that fact.

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Yeah .. .the An Post workers doing a pickup at 5:30pm might have an issue with that idea.

Overall, deliveries are focussed on the pedestrianised streets until 10:30am, because vehicles need to be be out of them. Non-pedestrianised streets are done later in the day. It's not realistic to expect them all to be complete by 11am, when some businesses aren't open to receive deliveries until 9 or even 10am.


Comparing a city of (maybe) 80k people with Dublin is just silly. Different on oh-so-many ways.

Hold on.... It's either a city or not a city .
It's nuts allowing vehicles parked up along a main road causing traffic problems.
Same as foster street .
Vecihcles ( some shop owners ) blocking a bus lane .
I suppose you tolerate that because there's only 80,000 people living here.
Typical galway attitude.... Sure it will be grand... Let's just keep burying our heads in the sand and it will go away .
As for shops opening at 9am or 10am ..
Get out of bed and take in your deliveries .
Sure that will be grand to .