Traffic congestion issues in Dublin are a “measure of success” as it shows that “people want to live here,” an industry expert has claimed.

On The Hard Shoulder today, EY’s Global Transport Leader Tony Canavan said he was generally “pretty impressed” with transport services in Dublin but acknowledged more can be done.

It comes as the Transport Research Arena, an international bi-annual future of travel conference, got underway at the RDS today.

Mr Canavan said Ireland is not unique with its traffic congestion issues.

“The people here are not alone when they complain about their transport system, it seems to be the one thing every city and country has in common,” he said.

“No matter how good it is, people complain about the transport system.

“I don’t think it would come as a surprise to people to know congestion is a shared issue around the world and it’s often a measure of success that people want to live in a city.”

Public transport

Mr Canavan said public transport must be part of the solution in Dublin.

“Public transport is a big part of the answer to it and in recent times, there have been some big inroads made with public transport made," he said.

“I was in Dublin about a year and a half ago; at that point, it was the only city where public transport patronage had gone up since the start of the pandemic – the only one I could find.”

The Luas, a Dublin Bus and a cyclist in Dublin city center. Photo: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie

Mr Canavan said there is a “battle for road space raging across the world” at present.

“Our roads were built for motor vehicles and motor vehicles grew in number all around the world, the roads grew accordingly to meet that demand,” he said.

“But congestion has got to the point now where we need people to share the road and share their trips as well.

“That means busses, and we also want people to be active which means bicycles.

“The only place they can do that is on the roads so the object of the transport network is to move people, not to move vehicles.”

Reducing emissions

Reducing transport emissions is also essential to future travel, according to Mr Canavan.

“As we sit here today, the automotive sector has largely placed its bit, it’s going down the battery electric vehicle route,” he said.

“Some are looking at hydrogen, but capital and resources have moved to those technologies which means that it represents the fastest path that we have at the moment.

“We don’t have much time, there’s a climate crisis and we need greater acceleration in the transition to zero-emission vehicles.”

Mr Canavan said Dublin also “needs to get creative” in its provision of EV charging points.

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Main image: Dublin rush-hour traffic. Image: David Cordner / Alamy Stock Photo