Aontú has called for the abolition of M50 tolls, as the State considers increasing them.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland has published a review, which calls for tolls to be raised on the Dublin Port Tunnel and the M50.
The report described the growth in traffic using the Port Tunnel as "unsustainable”, adding that “from a tunnel operations perspective, it is important that TII continues to discourage the greater use of the tunnel by tollable traffic in the AM peak”.
On Newstalk Breakfast, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín agreed that traffic in the Greater Dublin area is “absolutely chock-a-block”, but noted that “people don't really have alternatives”.
“If you take people out of the Dublin Port Tunnel and put them onto the roads around the tunnel, those roads are still jammed as well,” he argued
“The problem I have with this is that the Government's instincts are to use a stick to get people to use other roads or to use other transport systems.
“And what we need is for the Government to use a carrot.”
Traffic on the M50 motorway. Picture by: Leon Farrell/RollingNews.The Meath West TD added that he serves as Chair of Meath on Track, which campaigns for greater investment of rail infrastructure in the county, which would alleviate pressure on the roads during rush hour.
“We've been working for 20 years to try to get a rail line built from Navan to Dublin,” he said.
“It would take 60,000 cars off the roads every single day - and yet the Government is glacial in terms of those deliveries.”
Deputy Tóibín continued that drivers are “already really hammered” by the high cost of petrol and diesel and that higher tolls would only exacerbate the issue.
“People are actually paying money to sit in traffic at the moment,” he said.
“In the 1860s, the speed of transport in Dublin was actually faster than it is now; it was faster to travel around Dublin in a horse and cart than it is to travel around in a car today.
“The congestion is going to cost €1.5 billion.”
Since the State purchased the M50 West-Link toll bridge in 2008, commuters have paid well in excess of €2 billion in tolls.
For Deputy Tóibín, given the cost of the toll bridge's purchase has been covered, it is time the Government scrapps the tolls completely.
“It is a cash cow and the Government are milking it for all they can get at the moment,” he said.
“What we're simply saying is that people have paid enough and the idea to charge people to sit in traffic is absolutely wrong.”
Main image: A driver pays at a toll plaza. Picture by: Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland.
