Seán Haughey
Question:324 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the measures he is taking to deal with serious traffic congestion in Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5473/02]
Vol. 548 No. 5
324 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the measures he is taking to deal with serious traffic congestion in Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5473/02]
Urgent action is being co-ordinated to improve and manage Dublin transport arrangements. This action is intended to bring major benefits in economic terms, in terms of quality of life and in relation to the environment. The Government's national development plan provides for investment of over €2 billion in public transport and traffic management in Dublin in the period to 2006. A further €1.9 billion will be invested in roads in the Dublin region. This represents total investment of almost €4 billion over the life of the NDP. In 2002 alone, approximately €40 million is being provided to the Dublin Transportation Office in respect of traffic management grants, an increase of almost 20% on last year's provision. The Dublin Transportation Office co-ordinates and monitors the implementation of the Dublin transportation initiative strategy. The DTO policy document, "A Platform for Change", sets out a comprehensive integrated strategy to respond to the transportation needs of the greater Dublin area in the period to 2016.
Implementation of the strategy is expected to result in a high quality public transport service being available to most people within ten minutes walking distance of where they live. It will increase the share of the market accounted for by public transport from 35% to 65%, reduce congestion and average journey times dramatically, improve accessibility and result in significant environmental gains including reductions in energy use and emissions to below what they would be otherwise. I am confident the comprehensive measures proposed in the DTI strategy will contribute substantially to the alleviation of traffic congestion in the greater Dublin area, with consequent positive economic effects.