College Green, Dublin
Bus Gate for College Green, Dublin
2nd March 2009
Dublin City Council is proposing a "Bus Gate" for College Green, essentially banning private cars from the area, allowing only buses, taxis and bikes around the entrance to Trinity College. City Centre Traders have lobbied hard against this proposal arguing the proposal will have an adverse impact on their income.
It is essential during this economic crisis that the City Council does nothing to undermine business in the City Centre and the Transport Committee of which I'm a member has quite rightly requested an economic impact analysis of the proposal. However, I believe this proposal will increase trade to this area of town. We have learned over many years that where bus lanes have been introduced, footfall increases - even when cars are restricted. This makes sense. One bus can carry over a hundred passengers, whereas a car can only carry five. A typical bus lane will carry five thousand people per hour, while a typical car lane will transport one thousand per hour.
Access to this location is already severely restricted for private cars. Cars are not allowed access from Pearse Street to College Green and restrictions on O'Connell Street, mean very few cars can can get to College Green from D'Olier Street. Heading in the opposite direction, the right turn ban from George's Street on to Dame Street mean that very few cars can get on to Westmoreland Street. So this new proposal will not have as dramatic an effect as many believe. But it will improve journey times. Anyone travelling on a bus on O'Connell Street heading south towards College Green will know the delays on this street. Improving the traffic flow at College Green will lead to improvements on O'Connell Street. This will encourage more people to use the bus which in turn will lead to a bigger footfall than would otherwise occur.
