30Kph in Dublin's City Centre
At the monthly meeting of Dublin City Council, on 1st March 2010 the Labour Group proposed that parts of the 30kph zone on the quays, on Winetavern Street and on Kildare Street should undergo a fresh round of public consultation.
A majority of councillors supported the proposal - 22 councillors voted in favour and 20 voted against. However, a total of 26 votes was needed in order to start the public consultation.A motion by Cllr by Bill Tormey to have the 30kph zone removed was defeated by 28 votes to 12. So the 30kph zone will stay as it is for six months. The Council will then review the speed limit.
I support the 30kph zone, but was happy to support public consultation on the yellow parts of the zone as shown in the map above. Here are my reasons for supporting the 30kph zone.
The best way to organise an efficient transport system is to get each mode of transport system working efficiently.
There is no doubt that the car plays a central role in our transport system. For long journeys, for people going to several locations, or people travelling with a large amount of equipment with them, it's hard to beat the car. But if everyone tries to make every trip in the city by car - we will end up with gridlock.
If we can get people walking and cycling for short journeys, we can ease the gridlock. If we can get people using public transport for regular commutes, we can ease the gridlock. If we can get our children and students walking or cycling to the 10 primary schools and 4 secondary schools and 3 colleges in the area, we can ease the gridlock.
It's pretty clear that the 30kph limit will encourage more people to walk and cycle in the city centre, but it also plays an important part in encouraging people to use public transport.
Public transport moves along fixed routes, which rarely bring people door to door. To finish their journeys, people need to walk or cycle the final part of their journey. This is why our public transport providers, Dublin Bus and the Luas operators fully support the new 30kph speed limit.
There is a limit to the road space in our city centre. We can't expand the road space, so we have to get the most out of the road space that we've got. The 30kph zone is an important step in encouraging people to use walk, cycle and use public transport, and as a result it has important benefits for motorists. This is why the AA fully support the 30kph limit as modified by the transport committee and why they rejected the option put forward by Cllr. Bill Tormey of abandoning the 30kph zone.
There are other important reasons for supporting the 30kph speed limit. Experience from other cities such as Newcastle in England or Graz in Germany showed that traffic calming improves retail sales and attracts more tourists. We know this ourselves from the pedestrianisation of Grafton Street or the traffic calming on O'Connell Street. Who would reverse those decisions?
The city centre has one of the highest population densities in the country. Typically in Dublin there's a population density of 4,000 people per square kilometre. In our city centre there are 10,000 residents per square kilometre. This city council has backed strategies to encourage people to live in the city centre. We owe it to those residents to calm the traffic and reduce noise to make a more liveable environment for them.
There are health and safety benefits of introducing a 30kph zone in our city centre. Not only will there be a reduction in fatalities and serious injuries, but there are marked health benefits in encouraging people to walk and cycle.
