DUBLIN is the second least car populated city in a survey which covered 14 EU capitals and two Swiss cities, the Automobile Association claimed yesterday.
"This gives the lie to the notion that the motor car is Dublin's problem," said Mr Conor Faughnan, the AA's public affairs manager.
The city's congestion problem is caused by insufficient public transport, not too many cars, Mr Faughnan said.
Dublin's ratio of cars to people is three cars to 18 people, ranking the capital second last among the cities surveyed. Only Copenhagen has a lower ratio of cars to people.
The densest ratio is in Berlin and Luxembourg, according to the survey. London has a ratio of 2.55 people to each car. The AA says the results show Dublin is not the "car swamped" city many people believe.
"The city should take a step back from blaming the car for all our ills," Mr Faughnan added.
"The facts do not bear this reasoning out. What we need urgently is public transport. People do not drive their cars out of selfishness, motorists are not environmental vandals. They drive in the absence of a good alternative to get them in to work on time."
The AA survey included 16 European cities and was compiled with the co operation of the AIT/ FIA Brussels office, the umbrella group for all of Europe's motoring organisations.