City driving may become a numbers game

AN "odds and evens" can ban in cities during Energy Awareness Week later this year is among proposals in a report presented yesterday to the Minister of State for Energy, Mr Emmet Stagg.

Under the scheme, which is designed to reduce congestion, motorists with even number plates would be allowed to drive into town one day while those with odd number plates would be given the freedom of the road the next.

In Athens, cars entering the centre are limited in this way, although there is believed to be a thriving market in number plates it is also regarded by some as a form of invidious discrimination in favour of two car families.

However, the report suggests a "lock up the second car" campaign to encourage households to rationalise their driving priorities and use car pooling for school runs.

It also proposes that "banned" drivers receive vouchers for public transport.

The report, the first of its kind in Ireland, looks at a wide range of options for developing energy efficient, environment friendly solutions to the transportation of people and goods, which consumes £1 billion worth of imported oil every year.

Commissioned by the Irish Energy Centre, the study draws on international experience of transport use and deals with cars, freight vehicles, buses, light rail systems, railways and cyclists, as well as taxes, tolls and company car benefits.

On company cars, Dr James Crowley of UCD, who directed the study, admitted the authors had limited their proposals to modifying taxation policies to make such perks more fuel efficient.

In other words, company executives might find themselves taxed into driving a Fiat Cinque-cento rather than a BMW. But the study stops short of suggesting that companies should find other ways of rewarding valued employees than giving them the keys to a car.

It also fails to mention mileage expenses, which are now running at 65p per mile in the public service, encouraging car use instead of public transport. "It may have "been in an early draft, but it didn't find its way into the final report", Dr Crowley said.

The authors want the car scrappage scheme amended to ensure that it promotes the purchase of replacement cars which meet environmental green criteria.

To make public transport more attractive to commuters, the `study' suggests "inter ticketing" to allow people to transfer from one bus route to another without having to pay a second fare, as well as the promotion of "park and ride" facilities on the out skirts of the city.

Another campaign would focus on the huge volume of commuter car parking space in city centre areas. "All the best parking places in Dublin are taken up by commuters, and then companies wonder where their customers are they just can't find anywhere to said Dr Crowley.

The report endorses tele commuting, saying it offers to substitute electronic mobility for physical mobility. "New work practices and commuting concepts are emerging and, if workers were to work at home in rotation, significant reductions in traffic congestion could be achieved."

It also calls for a campaign to promote a positive image of cycling, especially in urban areas, through such initiatives as a "cycle to work week" or a "family bicycle day" pointing out that in Reykjavik, the Icelandic capital, this to already increase as cycling to work.

Other suggestions include an energy efficiency quiz competition, with forms being handed out at petrol stations the installation of fuel meters in cars to make drivers more energy aware, and an investigation of the transport and energy implications of, electronic shopping.

"Underlying everything, however, is the behaviour of the individual," the authors say. "The policy maker must understand the reasons (why) people own cars (and) the reasons they travel. In the end, the consumer will as ever vote with his or her feet."