Drive to leave the car at home begins

STAFF AT 15 of Dublin's biggest employers are to participate in a month-long challenge to reduce traffic congestion by walking to work.

About 1,500 employees from organisations including AIB, RTÉ, Irish Life Permanent and Vodafone - along with Dublin's four local authorities, the Department of the Environment and the Department of Transport - will leave their cars behind for at least a day a week.

Since Monday, teams of four employees have been using pedometers to measure their footsteps with a goal of covering the equivalent of the height of four of the world's highest mountains by next month.

The Dublin Transportation Office (DTO), which has started the "One Small Step" initiative, believes 200,000 commuter journeys could be saved every day if motorists left their cars at home once a week. It has begun an advertising campaign to encourage drivers to leave their cars behind.

According to recent research by the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Isme), Dublin commuters face average journeys of 49 minutes each way every day, and the problem is getting worse.

The DTO believes there has been a significant change in attitudes among commuters in the last year, with many more willing to consider a switch from the car to other means of transport.

At present just over half of all commuters in the Dublin area (52 per cent) drive to work. Of these, nearly 40 per cent are willing to consider an alternative. "This is our market, that's where we can achieve a lot," said DTO director John Henry.

The percentage of motorists who would consider walking or cycling instead of using their car has increased from 24 per cent in 2007 to 32 per cent this year.

"When we did the first survey a year ago, a lot of people said they had to have the car, there was nothing they could do about it," Mr Henry said. "That is slowly changing."

Only 2 per cent of Dublin commuters cycle, a percentage which is one of the lowest in Europe.