Six-week survey of commuters in Dublin begins

The biggest survey yet of Dublin's 650,000 commuters begins today and will continue over the next six weeks. As an incentive to people to take part in the Dublin Transport Office (DTO) survey, respondents will be entered for a weekly draw where the first prize will be a £1,000 voucher for Club Travel. There will be 12 £100 prizes and 90 £50 prizes.

With new car registrations for Dublin this year already at over 53,000, the DTO is expecting a difficult winter for commuters. Last year 55,000 new cars were registered in Dublin.

The survey will be used to update the DTO's computer traffic model. This will help it to test options for the management of transport in the greater Dublin area and make decisions about major infrastructural projects.

"We need to know the precise details of travel behaviour in order to improve traffic management and transportation planning, and we hope that as many people as possible will realise the benefit of their participation," said Mr John Henry, chief executive of the DTO.

Commuters will be handed questionnaires while stopped at junctions. They will be asked to fill in the forms and return them freepost. The survey will be carried out on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. "While our key focus will be aimed at 500,000 survey responses from motorists, we also intend to seek the involvement of 50,000 commercial vehicle drivers and 80,000 bus commuters," said Mr Henry. "In addition, we plan to concentrate for one day on seeking information from 20,000 rail users."

The DTO is to initiate a campaign of traffic management, which will involve improving the quality and encouraging the use of public transport, as well as encouraging more people to walk and cycle to and from work.