Nearly four in 10 foreign visitors interviewed at Dublin Airport earlier this summer said traffic gridlock had a negative impact on their visit to the city, according to a Dublin Chamber of Commerce survey. The chamber yesterday described the finding as a "grave concern".
The survey found complaints about traffic chaos, lack of buses and taxis, and the absence of adequate travel information. Visitors, however, praised the friendliness of Dublin's bus and taxi drivers.
Interviews were conducted with a random sample of 200 tourists at the airport over two day in May and June, according to Mr Ciaran Conlon, the chamber's campaigns manager.
Almost 90 per cent of tourists commended the friendliness of the capital's taxi-drivers, 80 per cent praised DART staff and 70 per cent said bus drivers were friendly.
However, the president of the chamber, Mr David Manley, stressed that the friendliness of workers could no longer overcome deficiencies in the system.
According to the survey results, 38 per cent stated that Dublin's gridlock had negatively affected their visits, while 64 per cent complained about the lack of travel information.
Seventy per cent of respondents said there were not enough taxis.
"Visitors want fast, clean and reliable transport around the city and more than that they want to be told where and how to use it," said Mr Manley.
"If we are to grow this valuable business further, then accelerated re-regulation of the transport market needs to take place, which will allow new entrants to emerge and provide a diversified service."
The chamber has called for real-time information on bus schedules. Currently timetables state what time the bus leaves the depot, not the time it arrives at the bus-stop.
According to the survey, 53 per cent of respondents found the frequency of the Dublin Bus service unsatisfactory. Seventy per cent complained of the lack of basic travel information, while 57 per cent of visiting DART passengers said customer information was inadequate.
However, 64 per cent were pleased with the cleanliness of the trains and 62 per cent were impressed with the speed of the DART.