Sir, - Pierse Kent's view (Commercial Property, November 25th) is that one way to extricate Dublin from its congestion problem is to relocate - "let's continue to do what we're doing now, but go someplace else".
How about changing how we travel?
Although most of us think Dublin is unique, in reality it works like most other cities of similar size throughout the developed world. We can benefit by studying those other cities' experiences. Look at our car ownership levels. They're not yet as high as most European capitals, yet our congestion is worse. So perhaps it's our use of the car - to where, and how often - that's the problem. Look at some of the cities around the world, even in the US, home of the automobile. Portland, Amsterdam, Munich, Oslo - they manage their congestion by changing people's behaviour, not by moving their major employers and attractions to the periphery.
Consider what will happen if significant numbers of workplaces, hospitals, retail and leisure pursuits shift to the edge of the city. The demand for travel will become dispersed, causing public transport systems to become unsustainable; so people will use cars more and more - and congestion will worsen.
The answer is not to create a doughnut city, with activity on the periphery around a dead centre, as Mr Kent suggests, but to use all possible means to encourage people from cars on to sustainable forms of transport. A package of tax incentives is a very effective way of achieving this result.
Tax incentives have worked in other sectors: in encouraging people to live in the inner city, in supplying down-town car parking, in increasing the number of hotels, and in helping the film industry. They have a proven track record. So how can we best design them to develop sustainable behaviour in transport?
The Dublin Transportation Office has incorporated many suggestions for changes to the tax and fiscal environment as part of the recently published Transportation Review and Short-Term Action Plan. These proposals were grouped into measures that would encourage the use of to public transport and restrain to private transport.
The DTI Strategy does not aim to change the shape of the city we live in - that's the role of land-use planning. It aims to change people's behaviour, and changes to the tax code would help. These "soft" measures will reinforce the impact of the investment in "hard" measures, such as the provision of Luas, M50 and quality bus corridors, and that's another benefit. Let's not go the way of Los Angeles! - Yours, etc., Marian Wilson,
Senior Transportation Planner, Dublin Transportation Office, St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2.