Freeflow cuts public transport time

Public transport operators in Dublin have reported shorter journey times for their services during peak hours during the first two weeks of December, since Operation Freeflow began.

Bus Éireann, Luas and Dublin Bus said their drivers had a higher compliance with the timetables during the first two weeks of December compared with the same period the previous month.

Bus Éireann spokeswoman Erica Roseingrave said that between 10 to 15 minutes on average was being saved on journey times: "The time savings are being made in the city, particularly at junctions. However, in the longer term, the difficulty for our services meeting timetables is in congestion that builds up outside the city and this is not addressed by freeflow."

A spokeswoman for Veolia Transport, the company that runs Luas, said journey times on the Luas Red Line were reduced by between 90 seconds and four minutes during the first two weeks of this month at peak times. She said this was mainly due to improved traffic flow at junctions along the Jervis St and Four Courts area on the north side of the city.

Inspector Declan Brogan of the Dublin Regional Traffic Unit who is in charge of Operation Freeflow said the improvement in journey times was the best evidence of the effectiveness of the measure. "Gardaí are at the key junctions and this is helping transport providers," he said. "To understand if Freeflow is working you need to ask the people on public transport. Those passengers are as important, if not more important, than the person who is going to take their car into town."

This year 164 gardaí are assigned to Freeflow, 20 more than last year, with a presence at 140 junctions. The six-week programme runs until January 5th, seven days a week, between 7am and 8pm.

"Gardaí are keeping junctions and bus lanes clear all day long and this is helping public transport in particular. Also, by looking at the traffic trends, we have adapted. This year we have more people working in the evenings to cater for increased late night shopping," Insp Brogan added. And following an analysis of Freeflow in 2005, gardaí have been assigned to junctions in Bray, Clondalkin and Tallaght and to the N4 and N7 roundabouts off the M50 to try and avoid bottlenecks outside the city.

Insp Brogan said poor driver behaviour was behind many of the problems, with frustrated drivers frequently blocking junctions causing huge delays: "If the gardaí weren't there, the yellow box junctions would clog up and the traffic would stop."

However, he admitted that while average public transport journey times improve during Freeflow, some evenings gridlock just cannot be prevented. "Last Friday evening there was a concert on at the Point and the whole city locked up.

"The traffic backed up to the Chapelizod bypass. The park-and-ride facilities for the Point are completely inadequate," he said.