12,000 `park and ride' spaces for Dublin

MORE than 12,000 new "park and ride" parking places are to be developed on the outskirts of Dublin at an overall cost of £28.8 million with the aim of encouraging car commuters to switch to public transport.

A report issued yesterday by the Dublin Transportation Office also recommends a further £2 million should be invested in the provision of 10,000 secure bicycle parking spaces at the same locations.

There are only 1,800 "park and ride" spaces available to commuters in the Dublin area at present, mainly in the vicinity of DART stations. The plan would be to increase this number almost sevenfold.

Although no specific sites have been identified, the areas where "park and ride" facilities are to be installed include Bray, Greystones, Kildare, Maynooth, Castleknock, Tallaght, Sandyford, Carrickmines and Cabinteely.

The report is not more specific because "there may be commercially sensitive issues relating to site acquisition", its authors say. Some of the sites may need to be rezoned for development as car-parks.

The report notes that the Dublin Transportation Initiative recommended a greater role for public transport and saw its integration with the car as "critical" to the success of the Dublin area transport strategy.

It says the provision of "park and ride" sites "will assist in encouraging long-distance commuters to leave their cars in secure parking facilities and travel by bus, LRT (light rail transit) and train into the city centre".

A total of 52 potential locations were examined by the DTO and 30 "key sites" were identified which could be developed as funding became available.

These would consist of 3,900 parking spaces to facilitate car commuters transferring to the proposed Luas, 3,710 for those using faster bus services, 1,960 for DART and suburban rail, 1,690 for bus/LRT and 1,100 for bus/rail.

In the short to medium term, it says, the expenditure required would be £20 million over the period from 1997 to 2001, or £4 million per annum. This would include the cost of acquiring sites for the development of parking facilities.

The report says the ability of public transport to service new park and ride" sites, with the capacity, frequency and reliability expected by its customers, would be critical to the success of the DTI strategy.