Fewer cars, more cyclists in Dublin morning rush

LEVELS OF motor traffic in Dublin city have declined in the last decade, with 5,000 fewer cars entering the city during the daily morning rush last year than in 2000, according to new figures from Dublin City Council.

While commuting by car has decreased in the last 10 years, the numbers choosing to cycle into the city have risen by one-third over the same period.

Commercial deliveries to city centre businesses between 7am and 10am have seen the most significant drop over the decade, with the numbers of goods vehicles entering the city down by 67 per cent.

The biggest drop in goods vehicle numbers came in 2007 following the introduction of the ban on five-axle lorries.

In 2006 the council’s annual traffic count recorded 2,291 goods vehicles entering the city in the morning peak. By the following year this figure fell to 1,445.

The decline in deliveries to the city centre has continued steadily with goods vehicle numbers slipping below 1,000 to 993 for the first time this year since the council began its annual traffic count in 1997.

The number of buses travelling increased over the decade by 11 per cent.

However, from a high of 1,814 inward bus journeys on a typical morning rush in 2008, numbers fell to 1,688 last year.

Despite the 5,000 drop in car numbers, the largest number of trips into the city each morning are still made by car, with 67,935 cars entering the city between 7am and 10am on a typical day in 2000, falling to 62,853 last year.

From a low of 60,000 in 2005 car commuting had been on the increase in recent years, but fell last year from 63,212 in 2009 .

The total number of cars includes taxis, but the council has only been differentiating between private cars and taxis since its 2002 annual count.

Between 2002 and 2004 the numbers of taxis fluctuated, but numbers rose steadily from 2,509 in 2004 to 5,079 – more than double – in 2008.

The last two years has seen a decrease in morning taxi journeys. The figure was 4,809 in 2010.

Over the decade the number of motorcyclists, which includes commuters and couriers, fell by one-third, from 2,558 to 1,656. The total fluctuated throughout the decade, but since 2008 it has declined steadily.

The biggest change in commuting patterns over the last 10 years has been in the number of cyclists. At the beginning of the decade 4,464 people were cycling into the city between 7am and 10am.

There was some fluctuation in subsequent years but cycling numbers reached a low of 3,941 in 2004.

Since then numbers rose steadily, reaching a peak of 6,326 in 2009.

There was some slippage last year, down to 5,952, but this could be a reflection of the overall drop in commuter numbers.

The number of people walking into the city has fallen from a high of 18,594 in 2007 to 15,092 last year, but despite this recent drop the number of pedestrians has changed little over the decade: 15,808 people were walking into the city in the mornings in 2000.

The council has only began calculating the total number of people entering the city from 7am to 10am since 2005.

In 2005, 96,385 people were recorded as making the journey across the canals into the city on a typical morning.

The following year that number had risen to 99,242, but since then it has dropped, and was 94,139 last year.

The annual count is made in November each year, with council workers stationed between 7am and 10am at 33 locations where it is possible to enter the city, based around a cordon formed by the Royal and Grand canals.