School runs add to traffic congestion, report finds

Mothers who drive their children to school have been identified by the Dublin Transportation Office (DTO) as a significant factor in causing morning peak-hour traffic congestion.un Laoghaire-Rathdown. A DTO survey of 600 households in the greater Dublin area, carried out by Lansdowne Market Research, found that 40 per cent of children in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown are taken to school by car, usually by their mothers.

By comparison, 72 per cent of school-going children in Fingal and 76 per cent in South Dublin walk to school. Only 6 per cent cycle, mainly because the roads are too dangerous.

Ninety per cent of those walking live within a mile of their schools. Only a minority of children (12 per cent), mainly in the older age groups, use buses, with the highest levels of use in Dublin city (17 per cent) and South County Dublin (16 per cent).

Ms Hazel Jones, of the DTO, told its consultative panel yesterday most "school runs" take place between 8.30 a.m. and 9 a.m. and 45 per cent of the cars return home, adding to morning peakhour congestion.

She explained that the starting point of the survey was the DTO's recognition that congestion in the Dublin area is substantially reduced during school holidays. Consequently there was a need to quantify the impact of schools on the traffic picture.

As a result of the survey, the DTO is planning to introduce pilot "Safe Routes to School" projects, one in each of the four Dublin local authority areas. This will involve the introduction of cycleways and improved pedestrian facilities.

Ms Jones said there was "great potential" in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown to free up muchneeded space on the road network by encouraging more children to walk or cycle to school.

She also told the Consultative Panel that the DTO plans to introduce 180 km of new cycleways, designed to the Dutch standard, over the next three years.

Mr Eamonn Ryan of the Dublin Cycling Campaign said that if the proportion of commuters who cycle to work could be doubled to 10 per cent, it would have more effect on freeing up extra road space than Luas.

"The problem is no longer a technical one, it's political," he said. "Local councillors need to take cycling seriously and cater for it by pressing ahead with the removal of on-street car-parking to make room for the introduction of cycle tracks."

Ms Jones agreed it was a problem of implementation. "We have all the building blocks in place, so it's really over to the local authorities and elected representatives. They need to see the cycle-track programme in the context of strategic gain to the city."