Survey says Dublin traffic among worst in Europe

DUBLIN DRIVERS sit through some of the worst traffic in Europe, according to a survey which ranks Dublin the sixth most congested European city.

The survey of 59 cities with a population of more than 500,000 found that Brussels had the worst traffic, while the Spanish city of Zaragoza had the lightest traffic flow with just 1.5 per cent of its streets experiencing gridlock.

Two Polish cities, Warsaw and Wroclaw, came in second and third respectively for bad traffic congestion.

London ranked as the fourth most congested city, with Edinburgh the fifth.

Belfast also makes it into the top 10, ranking as the seventh most congested city.

France has two cities in the top 10, with Marseille at number eight and Paris at nine, although there are no other French cities among the 59. Luxembourg is ranked the 10th most congested city in Europe.

The survey, by satnav company TomTom, was produced by taking readings from devices installed in cars to measure the speed at which they travel on the road network. Wherever drivers were travelling at 70 per cent or less of the speed limit, traffic was defined as congested.

AA Roadwatch spokesman Conor Faughnan said the reason Dublin suffered heavy traffic was not high car ownership, but poor public transport.

“The reason we have bad congestion is that we don’t have a metro. Traffic is a scourge but it isn’t anything to do with car ownership; what really sets us apart from other cities of comparable size like Copenhagen, Stockholm or Munich is the public transport deficit.”

Mr Faughnan said he was surprised that Dublin’s ranking was so high because there had been a significant reduction in the number of cars in the city centre in the last 10 years.