Sir, - I was relieved to learn in Tim O'Brien's report "Mayor's driver scorns gridlock" (The Irish Times, January 5th) that Lord Mayor Joe Doyle gets around Dublin "quite easily" in his £40,000 1999 Volvo. Most people are not fortunate enough to be chauffeured through gridlock in the comfort of a luxury automobile. Such a lack of awareness from the leading representative of the people of Dublin is reprehensible.
The fact is that for many people, travelling in Dublin with Dublin Bus, DART, or by bicycle is a nightmare. Public transportation is unreliable, uncomfortable and overpriced. And cycling, let's face it, is near suicidal. I was recently run down by an articulated lorry and suffered a broken leg for my troubles. It is not surprising to find that Joe Doyle, along with Cllrs Dermot Lacey and Eoin Ryan, is pushing the construction of the pointless and environmentally disastrous £500 million Eastern Bypass rather than seriously tackling Dublin's hugely underfunded public transport system.
We have local elections next June. Let's hope that the next City Council is more in tune with the needs of Dublin and more familiar with sound transport policies. -Yours, etc., Chris Gambatese, Earthwatch Transport Campaigner,
Grove Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6.