Wouldn't it be nice to hear one of those travel updates they do on the radio to announce that there are no serious traffic jams in Dublin? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to drive from one of the suburbs to the city centre at 8 a.m. in less than an hour?

Wouldn't it be nice to have buses turn up on time and for taxis to be available on Friday and Saturday nights? Wouldn't it be nice for Dublin to have a transport system that works and that befits a European capital?

There seems to be a perception that Luas, in whatever form it eventually goes forward, might just give us that and give it soon. That's a pity because it won't. Dublin's traffic problems are the product of a number of contributing factors, such as the growth in car ownership and use, inadequate public transport and a road network that cannot do the job.

Each of these factors is linked, so that any solution for one will affect all the others. Luas is a good example. To build it in its current form will cause huge problems to public and private transport users. Even when up and running, it will cause delays to those who wish to use city-centre roads. So Luas will move people from the suburbs more efficiently, but there will still be a traffic problem at the heart of the city.

There is an aphorism that is applied to big business problems. It goes like this: Q. How do you eat an elephant? A. In very thin slices. The central idea is that in order to solve a big problem you must divide it into a series of smaller problems and solve each one of them, one at a time. Slice the elephant up and eat it bit by bit rather than trying to fit the whole thing in your mouth at once. This seems to be how Dublin's transport problem is being tackled. Slowly, logically and one chunk at a time. And it's not working.

Because this is one of those rare problems that requires a large and complex solution with many facets that is put in place in a co-ordinated, carefully choreographed and precisely timed process. Not a series of piecemeal steps.

Some of the elements of the solution will not be popular and are likely to make the problem worse before they make it better. And it will take at least four years to be completed.

For politicians unpopular decisions are relatively easy to make so long as the positive outcome of those decisions becomes apparent before the next election. But the timescale for improving Dublin's transport system is longer than the average life span of a government.

By the time the next election is called sitting Dublin TDs will only be able to promise that the situation will improve. And the public just doesn't believe political promises. Hence the delay in pushing on with solving the problem and the tendency to deal with it in a stepped plan.

Luas has amply demonstrated the eagerness of politicians not to take an unpopular but inevitable decision. Whether the traffic problem is solved bit by bit or through the undertaking of the sort of grand scheme I mentioned earlier, Luas will be part of the solution.

It will have to be built. The previous government knew this but engaged in a series of studies in order to bullet-proof itself and postpone the inevitable. This Government has also gone down the research route but has now run out of time. If Luas is to go ahead, above ground, with European funding its construction will have to start before the end of the year.

Next Tuesday's decision will show just how politically brave this Government is. If it announces that it is going ahead with the over-ground option it should be applauded. If it decides to go underground it smacks of prevarication. An underground will require more planning, renewed applications for European funding and years of delay.

There is another act of political bravery that will be required before the transport problem is solved. Even if you build Luas, extend the DART service and paint bus lanes all over the city people will still want to use their cars.

An assumption seems to have been made that simply by improving the public transport system people will automatically use it. That ignores the fact that people spend thousands of pounds buying their own private vehicles and won't want to see that investment rusting to nothing in their driveways.

It also ignores the fact that when you are in your car you decide what music you will listen to, what route you will use, even what temperature your vehicle will be maintained at. This mixture of luxuries, flexibility and financial imperatives combined with habit will ensure that car use continues to grow.

To actively reduce the numbers of cars on our capital's streets radical action will have to be taken. There will have to be a punitive retraining of the public conscience on two fronts.

First, regulations will have to be put in place similar to the measures taken in a number of European cities: cars with odd numbers on number plates allowed in on certain days and even-numbered cars on others; or a minimum number of passengers in each vehicle; or a hefty charge for all private vehicles crossing the canals.

Second, the rules of the road will have to be enforced ruthlessly. People who drive in bus lanes, park illegally or behave in any way that is likely to contribute to traffic problems will have to be caught, prosecuted and punished. In other words, Operation Freeflow and a zero-tolerance policy on a permanent basis. It is only through extreme measures like these that people can be educated out of the old, lazy habits that, in the past, were considered acceptable. It is precisely this methodology that has successfully worked in battling drink-driving and speeding when all the persuasive public information campaigns failed.

Everyone wants Dublin's traffic problem solved. It will be a measure of the city's maturity whether its population accepts the changes necessary to solve it or continues to look for some sort of painless quick fix that merely postpones and ultimately worsens the situation.