Dublin commuters had to endure disruption and traffic delays yesterday as the rail workers' unofficial strike brought thousands of extra cars onto the roads.
Frustrated public transport commuters, left stranded by a complete suspension of DART services, turned to buses only to find them overcrowded and unable to deal with the additional demand.
Traffic jams were evident earlier than normal on all the main routes into the city. However, they eased considerably by mid-morning, indicating that motorists heeded advice to stagger their journey times into work.
Evening traffic jams began as early as 3 p.m. in suburban areas as people attempted to beat the worst rush hour delays.
Mr Paul Dunne, of Dublin Corporation's traffic department, said he was surprised the disruption was not worse. "In general it was quite good. The only noticeable thing was that the morning peak period was extended. The queues began at 7.30 a.m. instead of 8 a.m. But then the traffic cleared up fairly quickly."
Some routes, notably the Stillorgan Road, took longer to clear than normal. However, he said, other areas, including Fairview, were "virtually traffic-free" by 9 a.m.
He defended the corporation's decision not to relax parking laws for the day to assist the expected additional volume of cars. "If there are going to be more cars, parking enforcement is even more important. You don't want them blocking up clearways and stopping the rest from moving."
Reports from various parts of the city indicated that while the number of cars had increased parking was still available throughout the day.
While there was no major increase in absenteeism, employers reported a significant fall-off in business activity in the city.
Mr Pat Delaney, director of the Small Firms' Association, said some employees were late but few skipped work altogether. "The main impact was on the retail trade and companies depending on cash sales. Shopping was very badly affected while, on the business side, thousands of man hours were lost."
An increased Garda presence on the streets was credited in some quarters with easing the worst effects of the dispute. The number of foot patrol gardai allocated to traffic duty was more than doubled to 88, while an additional 10 to 15 motorcycles, or 39 in total, were commissioned. The Garda helicopter also assisted in identifying trouble spots.
"Our policy was to target from 6.30 a.m. the 22 main arteries into the city, and to try to have a garda at every major junction. A huge amount of effort was put into it," said a Garda spokesman.
Bus lanes were opened by gardai to other traffic, a move described as "disappointing" by a spokesman for Dublin Bus. He said "it was unfortunate that many commuters travelling by bus for the first time because of the strike will get a bad impression of the service because the lanes weren't kept free".
He reported that demand for buses was much heavier than normal with many vehicles full even after their first stop. The Automobile Association said traffic delays were not as bad as expected in many parts of the city.
"From mid-morning, traffic moved quite freely," a spokeswoman said. "However, it was at a standstill early morning on the main routes, including Clontarf, Malahide and Howth Roads and Bray Road."
Between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. there were tail-backs on the Stillorgan Road as far as Belfield and on the Swords Road as far as Santry.
