A new vision for Dublin in which the city competes with New York, Beijing, Hong Kong and Bangalore - "not Cork, Galway or Limerick" - was outlined by Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey last night.
Addressing a Dublin Chamber dinner which was attended by US governor of Maryland, Martin O'Malley, Mr Dempsey painted a picture of a "vibrant, car-free, culture-rich capital city".
He outlined a vision of the future in which the ambitious projects planned under Transport 21 have been delivered "on time and in budget", and city centre businesses have seen a "consequential spike in business". Some 100 million passenger journeys were being made into Dublin each year on "hassle-free" public transport, while every five minutes in rush hour a Luas traversed a newly pedestrianised College Green."Metro West is taking 20 million people from Tallaght to Dublin airport and back. In its first year Metro West took 10 million cars off the roads and gave M50 motorists an alternative . . . "
Staying with his vision of the future, he added: "Speaking of the M50 - it's bigger, it's better and has long since lost its car-park tag. "Dart is three times as frequent at peak and off-peak times and its popularity with shoppers, workers and tourists has exploded . . . bus stops have real time information . . . on-line route planners are easily available. . . to [show how to] cross the city using public transport . . . we all have one, integrated travel ticket . . . " the Minister enthused.
Warming to his theme, the Minister added, "cycle paths are everywhere", stores open late by appointment with public transport providers, Government departments have no parking facilities, "planners and public transport experts from around the world are now visiting Dublin to understand how we did it".
