First, the good news - the Dublin Transportation Office is to introduce its Operation Freeflow-Christmas Programme based once again on the theme that "shopping in the city can be magic", if motorists obey parking and traffic laws and travellers use public transport whenever possible. Now, the bad news - according to the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, there will not be sufficient resources to continue the experiment with the same intensity into the New Year.
This is most unfortunate because last year's operation definitely worked. It was based on strict enforcement procedures as well as the provision of extra gardai. There was ample evidence of widespread public support. Changing attitudes were driven by improved traffic flow, more punctual bus services and less congestion all around. There was even evidence that 10 per cent of car commuters had used public transport more frequently as a result. This is a small, but nonetheless significant, shift of preferences in the right direction. The figure would surely be larger if more time was available to demonstrate that strict enforcement pays dividends with improved traffic management and performance. In logic it should be extended as rigorously throughout the year, accompanied by extra resources.
This year 160 extra gardai are to be available, together with more motor-cycle units, mobile jeep patrols and tow-trucks. Bus lanes have been extended in length and time. There are to be special price day family tickets. Road works will be banned between the canals, selected parking-meters will be hooded and queuing for multi-storey car parks will be policed. All this betokens a conviction that enforcement plus targeted resources will improve the Dublin traffic chaos. Its persistence has, not surprisingly, become a major preoccupation, irritation and talking point among Dublin's commuters.
Increasingly, traffic congestion is seen as an unacceptable cost burden, with the South Dublin Chamber of Commerce estimating that it is costing its members some £150 million per annum. Congestion on such a scale tells a story of incompetence and unwillingness to use tough methods that could become a disincentive to investment in a capital city that in so many other respects displays signs of growth and prosperity. Other Irish cities - Belfast, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Waterford - are also afflicted by congestion and traffic mismanagement, but so far on nothing like the scale of Dublin.
Enforcement is only one part of the solution. The principal allocation of resources to address the problem is CIE's £220 million plan for the Luas light-rail system. Yesterday, the Minister for Public Enterprise, Mrs O'Rourke, gave a commitment that it would be built, under or above ground depending on decisions yet to be made in the light of a consultant's report. Tomorrow she is to meet the EU commissioner responsible for structural funds, Mrs Wulf-Mathies, in what will be a tricky discussion on the timing of forthcoming decisions about how best to proceed. It is clear from the Christmas experience of Operation Freeflow that stricter enforcement and more policing resources have a vital role to play along with structural change in Dublin's traffic systems.