Overview
The Final Report of the Dublin Transportation Initiative (DTI) was published in August 1995. It recommended an integrated transportation strategy for the Greater Dublin Area for the period up to 2011. The Government decided that this strategy should provide the planning framework for the future development of the transport network in the Greater Dublin Area.
One of the key recommendations of the DTI Final Report was that its strategy should form the first phase of an ongoing transportation planning process. The Dublin Transportation Office (DTO) was set up in 1995 to carry on that transportation planning process. This report provides a summary of the first updating by the DTO of the original DTI Strategy and outlines the resulting DTO Strategy.
The Platform for Change Transportation Strategy contains a series of broad objectives under five separate headings:
- The Regional Economy
o improve accessibility and reduce congestion;
o sustain economic development and regeneration;
o consolidate existing economic activity;
o encourage a further increase in participation in the labour force, particularly by disadvantaged groups in society;
o enhance goods distribution in a sustainable way; - Quality of Life
o reduce growth in the demand for transport, especially private transport;
o reduce the need for car commuting by improving the reliability, availability and quality of public transport;
o reduce travel times and congestion;
o ameliorate direct environmental effects of transport - noise, severance, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions;
o promote cycling and walking as safe, sustainable and healthy means of transport;
o improve transport safety. - International and National Context
o act consistently with UN, EU and Government plans and policies;
o improve accessibility to ports and airports for passengers and goods;
o improve accessibility to and from the Greater Dublin Area;
o foster sustainable development. - Development of the City and Region
o promote the implementation of the Strategic Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area and the proposed National Spatial Strategy;
o within the Region, consolidate growth in the Metropolitan Area1;
o within the Hinterland Area1, promote the self-sufficiency of the Development Centres. - Efficiency in Implementation
o optimise the use of existing infrastructure and facilities;
o promote sustainable land use;
o ensure timely implementation to meet sustainable transport needs;
o ensure the efficient and cost-effective use of resources - public, EU and private sector;
o ensure that legislative, institutional and administrative structures optimise implementation;
o maximise self-enforcement;
o ensure minimum disruption during construction and implementation. - During the course of the update, the DTO Steering Committee set a number of further, quantifiable objectives:
o reduce the level of congestion to 1991 levels;
o provide adequate capacity for all journeys to work and education;
o the strategy should not focus exclusively on the City Centre but should also serve the wide
The phasing of the Strategy is designed to address short-term transportation needs and to put in place an integrated transportation system which will meet the medium to longer-term requirements of the Greater Dublin Area.
In the short term, the aim is to provide additional public transport capacity, primarily on the bus network, and to improve traffic management, including better bus priority. In the medium to longer term, the emphasis will switch to rail-based public transport (LUAS, METRO and DART/Suburban Rail) and demand management. The aim is to create an integrated transport network, which has sufficient capacity to meet the transportation requirements of the Greater Dublin Area well beyond the 2016 horizon of this Strategy.
The programme is divided into four phases:
PHASE 1: by end 2003;
PHASE 2: by end 2006 (the end of the National Development Plan);
PHASE 3: by end 2010;
PHASE 4: by end 2016 (the horizon year of the transportation strategy).
The DTO Strategy outlined in this report has been prepared to support and complement the strategic land use planning framework described in the Strategic Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area, published in February 1999. This framework is illustrated in Figure 1. The current Guidelines are the fundamental basis on which the DTO Strategy rests.
The strategy also takes account of:
o the transport investment proposals in the National Development Plan 2000 to 2006;
o the development plans of the local authorities;
o the National Sustainable Development Strategy;
o the Green Paper on Sustainable Energy;
o the Dublin Suburban Rail Strategic Review;
o the Bus Network Strategy Appraisal for the Greater Dublin Area;
o the National Road Needs Study;
o the Eastern By-Pass Strategic Study;
o the ESRI's Medium Term Review;
o the views of representative organisations and interested bodies.
Complementary land use policies will reinforce and support the DTO strategy.
Funding
Implementing transport agencies bringing forward projects will source funding for them. The source of these funds will, in the main, be the Department of Transport. DoT is currently funding
- RPA to procure 2 new Luas (tram) lines, currently under construction,
- National Road Authority to procure certain roads, and
- Iarnrod Eireann to carry out the DASH (Phase 1) project on the northern and southern suburban rail line in Dublin.
Another source of funds will be through the setting up of Public Private Partnerships, e.g.
- RPA (Rail Procurement Agency) is bringing forward proposals to fund the procurement of Metro, and
- NRA (National Roads Authority) is funding the Enfield - Kinnegad road
through this means.