Transport | Monitoring of traffic routes nationally

QUESTION

To ask the Minister for Transport the degree to which his Department monitors the various traffic routes nationally with a view to ensuring advancement of upgrading proposals before reaching gridlock; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

REPLY

Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) operates a traffic counting programme on the national road network. The traffic counters provide comprehensive information on traffic volumes by vehicle class by hour of day and day of week. Traffic counter data is available from TII’s website: trafficdata.tii.ie.  In addition, TII publishes annually a national road network performance report. The most recent report, National-Roads-Network-Indicators-2023, provides information on average daily traffic volumes and heavy goods vehicle composition on the Dublin radial routes (pg 23) along with details of level of service for the radial routes by hour of day (pg 25).

On the matter of road upgrades, the National Development Plan (NDP) and its review, which has been developed by Government to underpin the implementation of the National Planning Framework (NPF), provides the strategic framework for TII’s national roads programme for the period from 2021 to 2030. The focus of TII’s national road improvement schemes over the coming years is, accordingly, being directed towards the national road improvement schemes that are named in the NDP. 

It should also be noted that the National Transport Agency (NTA) is currently examining the potential for a demand management scheme for the Greater Dublin Area, the basis for which is set out in the NTA’s Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy, 2022-2042. This strategy proposes additional demand management measures to be introduced in order to meet the 2030 carbon emissions reduction target set for the transport sector.

In addition, the Department of Transport (DoT) has commenced a Public Consultation on Moving Together: A Strategic Approach to the Improved Efficiency of the Transport System in Ireland. This strategy is aimed at alleviating the impacts of car-dependency and congestion on the economy. The Department is currently undertaking a public consultation on the draft strategy which will close on 21 August 2024.