A ban on cars and commercial vehicles going through Dublin city centre will see a much quicker bus service, Eamon Ryan has said.
The Dublin City Centre Transport Plan will be presented to city councillors this afternoon, with a ban set to be in place by August.
It's aiming to stop motorists driving 'through' instead of 'to' the capital.
Transport Minister Eamon Ryan told Newstalk Breakfast the plan will cover the core inner-city.
"It runs roughly from Stephen's Green to Mountjoy Square, and from Smithfield to Custom House," he said.
"That's the area where about 60% of the traffic is through traffic, it's not going to anywhere in the city centre.
"We've created a city centre which is dominated by the car, and that's not what our city centre is for.
"Our city centre is for civic space, shopping place, visitor place, working place, living place too - that needs to change and that's what these plans are going to do.
"Starting this summer, this is immediate in my mind and real; and I think it's going to be transformative for the better".
Traffic delays on the South Quays in Dublin city centre in March 2023. Image: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ieMinister Ryan said massive investment is continuing in public transport, with a "whole range" of projects being delivered.
"Our bus service needs to improve [but] the main problem for it is that it's stuck in traffic," he said.
"One of the main beneficiaries of this traffic plan will be the bus system, which will be able to get through [the city] much quicker.
"All these new BusConnects corridors which we're about to build... that'll be to no avail if it just comes into a city centre which is gridlocked".
Minister Ryan said the plan could be expanded to other cities.
"It'll work, I've been 35 years involved in transport now," he said.
"Every single time we've come to a decesion, going right back to when we pedestrianised Grafton Street or Henry Street...and everytime you hear people say, 'This is disastrous, it's not going to work'.
"Lo and behold it did - so yes, I believe it's essential for Dublin actually, and it's not just Dublin.
"This is one of 35 pathfinder projects which we want to see how we can accelerate the transformation of our transport system.
"Just to take the other cities, look at what's happening in Waterford; Waterford is about to see a dramatic change with the opening up of the north quays.
"Similarly in Limerick, we're looking to connect the three universities in Limerick.
"I'll be honest; I think Cork and Galway need to pull up their socks, I think some of that sense of competition between councils would be no bad thing," he added.
Minister Ryan added that the changes in Dublin are important not just for transport "but for bringing life back into our city."
