Early indications are that the new restrictions on cars travelling through Dublin city centre have been “very positive”, the Dublin Bus CEO has said.

The new Dublin Transport Plan was officially implemented at the end of August and in the weeks since, schools have returned and the annual summer traffic lull has come to an end.

While some drivers have complained of longer journey times, there have been few reports of problems – with Transport Minister Eamon Ryan noting that the ‘doomsday scenarios’ predicted by some objectors have failed to materialise.

On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Dublin Bus CEO Billy Hann said the early indications are that the change has been “very positive”.

“I must stress they are early indications,” he said.

“It's only two and a half weeks old, so we need to give it a little bit more time to gather the data, let everything bed in and draw some conclusions on that data at that time – but the early indications are very positive.”

Bus journeys

He said the data shows that bus journey times on both sides of the quays are faster.

“That's very positive from a from a customer point of view – you can get to your destination quicker,” he said.

“In addition to that, the fluctuation of traffic congestion is less because there's less traffic there.

“That's music to our ears in the bus industry, because when you're scheduling and putting timetables together, the less variation you have in traffic congestion, the more accurate you can be with your schedules and your punctuality.”

"It's a better place to be"

He said he remains sympathetic to any business that is concerned the changes will impact them – but noted that the plan was overwhelmingly backed in a full public consultation.

The plan was also updated by Dublin City Council based on objections from car park owners and some businesses and it will be reviewed by a special committee at the end of this month.

He said he knows from his own conversations with DCC that the council is “not being inundated with issues or problems coming from any stakeholder at the moment”.

He said the change has already made Dublin city centre a better place to "live, work and enjoy".

“I don't even have to look at the data,” he said. “I've walked the quays on several occasions; I've even swam down the Liffey in the Liffey Swim last week.

“It's a far better place to be.

“Dublin City is much quieter and it's much cleaner. It's just a nicer environment to actually walk down at the moment along the quays.”

Dublin Bus

Mr Hann noted that Dublin Bus carried 146 million passengers last year – with peak days reaching 450,000 passengers.

“[Dublin Bus] is absolutely is the workhorse of the city,” he said.

“So, providing good transport and quality transport services that are punctual to the citizens of the greater Dublin area is extremely important to us.

“So we would be very, very supportive of this from a public transport point of view."

A special committee chaired by Dublin’s Lord Mayor will hear from all stakeholders and review the early impact of the plan on September 24th.

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