The National Transport Authority (NTA) hosted their first meeting yesterday evening to monitor the implementation of the new traffic measures.
According to a recent survey, there has been a 60pc decrease in private cars using the quays, or more than 400 cars less per hour going through the city.
The breakdown shows 270 less cars an hour on average on the south quays and 170 less an hour on the north quays.
The meeting also heard there have been improvements for public transport, with an 11pc increase on the number of people using it since August 25.
The traffic changes on the north quays
The NTA also highlighted that public transport journey times have reduced by roughly 24pc over the past month on both the north and south quays.
Dublin Lord Mayor James Geoghegan said: “We held a very constructive first meeting today.
“We heard from the NTA, who indicated that their data shows public transport journey times have reduced by over 20pc on routes which include the north and south quays.
“Several retail and business representative associations were present and Dublin Town, who deploy footfall counters throughout the city, indicated that footfall in the city has, in fact, increased in the month of September during the period of the traffic plan’s introduction,” he said.
For the past month, traffic has been blocked between 7am and 7pm from passing O’Connell Bridge on the north and south quays.
“Representatives from Disability Persons Organisations were also present, and proposals were put forward about blue badge holders being able to access routes where bus gates are present. The NTA committed to exploring this proposal,” the Lord Mayor added.
The traffic changes on the south quays
“Overall, we concluded the meeting by collaboratively focussing on how to encourage more people to come into the city in the run-up to Christmas.
“We committed to ensuring this forum is the vehicle for ongoing and future engagement with all affected stakeholders as transport plans for the city evolve.”
Following the meeting, CEO of Dublin Bus, Billy Hann said: “Today, I represented @dublinbusnews at the @LordMayorDublin working group for the Dublin City Centre Transport Plan.
“Early feedback is clear – the plan is improving journey times. I advocated for this forum and will keep working with all stakeholders to ensure the plan’s success.”
