New government strategy to manage and reduce congestion

New strategy aims to alleviate economic and social costs of congestion and car-dependency in tandem with investment and scale-up in public transport, active travel and EV infrastructure.

The Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has today brought a seminal transport strategy to Government. Moving Together: A Strategic Approach to Improving the Efficiency of Ireland’s Transport System aims to manage and reduce congestion, making the country’s transport system work better for everyone.

The new Strategy encourages an urban first approach to rolling out measures, where other travel options exist, and aims to improve journey times for car drivers, public transport users, business and freight, leading to improvements in local air quality and reduced stress with associated health benefits for drivers and non-drivers alike.

It does not contain a prescriptive series of actions. Instead, it provides a firm policy direction and suite of options - such as road space reallocation, progressive taxation, freight efficiency, or behavioural incentives - that can be taken at national, regional and local levels to bring about the systems changed needed.

It is also intended that the Strategy will provide guidance needed for local authorities and local council representatives to develop plans for their own areas that suit their own communities’ needs best.

Demand management in transport is about putting in place the strategies and policies needed to increase the efficiency of transport systems by reducing travel demand or redistributing that demand across a variety of modes or time.

Moving Together forms a key part of the government’s decarbonisation pathway for the transport sector. Following approval by Government, a public consultation on the draft will be launched in April for three months to hear from the public on the suite of recommendations. While a key focus is on reducing traffic jams, the strategy goes hand-in-hand with the extensive range of government investment and supports already in place or planned for public transport, walking, cycling, and electric vehicles.

Congestion costs people money, time and wellbeing. In the Greater Dublin Area, congestion was estimated to cost the economy €336 million in 2022, rising to about €1.5 billion by 2040. Nationally, congestion is projected to cost €2 billion by 2040. There are also many significant environmental, health and social costs, including poor air quality and the negative impacts of stress, inactivity or time away from family or community.

The new strategy is looking to support an incremental change in travel behaviour amongst those who already have alternatives to the car or will have more choice when investments in infrastructure are fully realised over the next few years. It prioritises changes possible in our urban centres first where there is greater public transport, walking and cycling availability and opportunity. It recognises that the car will remain the dominant mode of transport for many people for a variety of reasons, particularly in more rural areas. It is also mindful of the needs of people for whom the car is the only viable transport choice – called “captive car-users”.

However, it makes clear that the benefits of current and future government investment and supports in public transport, walking, cycling and electric vehicles cannot be fully realised while current levels of congestion remain. Heavy traffic makes public transport less reliable, often discouraging people from using it, and makes the environment for vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists, less safe, again leading people away from using active travel, particularly for shorter journeys.

According to a recent OECD report, Ireland’s transport system requires systemic transformation to reverse a car-centric model which has dominated planning and settlement patterns for decades. The recent National Household Travel Survey 2022 (NHTS) reported that almost 7 in 10 (69%) journeys in Ireland are made by car, with trips below 3 kilometres accounting for over a third (35%) of all journeys nationally.

Minister Ryan said:

The Strategy is high level in nature and touches on a vast array of government policies and programmes. It sets out 35 specific recommendations that will cumulatively make a positive impact on reducing travel demand across society and the economy.

The recommendations are spread across the following themes:

• strengthening implementation of demand management across the National Planning system
• embedding the polluter pays principle in taxation policy over the medium to long-term
• empowering and supporting local authorities to develop local-based transport plans
• driving efficiency in the freight sector
• strengthening supply side measures in public transport and active travel to complement demand management
• providing enabling legislation to support appropriate measures to be taken
• embedding demand management principles and practices across the public sector, making it a leading institution for change
• engaging with education and sports sectors to embed demand management principles and practices
• engaging with the business sector to embed demand management principles and practices
• building the evidence base to inform policy choices and demonstrate success

Before the consultation process goes live in April, the draft Strategy and Implementation Plan can be accessed on the Department of Transport’s website here: Public Consultation: Moving Together: A Strategic Approach to Improving the Efficiency of Ireland’s Transport System.

Approach to Developing the Strategy

The Strategy is a framework that identifies the wide range of options that are available at national, regional and local level to improve efficiency within the transport system. It also provides for supporting, guiding and enabling the appropriate authorities and entities, both in the public and private domain, to take ownership and shape their own actions in a coherent, evidence-based manner.

This Strategy recognises the importance of an efficient, comfortable and affordable public transport system, and emphasises the need to significantly improve the availability and reliable frequency of public transport in rural and urban areas. The Strategy also acknowledges the need to continue to support the take-up of electric vehicles and associated charging infrastructure, particularly given continued dependence on cars in certain rural areas.

It is intended that the Strategy will also provide the guidance needed for local authorities and local council representatives to develop bespoke plans for their own areas – plans that are co-created with local communities.

Following a Government Memo in April 2023, a Steering Group was created, led by the Department of Transport with membership across many government departments and agencies. Six expert subgroups were also created to consider and recommend initiatives across key focus areas including (1) Integrated Land Use and Transport Planning; (2) Optimal Use of Space; (3) Fiscal Measures; (4) Generators of Demand (Movement of People); (5) Generators of Demand (Movement of Goods); (6) Captive Car Users. The latter was intended to capture the principle of Just Transition. These were comprised of stakeholders from other government departments and agencies, local authorities, industry, academia, and NGOs. Over 100 stakeholders, from 57 organisations, were involved in the work of these subgroups, spanning all the sectors impacted by the Strategy.

The work of the subgroups built on existing research and case studies, notably the work of the Five Cities Demand Management Study, and insights from the International Transport Forum and the 2022 OECD Report. Each subgroup was tasked with considering a range of measures, and their relative impacts, for reducing less sustainable transport demand, improving air quality, reducing emissions, and maximising the wellbeing utility of public space, while having due regard for Just Transition. Wider public sentiment and attitudes towards demand management measures were also taken into account through a series of focus groups which were held in October 2023.

Guiding Principles

The Steering Group identified the following key principles, which helped to shape the development of the draft Strategy. These will be carried through to implementation:

Just Transition

It is recognised that the cost of transitioning to carbon neutrality can have different impacts on different cohorts of the population. Not everyone will have the means to switch to an electric vehicle nor easy and immediate access to public transport. This Strategy will seek to ensure that the timing and sequencing of measures will align with the rollout of new and enhanced public transport services and public transport and active travel infrastructure projects.

Accessibility and Inclusion

It is recognised that people with additional mobility requirements, including disabled people and people with caring responsibilities, are more reliant on private cars for accessing services such as employment, education, retail, medical and entertainment. This Strategy will not prevent people from using cars, rather it will ensure the provision of accessible parking is retained - and strengthened where possible.

Rural Recognition

Having regard to rural communities, where the provision of public transport is less extensive, it is expected that implementing bodies will deploy demand management measures in tandem with ongoing investment in programmes such as active travel infrastructure and Town Centre First initiatives alongside Connecting Ireland.

Economic and Financial Sustainability

An efficient transport network is vital to the economy. As well as social, personal and environmental costs, a poorly performing transport system, where congestion is commonplace, is proven to have a significant cost to the economy whereas the efficient movement of traffic is beneficial for enterprise and society alike.

Next Steps

Following today’s approval by Government, the draft Strategy and Implementation Plan will be prepared for public consultation with a view to going live by mid-April. Reports prepared by the sub-groups referenced above, which were key inputs to this process, will also be published when the public consultation is launched, along with the Irish version of the Strategy and Plan.

During this time, the Department of Transport will also undertake:

• a targeted engagement with key stakeholder groups – disability representatives, parking industry, youth groups, sporting bodies, business, local authority and public representatives
• a screening process for a Strategic Environmental Assessment and Appropriate Assessment

After the consultation process concludes and subject to any additional requirements in respect of the SEA/AA process, it is intended to submit the Strategy to Government for final approval by the end 2024.