Dublin City Council takes driving seat in reducing traffic congestion

Dublin City Council is using its new Civic Offices Workplace Travel Plan (WTP) to encourage staff and visitors to reduce car use and choose environmentally friendly commuting. The WTP also shows what commuting options Dublin City Council’s staff in the Civic Offices currently avail of and sets targets for improvements. The three-year plan of activities will include transport promotions, information services and events. Lord Mayor Eibhlin Byrne launches the plan at 5.30 pm on 21st January in the Civic Offices Atrium in Wood Quay. She says “workplaces are the main contributors to rush-hour congestion and this is what places most strain on transport infrastructure. WTPs aim to help organisations ensure that the benefits of choosing environmentally friendly options outweigh the barriers. Reducing congestion brings organisational, environmental, community, financial and social benefits and the Council is taking the lead on this issue. The Civic Offices is one of the first work locations of its size to have a WTP. I would like to congratulate the Council and its partners Vipre Ltd and Codema on the initiative and I am delighted to launch the plan.” The WTP builds on the fact that the majority of staff in the Civic Offices already choose sustainable travel options. A pre-plan survey showed 25% of the approximately 2,000 staff in the Civic Offices go to and from work in a single-occupancy car. Bus, walking, train and DART, car-pooling and cycling are popular choices with the other 75%. However, Eoghan Madden, Senior Engineer with the Council’s Roads and Traffic Planning section says the plan identifies areas for improvement. “We aim to see a reduction in single occupancy car use to about 18% by 2011. Taking environmentally friendly travel options also makes very good economic sense in the current business environment. A company can make considerable savings by reducing the number of underground car parking spaces they need to provide and a family that doesn’t need a car for work commuting can also save on the cost of buying and running a car.” Eoghan also points out that “It is generally a condition of planning permissions for new premises that companies have a Workplace Travel Plan. Our plan is available from our offices and on our website dublincity.ie. Any company, regardless of their size, will find some pointers in our plan and anybody who is interested in finding out more information can contact the Council’s Mobility Management Section at 222 3176.” For Further information please contact: Dublin City Council Press Office: (01) 2222170/086 8150010 Eoghan Madden, Senior Engineer, Dublin City Council Roads and Traffic Planning (01) 222 2046 Notes to editors: Staff in the Civic Offices currently use the following options to commute to and from work Bus 26%, Drive alone 25%, Walk 14%, Train/DART 12%, Cycle 10%, Car share 9% (Driver 7%, Passenger 2%), Luas 3%, Motorbike/Scooter 1% The Workplace Travel Survey was carried out in 2008. Figures are based on a sample of 776 of 1,852 staff working in the Civic Offices Vipre Ltd and CODEMA are Dublin City Council’s partners on the project. Vipre Ltd develops and implements environmentally- friendly travel policies and WTPs. Codema (City of Dublin Energy Management Agency) is a leading energy management agency