I ended up on KFM (local radio) this morning debating congestion charges with Noel Shannon. I was listening to the programme at home yesterday morning (a rare treat, I was working from home) and they had some reaction from listeners to the idea of congestion charges and other transport proposals which the Minister had announced a day or two previously.
No-go zone: Congestion charges are working well in London
Now the traffic was pretty much one way (forgive the pun) and most callers were scathing in their criticism of the proposal although the cynics were out in force with one caller suggesting “Noel Dempsey only wants the money to give himself a new haircut”..
Anyhow I got my chance to respond this morning and went on the airwaves to defend the ideas. The point is, as I said in my interview, we have to move beyond the private car and onto more sustainable, environmental, safer, more efficient forms of transport. Fossil fuels will not be around forever and we have to embrace more sustainable forms. Even as an example of immediate local impact one has only to look around any modern estate and see the number of cars literally wedged up onto every kerbside to get an idea of how unhealthy our current rate of car dependency is. Although I acknowledge we cannot make the move overnight.
I do believe the government are pursuing a progressive approach and are quite correct to be flagging the possibilities at this stage. The Minister has clearly said such a charge would only be introduced when the various public transport infrastructure projects currently in progress are completed or at an advanced stage. The landscape and connectivity map of Dublin city and surrounds will be transformed over the next decade. It will be possible to board a LUAS at citywest or lucan, to travel from Sallins or Newbridge right onto Stephen’s green or Pearse, to travel to airport via Metro or onto north or southside DARTs all from the existing Kildare or Maynooth rail lines. (Ref here and here). And that’s before even looking at buses.
So a Kildare commuter would have multiple options to choose from, and if they don’t suit or if they aren’t close enough to a station, a combination of park and ride would allow drive the first leg, then board a LUAS or train at a convenient point to continue their journey into the city centre. Some of this can be done today (I often drive as far as the Red Cow LUAS park and ride), some of this will come over the next few years.
Noel gave me an example this morning of a pal of his who recently had to travel into Parnell street in the city and was cursing that the journey took him four hours to get in and out. This is a good example to examine how the congestion charge might work. Firstly you have to ask why did his friend need to drive to Parnell street in the first place. Of all locations, the city centre is particularly well served, even now, with public transport options. Any number of buses, trains, LUASs etc could have got him there with a minimum of fuss. Now it turns out the trip was a commercial one, the chap was on a job and needed a van with tools to come with him. Fair enough. Now if we go back to our congestion charge situation, and imagine the fully fledged network of transport in place our van driver who has a valid reason for driving into the charge area, should have a far easier run of it as the general public are using public transport instead. So his journey of four hours now becomes two hours or less. And lastly if he’s anything like any tradesmen of my acquaintance, he’ll keep the receipt and either bill the customer or the revenue for his 5 euro charge, so he won’t be out of pocket either way!
I’d have to disagree with you. Taxing as a deterrant is wrong. FF are getting more like Labour every day!
I’m starting to get tired of voting FF.
If we have a situation where there are multiple modes of transport, providing the right combination of radial and orbital routes, then there is little valid reason for someone taking their car right into the city centre. It comes back to the principle of “The polluter pays” – In a recent conversation someone took issue with that approach asking why couldn’t fares be cheaper for public transport users and free for cars – which in turns begs the question of how the fares could be cheaper when they are operating at subvention already – meaning the taxpayer would end up footing an even greater bill. The polluter pays principle applies a charge at the point of use (or abuse) and is an equitable one in my book.
But is the congestion charge really a carbon tax then?
So I earn €100 per week. Of that, I pay tax of €50. I spend the remainder. For the €50 of tax, what is the CO2 emmissions per euro? For the €50 I spend myself, what is the CO2 emmissions per euro?
Until the government can prove that their €50 spent on your behalf emits less CO2 than the €50 you spend yourself, there is no basis for introducing a carbon tax.
See, if I travel by car to Dublin everyday, it costs me €X and I emit Y CO2.
If I travel by train, it costs me €(X-A) and I emit (Y-B) CO2. This means that I have €A left in my pocket and essentially a CO2 credit of B. When I spend €A, there is only a CO2 saving if €A emits less than B CO2.
Can the Government prove that this is the case?
They need to seriously rethink what the “congestion charge” is for.
The introduction of the congestion charge is a great idea. It has reduced traffic in London to levels before 2002. But more importantly it has resulted in a modal shift, of 5% towards buses. Such has never been achieved in Ireland.
But the introduction of a congestion charge, should be introduced to reduce traffic, not to increase government revenue. The recent move towards taxing items that are perceived to be bad, is awful. What would the government do for revenue, if citizens behaviour completely changed? Taxation is a means to distribute wealth, not to reduce consumption or use.
Congestion charge is a method that makes citizens aware of their externalites. Such as congestion on routes that results in lower economic productivity or emissions that results in global warming. The level of pricing should be in proportion to the level of damage.
Can you imagine the effect of a congestion charge in Naas. Imagine all the stupid journeys that we could take of our roads in the morning or on all Saturday.
I was in town last Saturday, traffic was incredible. The ring road will not take these trips off and even it did we decided to pile them all back on with a stupid shopping centre, when there is one just 20 minutes away.