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Chapter 10: Environment and Transport
Demand Reduction Measures
Incentives encourage more sustainable car use.
Financial incentives such as subsidies or preferential tax
treatments (e.g. free parking in the city centre, free tolls,
and lower fuel or registration taxes) play a major role in
the consumer’s choice of the type of car bought. Past
studies have shown that fuel taxes, where they are high,
have restrained growth in fuel demand over the long term
(Sterner, 2007) by leading to the purchase of more fuel-
efficient vehicles. The implementation of various “demand
management” measures, as set out in the
Transport
Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area 2016‑2035
, should
help to accommodate future travel growth in a managed
and balanced way, while some behavioural change
programmes are also highlighted in this report (NTA, 2016).
In addressing the need to reduce emissions from transport,
a range of approaches to demand management and mode
shift will need to be considered, such as measures to target
those drivers who use their car for non-essential journeys,
and to reward those people who switch to public transport
or actively car pool using the national car-sharing website.
The intention of any such measures should be to reward
good behaviour as well as to ensure that sustainable
transport modes will become the cultural norm. We also
need to look at technological advances and approaches
successfully delivered elsewhere, e.g. innovative taxation
systems, and to implement those aspects that would best
suit the Irish situation.
Cycling and Walking Initiatives
A new plan looks to expand the existing cycle
network.
The NTA has published a Greater Dublin Area Cycle
Network Plan, which sets out a 10-year strategy for the
counties of Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow. The
cycle network outlined in the plan will treble the existing
network in urban areas from 500 km to 1485 km in
length, and will provide over 1300 km of new connections
between towns in the rural areas of the Greater Dublin
Area (NTA, 2014).
The proposed National Galway to Dublin cycleway will
be Ireland’s first dedicated inter-city route for cyclists
and walkers, who will be able to travel between Galway
and Dublin without using roads, while the Wild Atlantic
Way which includes driving, cycling and walking routes
has already been a huge success for both locals and
visitors alike (GDC, 2015). In addition, the Active Travel
Towns programmes were established to secure increased
walking and cycling mode share in large population and
employment centres.
Conclusions and Future Challenges
Key High-level Messages
In Ireland, it is anticipated that reductions in GHG
emissions from transport will come mainly from fuel
efficiency gains and, to a lesser extent, from the use of
alternative fuels. There is a very significant challenge to
develop suitable alternative fuels that meet the currently
available vehicle technology in the short term.
In relation to road freight transport, the conversion from diesel
to cleaner NGVs is a policy option that should be progressed
with the installation of sufficient infrastructure and refuelling
points. Other measures may include incentives for lower
emitting vehicles through the tax system, grants for purchase
of cleaner vehicles, scrappage schemes for older vehicles as
well as policy options to maximise zero-emissions vehicle sales
in 2035. These measures will need to be driven as part of the
National Mitigation Plan and when implemented will play a key
role in reducing CO
2
emissions. An integrated strategy, tackling
GHG and air pollutant emissions together, needs to be pursued
to ensure that the public health co-benefits are realised.
A genuine change in the image of public transport and
cycling in the Greater Dublin Area (as well as other large
urban areas in Ireland) is required if the behavioural
We need to support a modal shift away from the
private car to an efficient sustainable transport system
through better alignment of land use and transport
planning and by making public transport faster, cleaner,
more convenient and more affordable.
We need to ensure that all major transport forms
(HGVs, car, bus, train) become much more fuel
efficient, as well as incentivising a very significant
increase in alternative fuels and electric vehicle use.
We need to develop a prudent mix of planning,
infrastructural investment and fiscal measures to bring
about a reduction in transport demand.
For larger urban areas, we need to change our current
silo approach and work on many different levels to have
a much more integrated network, where all streets are
walkable, bikeable and pleasant to live and work in.