NTA calls for Dublin city congestion charge

14/04/2014

The NTA claims that motorists should be made pay a congestion charge - like in London - to ease traffic chaos in the city at peak times.

It argues that unless a road usage charge is introduced before 2020, the Government will be unable to meet its stated target of reducing car commuting levels to 45% of all journeys. At present, 36% of journeys into the city centre are made by car.

London has a £10 daily congestion charge in place for driving a vehicle within designated zones at particular times.

In December 2012, Transport Minister Leo Varadkar rejected the NTA’s proposal to introduce such charges and a spokesman representing him stated over the weekend that his position on the matter had not changed.

But the NTA is insisting that “some form of road usage charging” is the only measure that can tackle the gridlock and argues that the situation is set to get much worse.

The proposal is contained within the Authority’s transport strategy for the next two decades, entitled ‘2030 Vision’.