Traffic congestion ‘adds 20% to costs’

TRAFFIC gridlock is still hurting companies across the country and adding up to 20% to production costs for the average business.

According to the latest survey of members of the employers body IBEC, congestion on the roads is still a major problem and measures need to be implemented now to prevent the situation getting even worse. Around 90% of all companies in Ireland said traffic was a problem for them.

IBEC members said on average congestion was adding 10% to production costs, but in Dublin the traffic chaos was adding up to 20% with increased haulage and delivery costs. The survey found that IBEC member had little faith in the Gardaí to do anything about the problem, with 73% of members expressing dissatisfaction with the force’s current methods of freeing traffic.

Local authorities fared even worse on their traffic performance, the survey showed, with a national disapproval rating of just under 80%. In Dublin dissatisfaction with local authorities was even more extreme with 90% of IBEC members recording a vote of “no confidence”.

IBEC said it was calling on the Government to deliver on its election commitment to introduce a traffic corps operating independent of the Gardaí. It also wants the Government to transfer responsibility for local authority traffic functions from the Department of Environment, Heritage and local government over to the Department of Transport.

IBEC’s transport policy director Reg McCabe said the survey should act as a wake up call to Government. “There is now a groundswell of opinion in the business community seeking reform in the way traffic is handled at national level,” he said.