Penalty points for flouting car ban on Cork's St Patrick’s St

Motorists flouting the St Patrick’s St car ban in Cork City will eventually face penalty points.

Ahead of a crucial week for the operation of the street’s daily 3pm to 6.30pm bus corridor, the chief executive of Cork City Council, Ann Doherty, said an agreed policy of “education and advice” about the new traffic arrangements will continue for a few more weeks before enforcement action starts.

Introduced in March and suspended after three weeks after a traders’ protest, the “Pana ban” was reintroduced three weeks ago following intense negotiation and a massive publicity blitz.

Private cars and trucks are being rerouted onto the quays between 3pm and 6.30pm, with access during those times limited to buses, taxis, emergency vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.

However, footage was posted on social media several days last week showing dozens of private cars and vans driving through St Patrick’s St during the afternoon ban. Ms Doherty said many of the vehicles found driving on the street during the afternoon car ban are visitors’ cars and that the council has been in touch with AA and SatNav companies to update their maps.

However, she said gardaí will support the “education and advice policy” over the coming weeks before enforcement kicks in.

We have worked closely with traders about how to reintroduce the change so it wouldn’t have adverse effect on the image of the city,” she said. “The majority of people will be respectful of the change. But there will always be those who won’t respect the change and that will have to be a matter for enforcement. We will be monitoring things closely this week as schools and colleges reopen, and we will work collectively.

“If the lack of respect of bus corridors becomes obviously a complete breach, that will have to be dealt with but I don’t think we’re in that space yet. The majority of users of the city centre are respectful of the change.”

The bus lane was reintroduced on August 9. Council figures obtained by the Irish Examiner show there was an 11% increase in footfall on St Patrick’s St for August 9-12 compared to the same period last year.

The council says this trend continued with an 18% rise in footfall from August 16-19 against the same period last year. There has been a 12% rise in usage of Paul St and North Main St carparks thanks to deals. There was a 10% rise in the number of passengers using the extended Black Ash park and ride, which is free after 12pm, after the first week of the new bus lane.

Activity on the city’s park by phone app was up 20% in the first week after the car ban was reintroduced. Council engineers said they are still monitoring car journey times and that it will take a little more time to fully analyse bus journey times.

The bus corridor is designed to improve the efficiency of the almost 1,000 daily bus movements on St Patrick’s St. Among the incentives is a network of 26 15-minute set down spaces, Bus Éireann Leap Card deals offering fares from €1, and the free park and ride.