Is more congestion in Cork City an inevitability?

New report suggests we need to be far more ambitious about increasing public transport — or we remain doomed to sit in traffic

The Dunkettle Interchange: A preliminary analysis of traffic suggests peak journey times have improved but it also reports the volume of traffic going through the junction is now higher than it was pre-covid.

The Department of Transport recently reported that the cost of traffic congestion in Cork is likely to increase by almost 70% by the year 2040, even if the various plans for public transport and active travel infrastructure are delivered. 

This scenario is presented as an inevitable outcome of population increase and economic growth, which will increase demand for transport. But how did we get here, and is it really unavoidable?