[Article] Operation Freeflow begins in Dublin

Victor

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/1129/1227910354213.html

Operation Freeflow begins in Dublin
TIM O'BRIEN

OPERATION FREEFLOW 2008 gets under way in the capital this weekend when 166 probationary gardaí are drafted in to assist in traffic management in bus lanes, junctions and Dublin city centre.

The annual December ban on non-essential road works is already under way and gardaí have also reminded motorists of the seasonal crackdown on drink driving.

Traffic is to be monitored by the Dublin City Council traffic unit and the Garda traffic control centre in Harcourt Square, which will be connected by a video link.

Gardaí have made a special appeal to Christmas shoppers to use public transport when coming to Dublin. They have also warned shoppers to watch out for pickpockets and thieves.

a_ominous

And so it starts again...
Apart from banning roadworks in the city, what is different to any other time of the year? The 166 gardai "probationers will be solely deployed on traffic duties for the duration of Operation Freeflow." So what? They just stand there and do nothing: no warning people who block junctions, pedestrian crossings.

There are no extra buses during the daytime or especially the weekends. My closest bus route (in Dublin) runs one bus every 90 minutes and there is no Sunday service to the shopping centres.
At least there are more Nitelink runs, but Dublin Bus, do something for the daytime as well, that's when there's congestion. Nitelink has nothing to do with free flow of traffic in Dublin city.

The only action that the Freeflow website lists is 'work to improve clarity and appearance' of the yellow junction boxes!!!

KC61

There are usually extra buses added in the Sundays running up to Christmas.

Watch www.dublinbus.ie over the next few weeks.

Davidth88

ohhhh no , so now my journey home will take twice as long.

Every year this seems to consist of having a bunch of people directing traffic on junctions that work perfectly well for the other 11 months of the year, and therefore holding people up .


To me this seems like a overtime generating device .

markpb

a_ominous wrote: »

The only action that the Freeflow website lists is 'work to improve clarity and appearance' of the yellow junction boxes!!!

Hiring a magnetic crane to sit beside the yellow boxes and lift stationary cars off them would go a long way to improving the clarity and appearance of them

I totally agree though. Freeflow could be a big advantage if the Gardai were told to rigorously enforce amber lights, bus lanes, yellow boxes, etc and were in communication with the traffic control centre so they could be re-deployed to areas that need them most.

This time last year I gave out to a garda for standing beside 30+ cars in the bus lane on the N1 at the junction with Collins avenue. Her defence was that it wasn't properly signposted and couldn't legally be enforced. Seems like a valid defence but she hadn't bothered to tell anyone to fix it (and probably didn't know who to tell anyway). Said signs are in place now (after a quick email and a short rant here ) so if I catch another garda standing there doing nothing.....

Maldini2706

You say "apart from banning roadworks" as if it's some sort of token measure. That's the single most effective part of Freeflow IMO.

a_ominous

Maldini2706 wrote: »

You say "apart from banning roadworks" as if it's some sort of token measure. That's the single most effective part of Freeflow IMO.

It's passive traffic management. Some of the things I see regularly is the blatant breaking of traffic laws; blocking yellow box junctions driving thru red lights. Others like blocking pedestrian crossings, going over stop lines cause a lot of inconvenience for pedestrians.

Could the council switch off all traffic signals in the city centre (could it make things any worse?)? Save them a packed in ESB bills. When in city centre, I walk; it's quicker than the bus. I believe there are more pedestrians in the city than cars, but all the junctions give priority to cars. Peds get a fraction of the time cars get. (OT what ever happened to the countdown timers on Hapenny Bridge, etc.?)

For active management, the cops need to enforce the rule of the law in the city. As an added benefit, these people might remember the Rules of the Road at other times of the year and improve things then...
I was in Capel St near Luas line. White Van Man on the phone, blocks off pedestrian crossing, so had to walk in front of van across the Luas track. 2 gards 50 feet up the street walking away, not paying any attention to traffic congestion at 3pm. They weren't traffic corps cops, but could have intervened.


Adding buses is active management, but Nitelinks do not help the flow of traffic. They do help people who've had a drink to get home safely and were a great help when there were 3000 taxis in the city and it was difficult to get one. The only news I've found on Dublin Bus website refers to extra Nitelink services.

paulm17781

I saw a guard on Parliament St. on Monday doing his freeflow duties, I haven't seen him since.

L1011

a_ominous wrote: »

Adding buses is active management, but Nitelinks do not help the flow of traffic. They do help people who've had a drink to get home safely and were a great help when there were 3000 taxis in the city and it was difficult to get one. The only news I've found on Dublin Bus website refers to extra Nitelink services.

These days, the Nitelink's affordability is the main selling point. Maynooth for a fiver - 8c less than it was when we had the £, vs. over 40 euro for a taxi if its a single person drop.

Polar101

a_ominous wrote: »

And so it starts again...
Apart from banning roadworks in the city, what is different to any other time of the year?

Well, I've been late from work twice this week, because of traffic jams. Something is obviously afoot..

Maldini2706

a_ominous wrote: »

It's passive traffic management. Some of the things I see regularly is the blatant breaking of traffic laws; blocking yellow box junctions driving thru red lights. Others like blocking pedestrian crossings, going over stop lines cause a lot of inconvenience for pedestrians.

They all have a significant effect on traffic, more than most people realise, but the biggest positive impact from freeflow comes from eliminating roadworks. That's what all these politicians who talk about making a year-round thing don't understand

a_ominous wrote: »

Could the council switch off all traffic signals in the city centre (could it make things any worse?)? Save them a packed in ESB bills. When in city centre, I walk; it's quicker than the bus. I believe there are more pedestrians in the city than cars, but all the junctions give priority to cars. Peds get a fraction of the time cars get. (OT what ever happened to the countdown timers on Hapenny Bridge, etc.?)

You can't be serious about turning off the lights. It'd be carnage, occasionally the lights will go off in a large area of the city and it always causes major hassle. Irish people just aren't good drivers, it'd be every man for himself without lights and that's just a recipe for a lot of accidents.

a_ominous wrote: »

Adding buses is active management, but Nitelinks do not help the flow of traffic. They do help people who've had a drink to get home safely and were a great help when there were 3000 taxis in the city and it was difficult to get one. The only news I've found on Dublin Bus website refers to extra Nitelink services.

It's still a problem getting a taxi from a rank on Fridays and Saturdays, even with the huge increase in numbers. Having said that, if you walk for 5 minutes you pick one up easily, I've never understood why people are prepared to stand on Dame St for an hour when they can walk to Beresford Place in 10 minutes and pick one up there.

Easy Rider

I ask taxi drivers about the ranks frequently and they all say the same thing, they don't use them...you are better off walking and picking one up.

I guess the thinking is if they can pick someone up on the street without having to drive through traffic or around Dublins one way system they are not wasting valuable time earning money...

Maldini2706

and they can avoid picking up someone who's locked off the street, it's more of a lottery on a rank