Dublin city traffic restrictions see bus journey times fall 40 per cent

Commuters have seen bus journey time slashed by up to 40 per cent on some routes after traffic restrictions in the city centre banned cars from driving on certain parts of the quays.

Cars are no longer allowed to turn right off the north quays on to O'Connell Bridge and general traffic has been decreased to just one lane from Ormond Quay to Eden Quay and from Burgh Quay to Essex Quay to allow for more bus lanes.

The new system came into effect on Sunday morning, and significant improvements to public transport journey times were seen on Monday.

A spokesperson for Dublin Bus confirmed that there was a 40 per cent drop in journey times for over 30 services running along Bachelors Walk from 8am-9am.

"We had a good experience on all our services. We received feedback from drivers and consumers about improved journey times and from the drivers that there was a high level of compliance," she said.

The ban on cars crossing the Liffey from Bachelors Walk was introduced as a precaution so new Luas trams won't get blocked as they travel across the city.

Buses, taxis and bicycles can continue to cross O'Connell Bridge.

Gerry Farrell, director of operations at DublinTown business association, said there has been mixed feedback.

"We're not really going to know how significant the impact is until a couple of weeks," he said.

“August is one of the more quieter times of the year. It might be a different story in September when schools are back and people are back from annual leave and there are more volumes of traffic."

Cars will still be able to cross the Liffey in central Dublin on Watling Street Bridge, Fr Mathew Bridge at Church Street, Talbot Memorial Bridge and Samuel Beckett Bridge.