Official figures confirm Belfast traffic congestion woes - but public transport deemed unfit as solution, says expert

The figures were contained in leaked Department for Infrastructure (DfI) documents.

On some occasions fewer than a quarter of Metro bus services arrived on time.

The documents showed that only 37.3% of Metro Bus Services arrived on time or early on 3 November. However, during the rush hour of 4pm-6:30pm, this fell to only 22.9%.

The figures - published by the BBC - also showed that nearly 10% of bus services arrived more than 15 minutes late during the peak period.

On 12 November, 20.1% of number 9 services (which travel via Lisburn Road) arrived early or on time during the peak period.

On several key routes car journey times more than doubled - or even trebled - compared to the year previous.

On 3 December, it took 35 minutes to drive northbound on Great Victoria Street, more than double the time it took in November 2023.

A northbound journey on the Ormeau Road also more than doubled to 54 minutes, while the westbound drive on Tates Avenue more than trebled to 14 minutes.

Commuters and traders dominated media headlines in December as they poured out their frustrations.

TRAFFIC EXPERT WEIGHS IN

The News Letter reported that DFI knows full well that its remodelling of Belfast traffic is only making congestion worse – but that it is determined to push people out of cars into public transport.

The claim, made by independent road traffic expert Wesley Johnston, was tacitly accepted by DFI and Translink.

But looking at the fresh figures uncovered yesterday, Mr Johnston said the most significant thing was how far short bus services fall from where commuters need them to be.

"While the long-term vision is to encourage more people out of cars, still much has to be done before public transport is a genuinely viable alternative for many people," he said.

He added that it was "a poor moment" for Minister for Infrastructure John O'Dowd to try and mitigate the situation last month by urging people to try the bus, "given the impact the many roadworks had been having on buses".

On a positive note, he said Durham Street will reopen before the end of 2024 "which means we should not see a repeat of this next Christmas" he said.

"After that, the challenge for DFI will be to continue to make alternative forms of transport more realistic and affordable."

IMPACT ON RETAILERS

Also reflecting on the new figures, Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts said "lessons must be learned".

“There is no doubt the congestion had a significant impact on footfall in Belfast city centre and a loss of trade for many of our members," he told the News Letter.

“Lessons need to be learned to ensure this type of situation never occurs again. Better coordination and communication is essential”.

TRANSLINK REACTS

The News Letter invited the DFI and Translink to comment on their own congestion figures.

Translink responded that moving the public from cars into public transport is "vital" - but it did not acknowledge any shortcomings.

“As is the case in many cities in the run up to Christmas, traffic was very heavy in Belfast," a spokeswoman said.

"Translink continually monitor and adjust services where possible to minimise the impact on customers when services are impacted by congestion, road traffic accidents and weather conditions.

“A modal shift to public transport will be vital for the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of our region.”

She added that Translink has increased frequency on many popular Goldliner routes to and from Belfast and has high frequency park and ride services from Sprucefield, Ballymartin, Blacks Road and Cairnshill.

RESPONSE FROM DFI

The DFI responded that the figures reported from its own documents on journey times are accurate.

A spokesperson said: “The Minister and Strategic Oversight group met with a number of business leaders ahead of the Christmas period and a number of measures have been implemented to help ease congestion including additional public transport services, changes to traffic signals and permitting Class A and C taxis into certain bus lanes in the city centre. “In common with previous years, traffic in Belfast City Centre was very busy in the weeks leading up to Christmas. However, this past year, it is acknowledged that traffic conditions were also impacted by the ongoing roadworks associated with Belfast Grand Central Station, including the closure of Durham Street.

“Over the Christmas period, traffic has been much lighter and our monitoring of journey times and speeds show that traffic flowed well in the city centre. We will continue to monitor the situation to assess the effectiveness of those measures that have been implemented and to consider what else might be required.”

Last week the News Letter approached MLAs from all parties on the Assembly Infrastructure Committee and asked how they were holding Minister O'Dowd to account. None of them offered any specific actions.