More tolls and working from home are key to solving M50 congestion, expert says

Eva Osborne

More tolls and working from home are the key to solving M50 congestion, according to an expert.

Commuters have been complaining about an increase in traffic volume on the route in recent months.

Last week, Transport Infrastructure Ireland said there is almost nothing more it can do to reduce traffic on the ring road.

Professor at the Centre for Transport Research at Trinity College, Brian Caulfield, is not convinced new roads will help.

"More incentives to work from home, this, what we're talking about now, would have happened back in 2022 or 2021 if the pandemic didn't happen as the traffic grew on that motorway," he said.

"So with more people working from home, that could also be something that could alleviate it."

Last week, Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien said that "there isn’t a quick fix solution for the M50".

The route was the “busiest road in Ireland,” he told RTÉ radio’s Today with David McCullagh show.

Mr O’Brien said a lot of work had been done on improving the M50 – the removal of toll barriers, more lanes, and changes to access and egress lanes.

“But it's carrying 150,000 cars a day. And we've seen a continued increase in car numbers as well. And we do have an infrastructural deficit, and that's why the National Development Plan is so important.”

Transport Infrastructure Ireland had invested in the technology for monitoring and surveillance and response times for accidents and incidents, he added.