--- title: How Cities Are Clamping Down on Traffic to Help Fight Emissions description: Dublin has joined a flock of global cities that have banned or limited vehicle traffic on a regular basis. canonical: https://time.com/7020410/traffic-emissions/ author: Micheline Maynard article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-09-12T14:30:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:46:42.191Z article:section: Climate og:title: How Cities Are Clamping Down on Traffic to Help Fight Emissions og:description: Cities like Dublin have banned or limited vehicle traffic on a regular basis to help meet climate goals.. og:url: https://time.com/7020410/traffic-emissions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb83956bc675a9da8/698a5adb929fad3aa1bfcfb3/GettyImages-1233773696.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Traffic In Dublin og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Cities Are Clamping Down on Traffic to Help Fight Emissions twitter:description: Cities like Dublin have banned or limited vehicle traffic on a regular basis to help meet climate goals.. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb83956bc675a9da8/698a5adb929fad3aa1bfcfb3/GettyImages-1233773696.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Cities Are Clamping Down on Traffic to Help Fight Emissions > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=806dc84f-5f24-4e55-8962-dff61e2f2493&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 2030 Cities: Dublin Attempts a Quick Fix for Slow Traffic [Watch (HLS stream): 2030 Cities: Dublin Attempts a Quick Fix for Slow Traffic](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/boD9tJyB.m3u8) (4:05)  _Published 2024-09-11. In February, the city announced an ambitious plan that aims to achieve a 40% traffic reduction by 2028._ by [Micheline Maynard](https://time.com/author/micheline-maynard/) and [Video by Joey Lautrup](https://time.com/author/joey-lautrup/) Sep 12, 2024 2:30 PM UTC In February, the city announced an ambitious plan that aims to achieve a 40% traffic reduction by 2028. by [Micheline Maynard](https://time.com/author/micheline-maynard/) and [Video by Joey Lautrup](https://time.com/author/joey-lautrup/) Sep 12, 2024 2:30 PM UTC Tourists consider Dublin to be a lively, legendary cultural hub. But for its residents and business owners, getting anywhere can be a challenge. “Traffic in Dublin is absolutely appalling,” says Emma Gray, the co-founder of Gaillot et Gray, a cafe in one of the city’s busiest areas. Multiple studies rate Dublin’s traffic as the second-worst among major global cities, behind only London, whose population is nearly 20 times greater. Ireland’s Department of Transport estimates that the economic cost of traffic jams in Dublin is likely to soar from 336 million euros ($372 million) in 2022 to 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) by 2040. In February, the city announced a plan that aims for a 40% reduction in overall traffic by 2028\. In August, Dublin launched two primary traffic lanes to the city center, set up dedicated bus lanes, and established pedestrian-only streets and gathering spots in an effort to encourage more people to get around the city without using cars. Dublin joined a flock of global cities that have banned or limited vehicle traffic on a regular basis. Amsterdam, Paris, Barcelona, Birmingham, England, Brussels, Helsinki, and Copenhagen are among a growing list of places that are addressing congestion and encouraging motorists to walk, bike and use transit. A key goal is to reduce carbon dioxide and other emissions that pose a danger to people and the environment. Hundreds of cities and countries have joined a U.N.-led drive to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. In March, the Biden administration announced new automobile emissions standards pushing automakers to sell more electric and hybrid plug-in vehicles in the U.S. by 2032. According to the U.N., urban areas consume more than two-thirds of the world’s energy and account for more than 70% of global carbon dioxide emissions. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has said that cities were “where the climate battle will largely be won or lost.” Paris-, the site of a landmark conference in 2015 focused on the environment, says it has been making progress for years. In 2007, it adopted the Plan Climat, which in 11 years reduced its carbon footprint by 20%, and cut greenhouse gases by 25%. By 2050, the city aims to achieve zero emissions within its borders, and shrink its total carbon footprint by 80%. Some of its steps include solar panels, and most noticeable by visitors, bike lanes across the city. Since 2001, bike thoroughfares have grown from 125 miles to more than 600 miles. At times, bikes outnumber motor vehicles and there are even bike jams at some busy intersections. For the Olympics, Paris added 34 miles of new routes in just over two years. In Amsterdam, where even the royal family uses bicycles, carbon emissions levels have dropped by 30% since 2010, according to Rory van den Bergh, a spokesman for the city. Pollution levels are almost back to 1990 figures, and the city hopes to eliminate 95% of emissions by 2050. Meanwhile, Copenhagen is aiming to become the world’s first carbon neutral city by next year, based on a four-part plan that includes energy consumption and production, mobility measures and administrative steps. It reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 80% between 2019 and 2022, by focusing on the city’s heating and cooling network, which uses residual waste incineration to heat houses across the city. The climate plan aims for at least 75% of all trips to be by foot, bike or public transport in 2025. But business owners say environmental moves can constrict their ability to operate. In Dublin, Gray already sees an issue with the city’s plan to set up the riverside corridors, one of which is near her cafe. Currently, it does not provide for loading zones, something she pointed out in a response to the upcoming regulations. “Without a place for our deliveries to stop this could be a major problem for us,” she says. For instance, a nearby family business that specializes in glazing and glass cutting won’t be able to function without regular deliveries of plate glass. “The fear is that without consideration to local business, we will all just move out of the city,” Gray says. That’s a crucial consideration: small and medium sized businesses account for more than 90% of businesses worldwide and employ more than 50% of workers. In emerging economies, they provide up to 40% of GDP, according to the World Bank. Still, there’s a sense that, despite the obstacles, change is inevitable. “More bikes and spaces for cyclists, and more green space and less cars are the way forward,” Gray says. ## Transcript Dublin's traffic is the second slowest in the world, according to data from Tom Tom, a navigational tech company. In 2023, Dubler spent on average almost 30 minutes to travel just 6 miles. Traffic got so bad in Dublin, mainly because of decades of underinvestment in public transport. Dublin is one of the very few capitals in Europe that doesn't have an underground system. The most flexible and quick alternative had been to date the private car. We have these narrow streets, and the space to move people around is not getting any bigger. However, the number of people that need to be moved around is increasing. Congestion costs the city about 350 million euro a year. That's expected to increase to about 1.5 billion euro by 2040. So we need to do something. February, the city announced an ambitious new plan that aims for a 40% traffic reduction by 2028. We very much prioritized in the heart of the city, actually reducing the number of areas where cars can actually go in favor of buses tram cyclist. Dublin, it's defined by the, the River Liffe, which flows through. Along the Liffe is the Keys, so the Norkeys, the South Keys, they go right through the heart of the city. What we actually did was during the day, 7-77 days a week, private cars can no longer travel the length of either the Norkeys or the South keys. Not everyone is thrilled about the new traffic restrictions. Some of Dublin's business owners are concerned that fewer cars on the road will hurt the local economy. The concern from the beginning is anything that diverts or changes the route for customers could act as a barrier. Customers can be very fickle. The minute you make it a little bit harder for them to access where they want to go, they'll choose an easier route. And we are kind of seeing that transition already happening over the last number of years where customers are preferring suburban centers outside the city, then the has of coming into the cities. For deliveries access in around the city has been a concern, especially when you consider some retailers like pharmacy, and those operating in the food space would need consistent delivery throughout the day. So some of our members have articulated that they could get up to 15 deliveries a day of different types of medication that need to be controlled that need to be in cold storage. I spoke to somebody that was delivering fish to a restaurant, fresh fish. It adds a 45 minute journey time on for him to get to where he needs to go. And even the ice at that stage is starting to melt. We're looking at a little bit swing down and consumer sentiment here in Ireland. And at a time when retailers are really feeling that pinch, the fear is that this could be just something else on top, but estimates have been, you know, that about 60% of the traffic that was there was using the city center just as a true route to somewhere else? If somebody was just driving through the city to get to somewhere else and was having no benefit to the city. They weren't stopping, they weren't shopping, they weren't doing anything, then why would moving those away from the city center be bad for the city center? We all want the same thing for Dublin City. Everyone wants to see a vibrant thriving capital city. We might have different ideas on how to get there. But what I will say is no one knows the consumer better than a retailer. There's a lot of times when you make a change. It really takes a while to bed in, but then a year or two later, people don't even almost remember that they could could go that way. Everybody's not sure about how it's going to work other than we think it's going to do this. And I would hope in maybe year or two time that Dublin will be seen as an exemplar, and we could say, well, you know, really worked in Dublin. 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