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The state medical director Dr. Tony Holohan’s suggestion that parking lots are full has been rejected by one of the nation’s largest operators.
Euro Car Parks CEO David Cullen said most of the downtown parking lots are deserted and many others are closed during the Level 5 lockdown.
Euro Car Park operates more than 200 car parks in Ireland, with capacity for between 70,000 and 80,000 cars.
“We have no evidence to support what he is saying, in fact quite the opposite. There are fewer people now than in the first confinement, ”he said.
Last week, Dr. Holohan expressed his frustration that many people who could work from home are not.
“Working from home: This message has not really gotten across when you look at traffic and when you look at what is happening in the workplace,” he said. “People will tell you stories that parking lots are full and lunchrooms are full at workplaces. People are not really listening to this message. “
In response, Mr. Cullen said there is no evidence of this claim in the parking lots he operates that are used for employment purposes.
Mr Cullen said the parking lot at the Dublin Convention Center, which also serves the Irish Center for Financial Services, currently has around 10 cars parked daily and most of them are for downtown Dáil sessions.
“We provide parking for PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Today we had four cars. Normally we would have 160 “.
The Limerick city center car park on Charlotte’s Quay, which is used by staff from the nearby Revenue Commissioner’s office, is also closed.
Empty
The Brown Thomas parking lot in Dublin city center is closed and the ILAC center parking lot is open only to accommodate essential workers from Rotunda Hospital, he said.
“In general, the car parks run by US operators are wide open and empty,” he added.
He said that anecdotally, there are car parks for some of the multinational companies on the margins of Dublin that appear to be busy while the car park at The Point near the docks is used by construction workers, but they are the exceptions.
Figures produced by Dublin City Council show that traffic volumes in the capital have stabilized during Level 5 at just under 70 percent of pre-closing levels.
The council operates 33 different checkpoints between the Royal and Grand canals to monitor traffic volumes in and out of the city center.
During the first shutdown in March and April, peak hour numbers fell to 36% from pre-Covid numbers before rebounding to 80% when restrictions were lifted during the summer.
There was a marked decrease in traffic volumes after Level 5 restrictions were introduced on October 18, and traffic dropped to 62% from pre-pandemic levels in the first week. It has since risen to 68%, but remains well below pre-closing levels or levels reached during the summer.
Stay at home
Cycling volumes during peak hours have declined to only 35 percent of the pre-Covid level, but off-peak cycling figures still exceed 2019 figures. This indicates that cycling has become much more popular, but not for travelers staying at home.
Figures from Dublin City Council also reveal a dramatic drop in visitor numbers in the city center, as all non-essential retail stores were closed under Level 5 restrictions. Before closing, an average of more than 450,000 people per week entered the two main shopping streets of Grafton Street and Henry Street.
Post-Covid numbers peaked at 60 percent over the summer, but have since fallen to about 150,000 people a week, a third from pre-shutdown levels.
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