The President of Cork Business Association says the city's success hinges on improvements to public transport.
Kevin Herlihy was speaking after the City Council said they expect traffic levels to increase in the future.
The local authority released a statement at the end of last week saying that traffic across the city has returned to pre-pandemic levels and warned the existing network does not have the capacity for increasing private car usage.
The Council says the answer to traffic congestion is the rapid delivery of public transport improvement schemes and the development of new cycling and walking infrastructure.
Speaking to RedFM News, Kevin Herlihy from CBA says the change is necessary.
"The council's vision is to try and get more and more people onto buses, onto their bicycles, etc, And out of their private cars.
"Long term we're gonna have to do it whether we like it or not, petrol and diesel are coming to an end.
"The public transport network, if they can get it right. It would be an absolutely fantastic winner for the city. In the CBA, we're advocating that.
"We would like to happen a lot quicker than it is happening, but Rome wasn't built in a day.
"We've just got to bide our time and hopefully it does come through sooner rather than later."
