Question to the Minister of State for Public and Commuter Transport (Alan Kelly TD)
To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the public transport performance in the year to date; the initiatives that will be taken to increase use of public transport; if a special dedicated approach will be implemented for cities outside of Dublin, such as Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. – Jerry Buttimer.
For answer on Thursday, 26th June, 2014.
REPLY
Both Minister Varadkar and I have regular meetings with the National Transport Authority (NTA) and transport operators to progress one of our key objectives of increasing the number of people using public transport by 2% this year, or 5 million journeys. The most recent figures to mid-May show that passenger numbers have increased by 3.4%. The NTA together with the transport operators have launched a number of promotions to encourage people to use public transport and a number of other initiatives are planned for this year.
At national level, the NTA also manages, on behalf of my Department, the Regional Cites Public Transport Programme, which covers the cities of Cork, Waterford, Galway and Limerick. Their remit includes the provision of Sustainable Transport Measures Grants (STMG), where funding is provided for various traffic management, bus priority and sustainable projects, such as improvements to cycle and walking routes.
I have referred the Deputy’s question to the NTA to respond in relation to the specific initiatives being undertaken to increase public transport patronage and the funding provided for projects in regional cities. Please advise my private office if you don’t receive a reply within 10 working days.