Vol. 399 No. 10
31 Mr. Pattison asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport if, in the light of the Green Presidency of the EC he accepts that public transport, and rail transport in particular, is cleaner and friendlier to the environment than motor cars and lorries; and his views on whether fiscal and taxation policy favours the users of private forms of transport more than public transport users.
52 Mr. Kemmy asked the Minister for Tourism and Transport the beneficial transport effect that can be observed in the rail served corridors in Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the different proportion of commuters using public transport in the rail and non-rail served corridors.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 31 and 52 together.
A survey is carried out annually by CIE of the modes of transport being used by commuters entering the city centre in the morning peak. This survey shows that on the DART corridor, which is served by both bus and rail modes, 54 per cent of journeys in the morning are made by public transport and 37 per cent by car. Outside of this corridor, where the sole form of public transport is bus, only 25 per cent of journeys are made by public transport, while 58 per cent are made by car. It is also estimated by CIE that 6,000 to 8,000 cars are being left at home each day by DART users who could otherwise have travelled by car, adding further to peak hour traffic congestion.
It is difficult to be definitive about the relative merits of public transport versus private transport in the environmental context. However, research in this area would suggest that public transport, especially rail, is cleaner and kinder to the environment and enjoys significant advantages over private transport in terms of land utilisation, safety, reduced noise levels and more efficient energy usage.
