Vol. 567 No. 2
95 Mr. Cuffe asked the Minister for Transport the report structure that is in place for the development of quality bus services in Dublin; and the inter-relationship between the Quality Bus network office, the local authorities, the local authority transport forum, the Dublin Transportation Office and his own Department in the approval and financing of new quality bus design projects. [13657/03]
The QBC committee of the Dublin Transportation Office, which involves the local authorities in the greater Dublin area, Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus and the Garda, is responsible for overall policy on planning QBCs, consistent with Platform for Change, and for developing QBC programmes. The committee reports regularly to the DTO steering committee. The quality bus network project office of Dublin City Council is responsible for the implementation of the QBC programme on behalf of the local authorities in the greater Dublin area. Financial approval for any particular QBC is given, on a case by case basis, by the traffic management grants committee of the DTO. Some 80% of the funding of the QBN project office is provided by the DTO, with local authorities providing the balance. The cost of the construction of QBCs is met by the DTO and my Department meets all the DTO costs.
There are now nine quality bus corridors in Dublin and I have recently asked the relevant authorities in the Dublin area to bring forward plans to double this number. Six of the existing QBCs have been reviewed to improve their performance. A quality bus network project office has been established to speed up the introduction of additional bus priority measures. Given the success to date of QBCs in strengthening the role of the bus in meeting public transport needs, I am anxious to see an acceleration of the QBC programme in Dublin.
