Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 July 2018
627. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the year in which capital funding will be available for park-and-ride facilities as part of BusConnects; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31749/18]
View answer628. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the level of capital funding available for BusConnects in 2018, 2019 and 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31750/18]
View answer629. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the year in which capital funding will be available to start construction of the BusConnects super frequent spines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31751/18]
View answer630. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if the proposed BusConnects plan not to have a super frequent spine proposed for the Clondalkin area of Dublin as part of the improved bus network will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31752/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 627 to 630, inclusive, together.
As the Deputy is aware, the National Development Plan (NDP), published in February as part of Project Ireland 2040, identifies the delivery of the full BusConnects programme for Ireland’s cities (inclusive of ticketing systems, bus corridors, additional capacity, new bus stops and bus shelters etc.) as a key investment priority over the period of the Plan. The plan provides an outline provision of €2.4 billion for the entire programme, €2 billion for Bus Connects in Dublin and €0.4 billion for Bus Connects programmes in our regional cities.
Budget 2018 provided for over €750 million over the next 4 years to progress the initial stages of BusConnects. The costs of the various elements of the overall BusConnects programme will be confirmed as part of the appropriate appraisal and procurement processes required under the Public Spending Code.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the planning and implementation of public transport projects and programmes in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA), including the BusConnects programme.
The NTA recently published a discussion document focussed on the 16 core bus routes, pathways and cycle tracks/lanes that are emerging as the likely core bus corridors in and out of Dublin city. A second document “Dublin Area Bus Network Redesign Public Consultation Report” was published by NTA last week.
This report notes that the existing bus network in Dublin is very complex and is designed primarily around overlapping and long radial routes taking people into the city centre, but with very few orbital routes. Recent improvements to the rail and tram networks require changes to the bus services to exploit the full potential of these investments. Finally the city is growing and changing as are the bus journeys people are taking.
The report identifies 4 key strategies to address the issues with the current network: standardise service categories; simplify radial services; build frequent orbitals; and grow suburban feeder networks. While there will be concern about any change, these strategies will deliver considerable benefits for the customer: much simpler city services; much simpler fare structure; and more frequent all day services through new and frequent strong orbital services interchanging with local services and high frequency radial spines.
Full public consultation on the network redesign proposals, involving Dublin Bus, and using local brochures, local face-to-face events, digital imaging of the network, on-line surveys and consultation with user groups will commence from the 16th July and will continue for 8 weeks. NTA will launch a full public consultation process on the proposed core bus corridors later this year.
In light of the NTA's responsibility in this matter, I have referred the Deputy's questions to the Authority for a more detailed reply on the specific issues raised. Please advise my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.
