Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 April 2023
238. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Transport if he will provide an update on the public-state transport stakeholders group commitment from the Programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16076/23]
View answerThe Programme for Government (PfG) commitment to establish a National Public Transport Forum was incorporated into the Government's National Sustainable Mobility Policy (SMP) - published in April 2022. The policy commits to delivering a significant and ambitious increase in active travel and public transport journeys between now and 2030.
To support this ambition, and to ensure full engagement with all key stakeholders, my Department is convening a national forum this week in Athlone, Co. Westmeath. The National Sustainable Mobility Forum will mark the first anniversary of the SMP, and will provide stakeholders with an update on progress as well as an opportunity to feed into the development of related policy, ensuring sustainable mobility options - walking, cycling, shared and public transport - are increasingly attractive and available to all.
The event will commence with a series of site visits on the afternoon of 19 April showcasing recent sustainable mobility developments within Athlone, including the establishment of Ireland's first all-electric town bus fleet. The Forum itself will take place on 20 April and will feature contributions from the ESRI and a discussion among a diverse group of panellists, including representation from the OECD. This opening session will be followed by workshop discussions on key sustainable mobility areas such as road space reallocation, shared and micro mobility, engaging communities, the school commute, demand management, road safety and public transport services.
The objective of the Forum is to provide a platform for wider collaborative engagement with national, regional and local stakeholders around the implementation of the Sustainable Mobility Policy. As well as delivering on the core objectives of the SMP, participants at the Forum will be encouraged to reflect on the implications of the recent Climate Action Plan and its targets, namely to achieve a 50% increase in daily active travel journeys, a 130% increase in daily public transport journeys, and a 20% reduction in kilometres driven by private cars by 2030.
A broad representation of stakeholders is expected to attend the event including local authorities, councillors, transport operators, public transport users and employees, transport union representatives, government departments and agencies, shared mobility operators, among others.
A recording of the plenary session, including the panel discussion, will be made available for wider circulation after the event. In addition, the views and comments of workshop participants will be captured throughout the day, and these will be incorporated into a report for subsequent publication.
