Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 19 Nov 2002

Vol. 557 No. 4

Written Answers. - Public Transport.

Seán Crowe

Ceist:

391 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Transport the number of Dublin Bus buses which are wheelchair accessible; the proportion this makes up of the bus fleet; the areas they operate in; and the plans there are to extend the use of wheelchair accessible busses to areas not currently served by them. [22709/02]

Minister for Transport (Mr. Brennan)

In accordance with a commitment in the National Development Plan, all buses purchased by both Bus Átha Cliath and Bus Éireann since 2000 for use on urban services are low floor and wheelchair accessible. In pursuing this policy, Bus Átha Cliath has now acquired some 367 low floor wheelchair accessible buses for its Dublin city services. This represents almost 35% of the city fleet and 35 bus routes in Dublin now have fully accessible services.

I am informed by Bus Átha Cliath the following bus routes are now operated using fully accessible vehicles:

Route	From	To
1	Parnell Square East	Poolbeg Extension
2	Parnell Square East	Sandymount
3	Larkhill	Sandymount-Belfield
10	Phoenix Park	Belfield
10A	Phoenix Park	Stillorgan
11/11A	Wadelai Park	Kilmacud
11B	Wadelai Park	Belfield
19A	Jamestown Road	Limekiln Avenue
32-32B	Lower Abbey Street	Portmarnock
32A	Lower Abbey Street	Malahide
32X	Malahide	Belfield
38-38A	Hawkins Street	Ladyswell
39	Hawkins Quay	Clonsilla
42	Beresford Place	Malahide

Route	From	To
49-49A	Eden Quay	Tallaght (The Square)
51B	Aston Quay	Clondalkin (Dunawley)
59A	Dún Laoghaire	Mackintosh Park
65	Eden Quay	Blessington
65B	Eden Quay	Citywest
67-67A	Wellington Quay	Celbridge-Maynooth
70	Lower Abbey Street	Dunboyne
90A	Heuston Station	Irish Financial Services Centre
103	Clontarf Dart Station	Omni Shopping Centre
104	Clontarf Dart Station	Cappagh Hospital
123	Drimnagh Road	Marino
127	Donaghmede	Leeson Street Bridge
129	Baldoyle	Leeson Street Bridge
150	Hawkins Street	Rossmore
747	Dublin Airport	Busáras and O'Connell Street
748	Dublin Airport	Heuston Station

The company's objective is to fully convert the fleet to 100% accessibility as soon as possible. The process of expanding the accessible network is ongoing and is aligned to Bus Átha Cliath's fleet replacement and expansion programmes.