I am grateful to attend this meeting in order that we can present what Bus Éireann has been doing and plans to do under Transport 21. I will go through our presentation quickly. Members can read the summary at the beginning, but I will not go through the section on the scale of the company.
The next section is on an integrated national network, in respect of which I will make one or two points because it applies to the east. We are in a somewhat unique position in the sense that we can provide an integrated network of services, which is of significant value to non-urban areas outside Dublin. The most important factor is to have interlinking timetables in order that people can move around the country. One can travel from a small village or town to the local large population centre and onwards to a range of locations throughout the country. I would appreciate it if members bear this in mind when I speak. One can buy a single ticket at a fare that is significantly discounted in comparison to fares purchased on an individual basis. This is important to people living in small locations such as Castlebellingham, Coachford and so on. I have presented a map of the Athlone link, which could just as easily be in respect of Dundalk, a map that I will present later, Limerick, Nenagh or Ennis.
The next slide outlines what has occurred under the national development plan between 2000 and 2007. As members can see, we have more than doubled the number of departures in that time and extended the range of services, including late night services, the introduction of services in Navan and Balbriggan, services that operate via the Port tunnel and services to Dublin Airport. We have upgraded the five stations in the area. There are also back-up electronic services. In total, we have trebled the passenger numbers going in and out of Dublin.
We base our plans on supporting the national spatial strategy and the local, county and regional plans. They are also based on population growth, which has been substantial in the east. We are mindful of the changing travel needs of a 24-7 economy and lifestyles that are different from those of ten years ago. Our formula is new buses, new routes, improvements to existing routes such as the radial routes to and from Dublin, more departures and giving customers more options. We are investing €37 million in a new fleet, with 108 new buses and coaches comprising 74 replacements and 34 additional buses. All vehicles are wheelchair accessible and bio-fuel compatible with Euro 4 and Euro 5 engines, giving lower CO2 emissions. The vehicles include the commuter coach, a city bus and a double-deck coach, an innovative solution to high volume corridors on long distance commuting routes. The coach has the capacity of a double-deck bus but it is of higher quality and is a comfortable ride. People will not get out of cars unless we provide a quality ride.
Buses can be quickly procured and give immediate, tangible benefits. They are flexible because they can serve a range or locations. They represent a low capital investment.
There are two elements to our plans under Transport 21. One is to increase the frequency of services and extend hours of operation. The second is to introduce new routes. Three new routes will connect to the Luas, four new routes will connect to airports and there is a new orbital route from Drogheda to Trim to Blessington. People do not have to come into the city, blocking the artery routes. People can be brought around the city, from Navan to Dublin Airport to DCU, removing people from the main road. There is also an intermodal interchange at the airport, providing for those who wish to travel from Ratoath to Drogheda. Some of our planned improvements include 12 or 15 minute service frequency, which is similar to a city operation and this is unusual in a commuter service. A route from Wicklow to Dublin Airport is also planned.
Ongoing improvements are backing up these routes. Real time information will be provided by the end of the year on when the next buses are arriving. It will be displayed at a bus station and can be sent to a mobile telephone. The customer can text his location and be told that the bus is five minutes from Garlow Cross. The information is also available online. The equipment has been fitted to vehicles and is being tested in Dublin.
I was interested on the excellent discussion about park and ride facilities. I agree wholeheartedly with the points made. We must think laterally on this matter. The experts in the UK believe these facilities should be located on the edge of medium-sized cities. However, we have commuter traffic here and we know people are parking on the side of the road. We must consider this from the commuter point of view. We would be one of the first to establish a commuter park and ride. As with double-deck coaches in Kells, there is a high frequency service. Our idea is to link it to facilities. We are outbasing buses, which is the most efficient way of doing this. The bus starts from the same location, the base is there and the cost of operations is reduced. Feasibility is one of the issues that will arise. Having an existing service, rather than a dedicated service, reduces the whole cost. In that situation one can run smaller park and ride sites.
We believe in the partnership with local authorities, the quality bus network, representatives such as Oireachtas Members and the private sector, with whom we work closely. We hire a considerable number of private operators who work for us.
We are making improvements. We have doubled some routes and increased by fivefold the range of services provided. Ashbourne to Dublin has increased from 22 to 72 departures, Newbridge to Naas has increased from 30 to 62 departures, and the innovative orbital service from Trim to Navan to Drogheda has increased from two to 12 services leaving every hour. This is planned for this year.
Motorways bring opportunities and challenges. Maintaining an integrated network and the cost of traffic congestion are other challenges. On the Dundalk to Drogheda to Dublin line, which I am using as an example but I could also use Kells to Navan to Dublin, Dundalk and Drogheda are interchange points. With a motorway and an old road we need more buses to provide the service on both routes. There is a demand for direct services from the main centres and this must be met but that makes serving secondary locations less economic and more difficult. Our objective is to maintain the network of services and provide connections locally and nationally. One must think of other movements, besides to and from Dublin, such as Castlebellingham to Mosney. We must consider when to use the motorway, whether to access it at Drogheda and how to get to Mosney. Other routes include the Dunleer to Balrothery, Navan to Balbriggan and Birr to Collon routes, which connect the east to the rest of the country and locations within that area. We wish to maintain this network.
Bus journey commuting times are increasing by eight minutes per year. Over five years it has increased by 40 minutes. This means we do not get the same level of efficiency and work from our drivers. They take longer to do the same amount of work. Commuting speeds are half the European average, placing an additional cost of €22 million above the European average on Bus Éireann. If we could reduce traffic congestion we could reduce our costs and our subvention by a significant amount. For this reason, bus lanes are important to us. I acknowledge the work of the quality bus network office and the local authorities on quality bus corridors on the N3 from Navan to Dublin and the N7 from Naas to Dublin.
We have advocated the use of the hard shoulders for some time. Some progress has been made but more can be made. Buses could travel up the hard shoulder at 30 km/h to 50 km/h and skip the traffic. Capital investment may be limited but this uses what is already there.
Bus Éireann provides good value for money. The subvention received by Bus Éireann for social services is low by international levels. The social services are maintained by State support, for which we are grateful, and through Bus Éireann resources such as the returns made on commercial services. Bus Éireann is investing in social services and minimising the taxpayer's contribution. An independent value for money audit was commissioned by the Departments of Finance and Transport and the report was positive for Bus Éireann. A comparison with other countries shows our requirements are modest by international standards.
Better customer services are based on a higher frequency of departures on existing routes, more routes and destinations and extended operating hours - we are discussing a 24-hour service on the Drogheda route - all linked with an integrated nationwide network. One cannot ignore smaller communities. We are, therefore, conscious that we must link them with the local town and beyond. We estimate this would reduce the number of car journeys by 2 million per annum. It would also reduce congestion and CO2 emissions.
Bus Éireann is a transport management company which plans and manages networks of services in an integrated fashion. We provide services through our own resources and subcontracting. We have significant involvement with private operators and spend more than €100 million each year on the provision of services through them. In fairness to the county managers present, we work closely with local authorities because they have expertise when it comes to land use, traffic management, road design and infrastructure. By pooling our skills and theirs we can make further progress in the provision of a package of measures. It is not only about the bus vehicle and the timetable; it is also about bus priority measures such as bus stops and park and ride facilities. When the package is brought together and the elements work together, we get a better return
We have a regional structure and the company is not run from Dublin. Mr. Joe Kenny is the regional manager for the east. We have nine areas and five regions, for each of which there is a team of people. Local knowledge and involvement and working with local bodies are the ways to deal with issues. Local people know what they require, what the market is and what service they should have.
I found earlier comments interesting and agree with the welcome points made about park and ride facilities. It would be a great help to us and we want to be very much involved. We would like to get on with it as quickly as possible and make progress. We are in a three year plan and want to make considerable progress this year.
