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Traffic Management

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 February 2018

Tuesday, 13 February 2018

Ceisteanna (582)

John Curran

Ceist:

582. Deputy John Curran asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the actions he is taking to improve traffic congestion in Dublin in 2018; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7350/18]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The National Transport Authority's (NTA) Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area provides the overarching framework for the planning and delivery of transport infrastructure and services for Dublin over the next two decades. Addressing urban congestion on both the strategic road network and locally in certain locations is an important theme in the Strategy. The measures proposed are linked to an analysis of current and projected levels of travel demand across the region.

In 2015, Dublin City Council and the NTA jointly published the Dublin City Centre Transport Study which sets out the various measures proposed for Dublin's city centre to ensure the efficient functioning of transport within the city centre. Those two bodies, in collaboration with Dublin Bus and TII, are progressively implementing the measures set out in that document to enable the continued development and growth of the city. Over the last six months, changes have been made throughout the city centre to accommodate the introduction of new Luas services. The most significant changes were the introduction of the additional bus lanes along the North and South Quays last August. In addition, a host of other junction and traffic signal changes has been implemented. In the case of College Green - and in advance of a determination of a proposal for a civic plaza at College Green developed by City Council - the NTA, in collaboration with Dublin Bus and Dublin City Council, have proceeded to reduce bus vehicle volumes passing through the area, which would allow the junctions and signals to function more effectively. These parties continue to keep the situation under review.

As Minister for Transport I have secured increased funding for both public transport services and infrastructure in Budget 2018 which will allow us to address congestion and emerging capacity constraints on our public transport system across our cities including Dublin. This includes an 8% increase in funding for PSO services across the bus and rail networks in 2018 to support the delivery of these socially necessary but financially unviable public transport services.

Following the mid-term review of the Capital Plan, Budget 2018 provides for an increase in the multi-annual capital investment for Ireland's public transport with a four-year capital envelope of €2.7 billion over the period 2018-2021. This substantial multi-annual envelope will allow investment in a number of key programmes to ease congestion and increase capacity on our public transport network. This includes funding of over €770 million for the BusConnects programme to fundamentally transform Dublin’s bus system, so that journeys for bus passengers will be fast, reliable, punctual, convenient and affordable. Over €685 million capital investment will also be provided for additional rail infrastructure between now and 2021 to provide additional Luas capacity, improve mainline rail infrastructure and progress DART expansion and the new Metro North.

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