Public Service Obligation

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 June 2021

Thursday, 17 June 2021

Ceisteanna (19)

Marc Ó Cathasaigh

Ceist:

19. Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh asked the Minister for Transport if his attention has been drawn to the inconsistencies in pricing for regional public transport services whereby public service obligation fares are more expensive than Expressway fares and whereby shorter local routes which are more often used by commuters are costlier than longer regional routes; if he plans to raise the pricing anomalies with Bus Éireann; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32122/21]

Freagraí ó Béal (6 píosaí cainte)

Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh

My question is on whether the Minister's attention been drawn to inconsistencies in pricing for regional public transport services. Some PSO fares are more expensive than Expressway fares and some shorter local routes, which are often more used by commuters, are costlier than regional ones?

Deputy Eamon Ryan

The Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 provides a statutory power to the NTA to establish a fare structure for public passenger transport services. Following the establishment of the NTA in 2009, the authority has responsibility for the regulation of fares charged to passengers in respect of public transport services provided under PSO contracts. Bus Éireann is responsible for setting passenger fares relating to its commercial Expressway bus services. The NTA does not have a role in the setting of fares for services provided by commercial operators, including Bus Éireann. As a result, fares charged to passengers on Expressway and PSO services are set independently of each other.

Over a number of years, the NTA's approach to fare regulation has been to gradually simplify the fare structures across bus, rail and light rail services and to increasingly move towards a fairer, distance-based structure. The NTA points out in its more recent fares determinations, that fares are adjusted both upwards and downwards, ensuring the travelling public pays a fare relative to the distance they travel, such that the operators are in a position to provide a safe and reliable service. For 2020, the NTA set fares by way of two determinations. The first determination made adjustments for all monthly and annual tickets, including tax saver tickets, with an implementation date of 1 December 2019. The second fares determination addressed adjustments for all other fares with changes effective from April 2020. These determinations have further progressed the NTA's fares policy objectives.

I agree with the Deputy on the point that we must go further and do more because there are anomalies right across the country that are regularly brought to my attention. In some cases, the fare suddenly jumps up once a person travels outside a certain zone and it is not done on the basis of distance. I will talk to the NTA and Bus Éireann and see what we can do to progress that simple mechanism whereby there is a correlation between distance and fare structures, so we do not have these anomalies where fares suddenly jump once people go beyond a certain boundary limit.

Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh

I thank the Minister for the response but I am not sure it quite gets to the heart of the question. I know we should try not to refer policy from anecdote but this one example is illustrative and indicative of the pricing inconsistency that exists across the country. A PSO service, the 362 service, runs from Dungarvan to Waterford. To get from Dungarvan to Waterford on that PSO service, which is publicly subvented, costs €13.50. The same journey from Dungarvan to Waterford on the Expressway route costs €5. This type of pricing inconsistency, for the people standing at the bus stop waiting for the next service, creates ill feeling and confusion. It puts people off using public transport and also creates difficulty for drivers. While they might be two arms of the same company, it is the same drivers who are operating on these routes and, in one instance, they are being asked to charge €13.50 and, in the other, €5. There are a whole host of other issues on that route that need to be addressed.

Deputy Eamon Ryan

I agree with the Deputy. That is a very good example of an anomaly where the fare system is not based on similar distance. Bus Éireann, like all transport companies, is going through its own challenges in managing Covid but when coming out of it, we want it to come back stronger, both in the work it does on Expressway and on the PSO services, and in the work it does in supporting education and other services for the Department of Education. In that regard, there is a lot of work to be done in standardising fares, standardising the booking system and making it easier to book online, given there are all sorts of different anomalies which do not facilitate easy encouragement of passengers.

The example given by the Deputy is a good one. I will bring it up directly with the company to see what can be done as an example of change.

Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh

On the Minister’s second point on inconsistencies with regard to distances, I would draw his attention to the specific example of Tramore, which was left out of the Waterford metropolitan area transport strategy in what was a serious omission. What we now have is the 360 route as opposed to Waterford to Tramore being considered a city route and part of the city service. That leads to a greater price, given it costs people €2.80 to make a one-way journey on that route, which means it costs one more than a fiver to get in and out.

It shows. People are voting with their feet and there was less than 2% commuter usage in and out of Waterford city. We know Tramore is very much a commuter town and something close to 50% of the people who are living in Tramore work in Waterford city, yet we only have a 2% uptake on that transport corridor. It was a serious omission to leave Tramore out of the metropolitan area strategy and it has led to that increased price point, which makes public transport unattractive.

Deputy Eamon Ryan

I understand there is a lot of good work going on in Waterford in terms of it setting itself as an example of a sustainable city. It needs to grow as a capital of the south east in that way, and part of that is recognising that places like Tramore, which now has a population of almost 15,000 and is, as the Deputy said, a dormitory town, are inextricably linked to Waterford in so many different ways. It makes sense to include it in the Waterford metropolitan area transport strategy. As that has not concluded, it should be possible for that sort of amended approach to be incorporated in the ongoing work. It is a reality that many people are living in Tramore and working in Waterford city, and the connection between the town and the city is an important part of that sustainable vision for Waterford.