Ireland’s public transport use is up, with a plan to link ‘people and places’

Transport Trends 2018 has shown that public transport use in Ireland has seen a steady increase

Ireland’s Department for Transport, Tourism and Sport has revealed a steady increase in the use of public transport services over the past year. 

Shane Ross, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport said: “An additional 16 million public transport journeys [were made] last year, [with] record numbers travelling through Irish airports, a 19 per cent rise in cruise ship passengers and a 5 per cent increase in goods handled by our ports are all signs of a thriving economy.” 

The steady increase in the use of public transport demonstrates strong and continued growth across the various transport domains in Ireland, including public transport use, aviation and maritime traffic, and freight volumes, stated Ross. 

Continuing. he said: “We will continue investing in transport infrastructure to ensure that this growth continues and that workers can get to their jobs, tourists can get to every corner of the country, and goods can be shipped all over the world. Developing from the National Development Plan, our ambitious new investment plan, ‘Linking People and Places’ will deliver close to €25 billion in investment in Ireland’s transport and tourism infrastructure over the next 10 years.”

“The plan includes investment of €19.7 billion in our public transport and road networks including a renewed focus on the maintenance of our existing network, upgrading and expanding our inter-urban network, and major new infrastructure projects in our cities, including Metrolink and BusConnects, an innovative re-imagining of the bus systems of Dublin, Cork and Galway. We have also earmarked a further €4.8 billion to enable State airports and ports to improve Irish connections with the rest of the world.”

Ross also welcomed the fact that road fatalities fell 16 per cent to 157 in 2017, the lowest number since records began, and said recently-introduced legislation imposing tough new sanctions on drink driving aimed to reduce that further. 

Ross acknowledged that challenges remained, particularly with the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to nurture our strong international connections.

He commented: “Ensuring economic growth is also environmentally sustainable is a complex task, but there are promising signs. I welcome the growth in electric vehicle purchases last year, and measures such as our new incentive reducing toll costs for electric vehicles will encourage greater uptake of greener transport.”

Ross concluded: “This report highlights how people are making ever greater use of new technologies such as Leap Cards and Real Time Passenger Information that make their journeys easier. [The] Department will continue to support innovative new solutions to 21st century transport needs.”