Mr. Ray Coyne:

In terms of the youth, Dublin Bus does a lot of work in trying to attract young customers, in conjunction with other operators and also with the NTA. In terms of recent initiatives, some members may have seen online or in other social media a Baz and Nancy campaign. That was not aimed at me but at young people who watch those characters on television. It proved to be very successful and highlighted the technology behind the operation of a bus system. We also rolled out free WiFi throughout the entire network. That is in place now and is a key enabler and benefit to young people because they would have to pay for their mobile data but when they are on the bus, they no longer have to do that. In recent years we significantly increased our engagement on social media, which the younger generation use significantly. We have also increased the age one can avail of child fares up to 19 years, which is significantly reduced over an adult fare.

For the 1916 commemoration we had a €10 weekend Leap ticket for all public transport for families. Much work was done on our brand development. That was consistent with the strategy of encouraging the youth to use the bus and be aware of the benefits of using a bus. Our Euro 6 engines would be part of that because they are acutely aware of the environmental benefits of not using private transport. There is a significant shift in Europe, not just in Ireland, away from car ownership and we see that in this city in terms of shared car platforms.

In terms of the Kids Go Free initiative, for two weeks in the summer children were able to travel free of charge. We run that in conjunction with the NTA and the other operators. There was significant uptake, in the order of 50%, in those weeks by children using buses, which are free. We are tracking that to see if we can keep those customers using the bus.