Ms Anne Graham:

I thank the committee for inviting me to attend today's meeting. I understand it wants me to address the topic of rural transport. To assist me in dealing with subsequent questions, I am joined by Mr. Tim Gaston, who is our director of public transport services, and Ms Margaret Malone, who is our rural transport manager.

Before I deal with the specific areas of focus, I would like to set the context by providing a brief overview of the NTA's remit in respect of rural transport services. Public transport in rural areas is provided in various ways. Iarnród Éireann provides rail services under contract with the NTA. Any changes in rail services require the approval of the NTA. Bus Éireann provides a variety of services through its commercial Expressway services, which are licensed by the NTA, and through a network of subsidised public bus services under a direct award contract with the NTA. Both services serve many rural towns with frequencies varying from weekly to several times a day. Any changes in subsidised services require the approval of the NTA. Other commercial operators provide a number of town-to-town services and intercity services across the State without any State subsidy. If Bus Éireann or any commercial operator is required to withdraw any of its commercial services, the NTA works to ensure communities are not left behind.

The bus services that are provided under the rural transport programme are contracted by the NTA and are managed by 17 Local Link offices throughout the State. Although some 80% of these services are demand responsive, regular scheduled services between towns are also provided under this programme.

The rural transport programme is now known as Local Link. Its objective is to provide a good quality nationwide community-based public transport system in rural Ireland which responds to local needs. Key features of the rural transport programme include the completion of 1.9 million passenger journeys per annum, with 900,000 of those journeys provided for free travel passengers. These figures include 200,000 million passengers who required assistance. We also provided an average of 150,000 service trips annually. Local Link services travel over 11.8 million kilometres annually. More than 400 private operators provide the services, using the services of almost 900 drivers. The programme funds the provision of once-off trips for individuals and community and voluntary groups to help address lack of transport as a factor in social exclusion. Some 62% of service trips are defined as either fully or partially accessible.

Over the past two years, the authority has supported the expansion of rural transport services to include regular commuter bus services. Operating at least five times per day over a five, six or seven days per week schedule, these services are specifically designed to ensure connectivity with other public transport services. This connectivity facilitates passengers to make onward journeys typically to access education, employment, health, recreational and other opportunities.

The authority recently produced its Rural Transport Programme Strategic Plan 2018-2022 which sets out nine key objectives for delivery over the lifetime of the plan. The key priorities of the programme continue to include addressing rural social exclusion and the integration of rural transport services with other public transport services. The authority is implementing one of the listed actions in the strategy under objective area eight - encouraging innovation in rural transport service provision - regarding the provision of evening and night services to address unmet transport needs in rural areas. Twelve of the 17 Local Link groups applied for funding and proposals were assessed by the authority, having regard to evidence of need, previous experience in delivering evening and night-time services, value for money, geographical spread on a national basis, range and mix of proposed modes of transport, connectivity and integration with existing transport options while not representing a displacement risk to existing services, and potential for the mainstreaming of pilot projects

The outcome of the assessment process was that a total of 53 additional services were approved for funding. The details of those services can be found in the appendix attached. The key characteristics of these new services include the fact that 19 of these services are extensions to existing regular public transport services. There are 34 demand-responsive services. The services will be provided nationally across 19 counties, and will run on average from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., typically on Friday and Saturday evenings. All 53 initially approved services will be operational by late June or early July 2018 and will run until December 2018 on a pilot basis. In terms of reviewing the usage and patronage levels on these pilot services, the authority will closely monitor usage patterns and trends over the six-month period and advise the Department accordingly.

As five Local Link groups did not make an initial application, the authority advised in mid-May that it would consider any further proposed services from these groups should a need or demand exist in the transport co-ordination unit, TCU, area. A revised closing date of Friday, 1 June was set for receipt of applications, and all five Local Link groups subsequently submitted applications. These applications are being assessed by the transport planning team within the authority and a decision regarding funding is due shortly.

The authority is continually working with Bus Éireann to provide improvements on its contracted services and is looking at expansion of those services given that the budget for public service obligations has increased since 2016. The authority also promoted the improvements in regional cities, which have seen phenomenal growth in passenger numbers. These improvements cannot be sustained unless significant improvement work is carried out by the city authorities in providing bus priority measures, particularly now as car traffic congestion is growing rapidly. The work in enhancing the services provided by Bus Éireann has been delayed significantly as it has had to prioritise the changes required as part of its business recovery plan. It is expected that Bus Éireann will complete that work shortly and that we can recommence the service enhancement work.

The authority recognises that there are many gaps in our services provision. We have focused on the lack of service in our main towns and are prioritising the provision of new town services in Kilkenny, Carlow and Mullingar, all of which have a population in the 19,000 to 26,000 range.

In exercising its functions, the authority seeks to achieve the provision of an integrated public transport system of services and networks for all users. Wherever appropriate, we seek to integrate and co-ordinate services to provide for seamless travel options where change of bus and-or mode is required. This includes the operation of rural transport services - Local Link - which can facilitate connecting to mainline interurban services, irrespective of the provider of those services. In fact, the National Transport Authority, NTA, is the only body that can bring modes and operators together in an integrated service pattern that provides the best service for rural communities.

There are a number of key infrastructural items that support public transport which are required to increase the attractiveness of public transport, especially in rural Ireland. These include bus shelters, accessible bus stops and information at stops. The provision of additional shelters has been very constrained in recent years due to a lack of funding. The contract for the provision and maintenance of bus shelters now rests with the NTA rather than with each individual operator. We are well placed to deliver a comprehensive shelter programme.

Our ambition is to deliver high-quality public transport in rural areas. It is expected that funding will improve from 2019. The authority needs to be in a position to put in place the staff resources that can deliver on our ambitious programme of improvements. I trust that we can answer any queries that arise.