John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the work the NBRU has done on this issue. In spite of what Mr. O'Leary said about public representatives, I am the only public representative from my constituency present. Let us consider some of the positives before going into the negative because I agree with much of what Mr O'Leary said. When we enter the public consultation process, people will need to see both sides. I will address some of the points made by him.

I think Mr O'Leary took me up wrong when I said the 15 bus route would be the A spine. If I catch it from Knocklyon and get off on Rathgar Road and all of the buses on the route carrt an "A", I will know that they will all take me to approximately the same destination. We do not need BusConnects to do that, but it has come up with that suggestion which is positive. The 15 bus service was rerouted because of the Luas cross-city line. The closest I can get to Leinster House is the Bleeding Horse. With the proposed introduction of the 90 minute Leap card, I could get off at the Bleeding Horse and get on board the Luas to Dawson Street. There was not that connection before this plan.

I do not see how this proposal can work within the existing infrastructure. If the bus corridors are not built outwards and there are regular bus spines, a place like Terenure village will clog up. The cart cannot be put before the horse. Work on infrastructure has to be undertaken. There may be alternatives such as the Stillorgan dual carriageway, on which there are dedicated bus corridors all the way into town which can carry more buses.

There is, undoubtedly, a penalty for connecting. The stereotypical senior citizen boards the 15A bus at Limekiln to travel directly to the city. He or she will have to connect at Crumlin to travel to the city. They might be first on the bus at Limekiln and last off at Crumlin. The National Transport Authority, NTA, states it does not matter whether he or she is first on or last off as there will be multiple buses every five minutes. There is, however, something undemocratic about it.

One of the weaknesses in the Jarrett Walker design is that he describes it as a metro style system, but on a metro or a Luas tram many doors open at one time and there is equality of access. Even if the bendy buses are introduced, there will be a maximum of two doors opening at any one time and on regular double-decker buses only one door opens. That issue has to examined.

My party has proposed a transport police force for public transport. That issue needs to be factored into the plan. Deputy John Curran raised it in the case of the service from Rathcoole into the city. The Rathcoole bus service runs on the hour to the Red Cow from where there is a bus every five minutes. It is great going if someone is travelling into the city, but in coming out where will a person wait if they miss the hourly bus service? Some of the interchanges will have to have accommodation, perhaps even somewhere someone can get a cup of coffee but certainly somewhere someone will be secure and have shelter. Even in the shopping centres such as Blanchardstown and The Square, the existing infrastructure is not adequate. If people are expected to connect, they need to be able to shelter, particularly single people at night who need to know they are secure and in a lit up place. That is definitely a factor. There is a Dublin Bus–Luas forum that meets once a month and in which I acknowledge its role.

Everybody has said the public consultation process is critical. I trust Dublin Bus to run it. It has run consultation processes in my time as a public representative and I trust it. In a constituency such as mine where there are several centres, Tallaght, Templeogue, Knocklyon, Rathfarnham and Greenhills, two venues will not be enough. It will have to sweat the maximum out of the number of venues. The NTA is to write to Deputies seeking suggestions for the location of venues.

From places on the periphery such as Ballymoreustace and Blessington, people will not have a direct route to the city. They will connect at Tallaght. We need to hear what they have to say about this. Deputy Darragh O'Brien talks about everything connecting into Swords and has said there are a couple of direct routes into the city. That opens the opportunity for a private operator. My party is committed to public transport and Dublin Bus, on which we could not have been clearer, particularly in the past six or eight months. I am a strong champion and supporter of Dublin Bus. It is a terrific company which has turned itself around in the past ten years. I hope the delegates are reassured that there are legislators here who, if necessary, will curb the powers and enthusiasm of the NTA for privatising, contracting and franchising out routes.

Deputy Thomas Byrne was concerned about the direct services from Dunboyne through Ongar. That issue was addressed recently. It was also mentioned by Senator John Dolan, which is why I mentioned the Dublin Bus forum. I know about the bus services provided for the summer camps in Killinarden and Jobstown. Dublin Bus provides outreach services for the community, even in the event of incidents. Its staff go into schools to lets kids or teenagers who are causing problems know that their mothers and grandparents will suffer if a bus has to be withdrawn.

Senator John Dolan has made the point that the livery was designed after consultation with people with disabilities and special needs, particularly young people with a visual impairment, in order that it could not be missed. He specifically adverted to the training provided for people with disabilities on how to access a bus.

I disagree with Mr. O'Leary on decongesting. He said it could lead to more congestion, but it will not if it is built outwards right. The basic principle of BusConnects is to encourage people to leave their cars behind and opt to use public transport. The only way to do this - it is the chicken and the egg - is for the infrastructure to provide a seamless and unobstructed route. The second way is to provide enough buses to persuade and give people confidence that if they choose to leave the car at home, there will be a regular bus service, that it will be efficient and that it will take them on an unimpeded and I hope segregated route to their destination. One cannot work without the other, but this does not address the mum or dad who may have a school run to make in the morning to different schools. The bus service does not offer that flexibility.

The NBRU has given us a lot of food for thought and done a lot of work on this issue.

However, there is not one positive thing about it. Mr. O'Leary is asking me, as a public representative, to take this on board. I will do so and it will influence the kind of questions I ask. I ask the NBRU to leave the National Transport Authority, NTA, out of it and look at some of the ideas in the report by Jarrett Walker & Associates and see that there are some positives and wins in this. However, there are issues that need to be addressed and it is our job to ensure the public is informed about what is being lost. We must point out that this cannot happen and that tweaks are necessary. The NBRU is an influential voice and stakeholder in the matter, and reading Mr. O'Leary's presentation it is clear that this is a no-no. The Services Industrial Professional And Technical Union, SIPTU, is saying it embraces the concept. I embrace the concept, but I take on board Mr. O'Leary's point that this must be tweaked. I have to listen to what I am told by the men and women who use the bus service every day. Is there nothing in this report that the NBRU would recommend to the public?