Pauline O'Reilly (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their contributions. Dr. Caulfield made an interesting point about considering different subsidies depending on where a person is. The call for more roads and bigger roads has been from rural areas and the problems they have been having. While I take Ms Graham's point that the emphasis is on urban areas, and I am in one of those areas in Galway, the focus on roads is coming from commuter belt and satellite towns experiencing problems.

I ask Ms Graham what is being done there. People stand in the rain in Spiddal with no bus shelter or real-time information and an infrequent service.

That then adds not just to the congestion in the area, but to the mindset that we need more roads. It is, therefore, critical to address that point.

Dr. Caulfield talked about the two choices facing us, namely, a modal shift and changing fuel. He did not really speak about the planning implications in that context. Even if we were to change fuel and rely on that approach, the resulting planning implications will mean that people will have to move farther and farther away from public transport. I see that as meaning that we must do more on the modal shift element. Is the NTA also considering and planning for the use of combined modes, such as the multimodal bike-rail-bike approach used in the Netherlands? How can that approach be used in an Irish context for urban, suburban and rural areas? It would again address some of the concerns people have about living so far away from a hub of the public transport system.

My next question is for Dr. Torney. One of the problems with the roll-out is the local authority aspect, as I see it, which he mentions in his research. There are specific governance issues which he suggests could address some of the lead-in times, while also ensuring that, importantly, people have their voices heard in the roll-out of initiatives such as BusConnects, for instance. Moving cars and parking from the roads, for example, is also a decision which is in the hands of local authorities. The larger roll-out of the infrastructure, however, is in the hands of the NTA, which has more influence in that context. How would Dr. Torney see those kinds of problems being addressed together?