Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 28 June 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042: National Transport Authority

Photo of Brian LeddinBrian Leddin (Limerick City, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and thank Senator Buttimer for letting me in. I wish to pick up on an issue raised by what Deputy Catherine Murphy described about the Sallins bypass and the knock-on effect with the issue in Clane. It proves that when we build these roads and bypasses, they just beget more roads and more bypasses, so we need to think differently about transport. I welcome the NTA's strategy for the GDA. There is different thinking in it around transport and a lot of good stuff in there.

My reason for popping down to the committee was to ask the officials about the gap between the emissions targets we have nationally and the gap in the GDA strategy currently. I think the latter is a 35% cut by 2030, so there is still a significant gap. I was chairing the climate committee earlier and we had officials in from the Department of Transport. They were not really able to tell me whether they had appropriately or adequately modelled for, or considered, the potential for electric bike uptake to meet the ambitious emissions reduction targets. We know from quite recent research from UCC that 40% of all our transport emissions are caused by private car journeys of up to 8 km. Many of those in the upper end of that range, say 4 km to 8 km, might be cyclable but they are certainly doable and comfortable by electric bike. Has the modelling that underpins the GDA strategy considered the potential for very ambitious uptake of electric bikes? We are seeing across Europe and the world that where safe networks are provided, people are using e-bikes for those mid-range journeys. Is that part of the answer to filling that gap? I am not a member of this committee but should it be recommending to the Minister that he explore all possibilities around electric bikes and do all we can do as a Government and a State to facilitate their uptake and usage?

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