Ms Anne Graham:

I thank the Chairperson and members for the invitation to attend. I understand that the committee wishes to discuss the progress across the built environment and transport, the delivery of inclusive climate action transport measures, accessible on-street infrastructure, island bus stops and wheelchair accessible bus stops, and transitioning licensed commercial bus services to be fully wheelchair accessible. I am joined by Mr. Hugh Creegan, deputy chief executive officer with the authority.

The importance of public transport for people with disabilities is fully acknowledged by the authority. Recognising that importance, we are committed to ensuring that the sustainable transport infrastructure across Ireland, covering rail, light-rail and bus services, inclusive of fleet and stations, are fully accessible. All new sustainable transport infrastructure and public transport fleet are designed and constructed to be fully accessible. As parts of our public transport infrastructure date back many decades, we also have to address legacy elements of the existing system that were not designed with accessibility in mind. However, we believe that significant progress has been made in a number of areas.

All of our town and city bus services are served by low-floor accessible fleet with ramps to the kerb for boarding at stops. Other regional bus services are operated under public service obligation contracts with Bus Éireann, Go-Ahead Ireland and other operators. New low-floor coach vehicles have been introduced on many of these routes to allow wheelchair access via door ramps, replacing high-floor coaches which required a wheelchair lift arrangement and the prior removal of up to four passenger seats. In conjunction with the low-floor access double-deck coach with a permanent wheelchair space, which we have purchased for Bus Éireann and Go-Ahead Ireland, the authority can now identify a significant proportion of services as low-floor wheelchair-accessible across the country. This will increase as more of this fleet is purchased.

On rural transport, Transport for Ireland, TFI, Local Link bus services connect communities throughout rural Ireland, operating both scheduled bus services and door-to-door on-demand services. Currently over 95% of these bus services are wheelchair accessible. This percentage will increase as more contracted services with wheelchair-accessible vehicles are delivered.

The public bus passenger services provided by the commercial sector without a subsidy are licensed by the NTA. The Public Transport Regulation Act 2009, which governs this sector, allows the authority to place conditions on the licences related to minimum accessibility standards. This sector in the main operates long-distance intercity services, airport services, tour services and services to and from events, and are generally served by high-floor coaches with luggage capacity below floor level. Low-floor front entry coaches are not readily available in the market and the wheelchair accessibility requirements are being met in the main by high-floor coaches with an external wheelchair lift.

The NTA carried out a detailed exercise in 2019, including a public consultation on proposals to place conditions on those licences for the provision of accessible services. These proposals were completed in early 2020 just as the Covid pandemic hit the country. The implementation of the proposals was paused due to the crisis; a crisis which heavily impacted the commercial bus sector such that grants were provided to the industry by the Government in 2020 and 2021 to protect as many services as possible through to recovery. The authority is now re-examining the proposals to ensure they fit the current environment and will carry out a further public consultation in quarter 1 2024 with a view to setting minimum accessibility standards for such services in late 2024.

The interaction between buses, cyclists and pedestrians is most pronounced at bus stops where pedestrians need to move from the footpath onto the bus and vice versa. To facilitate this movement, either pedestrians need to cross over the cycle facility to access the bus, or the bus needs to cross over the cycle facility to allow boarding and alighting. In either case some level of movement conflict arises, in the first case between pedestrians and cyclists and in the second case between buses and cyclists.

The use of an island bus stop is commonly provided internationally as the best available, although not perfect, solution to managing the conflicting manoeuvres that occur at a bus stop and represents the optimum arrangements which balance the differing needs. Within the new cycle design manual, a suggested island stop layout is provided which includes a signalised crossing of the cycle track and an audible tone for the visually impaired when the red signal is activated. It is intended that this layout, shown in the materials we provided to the committee, will be deployed in locations where additional reinforcement of user priorities at the cycle track crossing is required. The authority has provided a detailed note setting out various details of the status of accessibility arrangements across the spectrum of public transport in Ireland for the information of the committee.

That concludes my introductory statement. I trust that I can answer any queries that may arise.