Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I move:

"That Dáil Éireann,

concerned at the serious traffic problems facing the Greater Dublin Area and the inadequacy of the current public transport system;

conscious that even if the metro and rail proposals contained in Transport 21 are delivered on time, it will be many years before these services become available to the public; and

believing that in those circumstances the Dublin bus service will remain the principal provider of public transport in the city and surrounding areas for many years to come;

calls on the Government to ensure relief for hard pressed commuters by:

the expansion of the Dublin Bus fleet by 50% (500 buses);

the introduction of a flat fare of €1 for adults and 50 cent for children;

the completion of all quality bus corridors and the construction of additional QBCs; and

the construction of a network of park and ride facilities on the outskirts of Dublin with express bus services to central areas."

I wish to share time with Deputy Burton.

Dublin traffic is on a knife-edge and recent experience has borne that out all too clearly. With average speeds of 10 mph, we live in a city that grinds to a halt when it rains and cannot handle even minor road works and road traffic collisions without serious congestion. Average peak time bus speeds have reduced to 8 mph. Even on some quality bus corridors, QBCs, the average peak-time speed can be as low as 6 mph, and as low as 3 mph at pinch points. With a population increase of 250,000 in the greater Dublin area, GDA, over the past ten years, half of it in the counties bordering Dublin, more commuters are travelling ever longer distances to work. As a result, journey times have become unbearably long. According to the latest available journey time figures, from Finglas to the city centre, it takes 54 minutes; from Howth, 56 minutes; from Malahide, 61 minutes; from Donabate, 63 minutes, from Stepaside village, 64 minutes; from Dunshaughlin, 75 minutes; from Loughlinstown roundabout, 76 minutes; from Kill 86 minutes; and from Saggart village, 99 minutes. Many thousands of commuters, whether in private or public transport, spend more than three hours per day on the road on a good day. If they were unlucky enough to be caught on the M50 during one of its recent monster tailbacks, they spent up to seven hours in a car. That is the scale of the problem facing commuters in the GDA and, by any standard, it is a crisis.

The fundamental problem is our utterly inadequate public transport system. Dublin remains a heavily car dependent city. Annual traffic surveys show that cars represent more than 80% of the traffic crossing the canals into Dublin city centre, whereas buses represent only 2% of that total. At the time of the 2002 census, more than 60% of us travelled to work in the GDA by car, lorry or van. The latest Dublin Transportation Office survey figures indicate this trend is continuing. That figure is more than 70% for the three counties in the mid-east region. We are counting the cost of all this congestion in our pockets and in our lives. First and foremost, there is the incalculable cost to people's lives in the loss of significant family and leisure time, increased stress levels, reduced job and social opportunities and the ongoing degradation of the environment. Business groups suggest the annual cost of congestion could be in excess of €2 billion, while it is estimated congestion costs Dublin Bus €60 million annually.

The Government response to this crisis has been bewildering. Incredibly, despite all the congestion, the Government has spectacularly failed to meet the demand for public transport services. Its belated strategy is the €34 billion Transport 21 plan. It remains to be seen the extent to which this plan will ever be implemented, given the complete failure to deliver on the earlier Platform for Change plan. The public transport element of Transport 21 essentially represents a long-term plan to expand rail services in the capital, little of which will come on stream within the next five to ten years. However, the Government has no short to medium-term strategy to deal with the congestion crisis facing commuters now. Dublin commuters cannot wait for Transport 21.

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