Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

The second part of this motion calls for the completion of quality bus corridors. At 13 km/h, the average speed of Dublin buses is almost the slowest in Europe and, apart from Paris, no other capital city has a slower peak time bus speed. Our average speed compares to Reykjavik at 28 km/h, Helsinki at 27 km/h, London and Prague at 26 km/h, Rotterdam at 23 km/h and Venice at 22 km/h.

The Labour Party wants to put the quality back into quality bus corridors. QBCs have contributed enormously to Dublin's transport system. A 50% increase in bus passenger numbers on these routes in the past nine years shows that they are popular with commuters and they can work. However, QBCs have the potential to be much more effective in terms of shorter journey times and achieving much greater efficiency from the bus fleet. To do this, we want the following steps taken.

We want to see the existing bus corridors completed. In six of the current 13 QBCs less than half the route is actually a bus lane and, overall, only 52% of the road space on QBC routes comprises bus lane. The Howth Road, Tallaght, Rathfarnham and north Clondalkin QBCs all have bus lanes on less than 40% of their length. There are particular shortages on outbound routes with only four of the existing QBCs having bus lanes on half or more of their routes. Overall, only 42% of outbound QBC kilometres are actually covered by bus lane.

It is this lack of bus priority that impacts drastically on bus journey times and operating costs. It makes buses an unattractive alternative for motorists because of the uncertainty relating to journey times and, in many cases, the minimal time advantage of travelling by bus. It also makes the system unmanageable for bus operators.

Bus speeds on part of the Swords QBC where bus priority is not in place can be as low as 4 km/h. Some Blanchardstown services now have journey times lasting up to a gruelling 130 minutes. A Labour Party survey in March 2006 of the Granby Row and Dorset Street junction at peak time showed that outbound buses were waiting an average of 22 minutes, and up to 31 minutes in some cases, to travel around a block, a distance of one eighth of a mile. That junction is critical and serves most buses on the north side of Dublin. More QBCs must be commissioned on the main arteries and we need to give much greater priority to buses at junctions. In addition, we need the early introduction of real-time information at bus stops. Certainty of journey time is an important factor in the minds of commuters as it allows people to plan a journey. People need to know a bus will be along in five or ten minutes time when they arrive at a bus stop rather than standing waiting for 25 to 30 minutes not knowing if a bus will ever come as is the case at present.

The third part of this Labour Party motion deals with fares. There is a need to totally revamp fare structures because, at present, fares are too high, too cumbersome and add to delays. There are strong arguments, on grounds of convenience, for a flat rate €1 fare. If one examines the current Dublin Bus fare structure, the lowest adult fare of 95 cent takes at the very least four coins, the €1.35 fare takes at least four coins, the €1.55 fare takes three coins and so on up the scale. This change relates to convenience, but the Labour Party believes there is a strong argument for a flat €1 fare to provide a financial incentive to convince commuters to switch from private to public transport. Later I will discuss how the cost of such a simplified low fare system can be recouped tenfold.

The Labour Party is calling for the introduction of a standard €1 per trip fare across the entire Dublin Bus network, similar to the London model, and on all public bus services within 25 miles of the city centre. Outside this zone, fares should be tapered according to distance, ensuring simplicity and fairness in the fare structure.

We want to place particular emphasis on child fares by providing a standard 50 cent fare and extending eligibility to all children under 18 years of age. This is critical as the school run adds considerably to morning congestion and it is important to encourage the use of public transport from an early age. In addition, there is no logic to the current system which dictates that 16 and 17-year-olds pay adult fares.

The Labour Party also wants to make tickets more accessible by ensuring that on-street ticket machines for buses, similar to Luas, are available to the public at key city centre bus stops, suburban stopping points and, if necessary, on buses themselves.

In addition, the Labour Party wants to extend the Dublin Bus network and the €1 fare zone to major residential areas within a radius of at least 25 miles of the city centre, including towns and villages like Ashbourne, Dunshaughlin, Clane, Kill, Naas, Prosperous, Ratoath, Sallins, and Straffan. We want to reduce fares on a scale related to distance beyond this zone, which will result in a more affordable and simplified fare structure throughout the region. While Bus Éireann may continue to operate the service, it will become the overall responsibility of Dublin Bus and the latter's fare structures will apply. This will address a serious anomaly in fare structures, whereby a commuter can pay 127% more on a one way adult fare and 58% more on the equivalent of a weekly ticket over comparable distances. It will also end the public bus rip-off of areas of south County Meath, about which I have received a number of representations.

Finally, this motion calls for the early commissioning of park and ride facilities. The logic of bus-based park and ride has been discussed for many years but no action has been taken. As a result, there is no permanent bus-based park and ride facility in the greater Dublin area. In 2004, the Department of Transport paid a paltry €800,000 to local authorities for park and ride facilities in the greater Dublin area and, in 2005, the even smaller sum of €289,000. It is not as if there has been a massive expansion of rail based park and ride. Transport 21 provides for at least six park and ride sites around the M50 in conjunction with planned rail improvements. Metro north is due to have two park and ride sites providing parking for over 2,000 cars at Lissenhall, north of Swords, and at Metro Park, north of Ballymun. In the past two weeks, a planning application was made to Fingal County Council for a separate 1,386 park and ride site beside the NCT centre to serve Dublin Airport. If there is a need to facilitate parking at the airport, the need must be all the greater to serve commuters to the city centre. The Luas extension from Sandyford to Cherrywood will have a park and ride site at Carrickmines providing 300 spaces. Why not provide those spaces now? There are also park and ride facilities planned for the junction of the N11 and the Luas extension from Cherrywood to the Bray area and the junctions of Metro West and the N2, N3 and N4. Again, why wait for a project that will take more than ten years to complete? A serious need exists for park and ride facilities in order to relieve the city's chronic congestion problems and the sites have been identified, so why not provide the facilities now? If these are real proposals and not just stunts, there is no excuse for not proceeding with them. Once in Government, the Labour Party will establish these park and ride sites immediately and will service them with express bus services to the city centre. We will also develop additional park and ride sites on approaches to the city as identified by the local authorities. The proposals being made by the Labour Party on bus services are achievable, cost effective, deliverable in a matter of months and represent the only viable alternative to the daily car commute endured by many thousands of people.

Of course, there are further issues to address in terms of congestion. In particular, urgent action is needed on the West Link toll bridge. Next Wednesday, the Dublin Port tunnel will open, spilling thousands of trucks on to an already congested M50. The West Link is a major congestion point on the M50 and for traffic in general in the greater Dublin area. A minimum of 2,500 additional trucks will use the West Link on a daily basis, the equivalent of 6,500 cars in terms of road space, making an already congested road impossible to travel during the day.

It is not as if this situation has arisen overnight. The Government has known for the past ten years that the port tunnel would open and that these additional trucks would spill on to the M50, yet it has done nothing to prepare for it. It could have put in place a system to allow for barrier-free tolling or, in the context of its negotiations with NTR, taken early control of the toll bridge to ensure it will be in a position to manage the chaotic situations which are likely to arise once the port tunnel opens. It could have managed the situation by lifting the toll barriers whenever congestion and tailbacks became unbearable or by varying tolls to allow for greater use of the West Link and the M50 during non-peak hours. Incentives such as free tolls could have been offered at certain times of the day. However, the Government has no scope to take such actions because the best it can offer is that something will happen in two years time. Given the record it has set in terms of missing deadlines and targets, there is no reason to hope that matters will ever improve. There is no excuse for the lack of preparation for the opening of the port tunnel. The Government has utterly failed to develop a system which would have improved conditions at the West Link. Further measures should be introduced to ensure the city's traffic moves reasonably freely, such as more policing or a year-round version of Operation Freeflow.

It is important that the costs of my party's proposals are put in their proper context. The chamber of commerce has estimated that congestion costs the business community some €2 billion annually. Dublin Bus estimates the costs it faces in terms of congestion at €60 million annually, a figure which entirely consumes the subvention provided to the company, while Bus Éireann estimates its congestion costs at €35 million annually. Dublin, at 26%, has the lowest subvention rate for bus services out of 16 European cities. It compares terribly with, for example, Athens at 62%, Brussels at 67% and Luxembourg at 78%. The principal expenses in Labour's plan will be 500 buses at a mere €300,000 each, or €15 million on an annualised basis and €50 million to complete the quality bus corridors. The estimated loss to Dublin Bus arising from the proposed €1 incentive would be approximately €25 million. We have to bear in mind that it is estimated that the additional income from the increased numbers of passengers would be €17.5 million. Given that thousands of commuters are spending more than three hours on the road each day, it is clear that considerable social and economic savings can be made by shortening journey times. The Labour Party estimates that the number of bus passengers who travel during the morning peak period can be increased from the current 115,000 to 180,000. If these plans can save people an average of just 15 minutes on their journey times, it is possible to quantify the financial savings in terms of time saved. Over €1 million will be saved each day — €250 million will be saved per annum — if 180,000 commuters save a total of 30 minutes each every day. That estimate is based on average wage costs of a conservative €12 per hour. In addition, those who have to continue to use their cars would enjoy time savings worth an estimated €60 million per annum. It is clear that the cost benefit of the Labour Party's proposal would be quite substantial, in terms of economic, social and personal costs. The Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher, needs to show some leadership, vision and political will to solve the problem. None of those characteristics is evident from him tonight, sadly.

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