Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)

I thank the Deputies for their contributions. The real-time passenger information signs have been a great success. The feedback to the Department has been fantastic. There were teething problems in some areas but, by and large, they were dealt with very quickly. There are plans to roll out 500 signs in the greater Dublin area. Some 393 have been rolled out and 27 have been rolled out in Cork, which is 50% complete. Galway and Limerick cities are next in line and the roll-out is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The text and phone service has been phenomenal and there have been 100,000 visits to the app site per day. That number of requests is huge and shows that people use their phones to check bus times. Passenger numbers will increase on buses over time because people know when buses are coming and experience the reliability of buses. The technology used for these signs is excellent. The signs are used for real-time passenger information but can also be used for further information, as required, to notify passengers of different issues.

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