Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last week the NTA sanctioned price increases on rail and bus services. In ten years there has been an increase of almost 85% in the lowest fares on Dublin Bus. It seems criminal that at a time when Dublin Bus passenger numbers are increasing and there is further potential for growth, these fare increases have been proposed. In the past few years Dublin Bus has restructured and rejigged routes and services, causing great upheaval. This restructuring was supposed to save money, but it is now going to add to the cost of journeys by increasing cash fares by up to 15%.

Dublin Bus had a surplus of €3 million last year which was achieved despite a cut in the subvention. Recently, the new head of Dublin Bus said at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications that he did not envisage fare increases. What has happened since? It is important to note that some Leap card fares have been cut and that any increase in prepaid fares is smaller than other increases. Dublin Bus wants to encourage a further move to Leap cards and prepaid options by bus users. The problem is it is going about it in the wrong way.

In the context of the substantial fare increases in recent years and increasing passenger numbers, Dublin Bus should be using a carrot to attract new customers and new Leap card users. Instead, it is using a stick to beat cash fare users into using prepaid models or beat them out of using public transport altogether. It is now possible that a person living in Finglas or Ballymun will pay almost €6 for a round trip to the city centre. One might argue such persons should have a prepaid card, but it not so easy for them to have €30 or so every week to pre-load onto a Leap card. Also, owing to the inflexibility of Leap cards in terms of top-up options, regular small top-ups are inconvenient to say the least.

In order to make Dublin Bus increasingly viable, we must make it more accessible and better value. There have been big improvements, but this move shows much more is needed in the company's thinking.

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