Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely.

I welcome the opportunity to speak to the motion. As the Minister is aware, there is major traffic congestion in Dublin which is having a massive negative impact on people who are trying to commute into the city on public transport or in their cars to attend work, college, etc. The current problems in the city centre have led to many others in the constituency I represent, Kildare North, with which I know the Minister is very familiar. I refer to people travelling from Celbridge, Leixlip, Maynooth, etc. Their travel times have increased by perhaps 15 to 20 minutes because of the current rerouting, whereby buses can no longer travel where they used to travel, and the negative impact this is having. There is a problem in that, on the one hand, we are advocating the use of public transport, while, on the other, it has become less attractive in recent weeks because of the issues I have highlighted. As a result, people have stopped using public transport in the hope this issue can be resolved as a matter of urgency and tjat they can then re-engage with the transport system again.

The M50 which was upgraded is at congestion point. This all leads into part of the problem. Will the Minister consider implementing the following? BusConnects is a great service. A park and ride facility could be introduced at Yunction 5 on the M4 to capture traffic from the towns of Leixlip, Celbridge and Maynooth, with a bus rapid transit service into the city. Continuous bus corridors should be introduced where they are not in place. The problems I have outlined are a negative for public transport. There is also a problem with reduced capacity and the frequency of services on train lines such as the Kildare line to Hazelhatch and Sallins and the rail line to Kilcock and Maynooth, which is compounding the problem. Perhaps the Minister might consider these measures. I have engaged with him directly and the NTA, etc., to try to deliver results to help and encourage people to continue to use public transport, deal with the extra demand and free up the city, as the Minister wishes and in line with the introduction of no-car zones. Some time ago I also mentioned the possible consideration of an outer orbital route connecting the M4 and the M7. It would reduce congestion on the M50.

According to the traffic counts done on the M50, a large volume of traffic exits and enters between those interchanges. This could be quite productive and very helpful in alleviating the congestion. These are just some measures the Minister and the Department might consider examining. They are implementable and it just needs funding to improve the service. If we look at the Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann routes servicing my constituency and the greater outer Dublin area into the city, they are all at congestion and people at bus stops are being passed because the buses cannot pick them up. The Minister might say this is a result of the times we are in with low unemployment, and that is acknowledged, but now we must improve services to match it and ensure we can give the people the service and delivery they require.

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