Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

This Government is absolutely committed to improving public transport throughout the country, as is demonstrated through the significant service and infrastructural investments in recent years as well as the various fare initiatives that have been introduced. Over recent years we have reduced average fares on all public service obligation, PSO, services by 20%, helping people with cost-of-living pressures; introduced and expanded the young adult card, reducing fares by a further 50% for young people just as they are making choices about how they travel independently; and introduced a new 90-minute fare to enable easy interchange between different types of public transport.

These fare initiatives are making a positive difference for citizens and have supported the quick recovery of the sector post Covid. At the height of the Covid restrictions, public transport passenger numbers fell to less than 10% of pre-pandemic levels, whereas I am pleased to say passenger demand is now well ahead of pre-pandemic levels. As of early December 2023, PSO services were averaging at 109% patronage Monday to Friday and at 154% at weekends versus the same day in late February and early March of 2022.

The NTA provides weekly updates to my Department on public transport passenger numbers on all modes and the authority has undertaken analysis regarding the impact of the various fare reductions on public transport passenger numbers. This analysis shows evidence of the immediate and short-term impacts of the 2022 fare reductions on passenger numbers when there was a significant increase in passenger demand.

There is also evidence public transport passenger numbers have recovered faster in the post-pandemic period compared with other countries and it is highly likely the lower fares contributed to that growth. All of this points to the positive impact of fare initiatives on our public transport system and the contribution of the initiatives to its overall recovery.

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