John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I had a concern prior to the Minister of State's answer and, in fairness, the answer has gone some way to explaining the decision. There seemed to be a lack of co-ordination in the NTA between the public transport section, which might be responsible for public transport infrastructural development, and the active travel section. That needs to be looked at in future projects. I recognise fully that the existing demand for bus priority measures would be east of the Clybaun Road but it is worth bearing in mind that the NTA is pursuing the development of a park-and-ride facility on the Cappagh Road.

I expect people to choose that option in the future as their preferred mode of transport for entering the city and that that will mean an increase in bus frequency between Cappagh and Clybaun Road. Perhaps we will have to look at the development of priority bus lanes along that stretch of the road. I welcome that there seems to be a commitment for it at a future point - I hope that is not long-fingered and that it will happen in the immediate future - to develop priority bus lanes between Clybaun Road and Bishop O'Donnell Road. At the moment there is heavy use of buses in that area. The 405 is one of the busiest bus routes in the city, with a frequency of every 20 minutes, and part of the reason it is not used by more people is that when it departs it immediately enters traffic, especially at peak times. If we can progress the development of bus lanes from Bishop O'Donnell Road to Clybaun Road at the earliest opportunity, we will see more patrons use the service.

One other thing that has to be borne in mind is that along the Western Distributor Road, at the retail centre, there is a proposal from the NTA for an interchange facility where bus routes will terminate and new services will begin. For that too, we need to make sure that these bus priority measures are in place to ensure the service works in a seamless manner.

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