Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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49. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to alleviate congestion in Dublin within the next four years, in view of the estimated annual cost of €350 million due to delays in traffic. [22109/17]

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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85. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the way in which he plans to manage the situation outlined in recent reports from his Department's economic and financial evaluation unit that the cost of traffic congestion in the greater Dublin area is €350 million annually and that this could rise to €2 billion a year within 15 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22123/17]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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My question is set in the context of the latest report, according to which the €350 million cost of traffic blockages in Dublin will increase to €2 billion unless we do something about the issue. I am keen to hear about the Minister's measures to reduce congestion. Everyone can see that, with the economy growing quickly, Dublin's traffic is like the Richter scale - when traffic volume increases by 5%, congestion increases by 20% or 30% as roads near their capacity limits, which is the case currently. What does the Minister intend to do about this?

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 49 and 85 together.

I recognise that there is considerable evidence emerging of increased travel demand across the Dublin region in particular, with growing traffic levels on many of its roads and streets. The welcome increase in employment has impacted on transport, not only through the beginning of a recovery in public transport numbers, but also through increased car usage and the re-emergence of peak period congestion.

In recognition of this growing body of evidence, my Department's economic and financial evaluation unit has undertaken a research project to estimate the cost of congestion in the greater Dublin area. As Deputy Ryan noted, the analysis estimates that the cost of time lost due to congestion in the area is €350 million per annum and is forecasted to rise to €2 billion per annum in 2033.

My Department has worked closely with the National Transport Authority, NTA, in recent months to develop an approach to tackling congestion in Dublin. Major road development is not the solution to our congestion issue. Our best option in the short-to-medium term is to focus on sustainable modes. This means increasing public transport usage supplemented by cycling and walking for shorter trips.

I am pleased to inform Members that the NTA will launch an important initiative at the end of May that will seek to transform the bus system in the Dublin region. The core elements of the initiative lie in the transformation of the bus system, but other elements, such as new cycling infrastructure, will help to improve mobility. I did not intend to give Deputy Eamon Ryan this information until he pressed me so hard earlier.

The NTA will progress the early stages of the initiative through public consultation on bus network design, engagement with local authorities concerning bus corridors and a major public consultation on proposals for individual corridors. The implementation of this significant initiative will serve to transition Dublin to a city with a modern, efficient and effective bus system that provides a world-class transport service. This work has been an important consideration in formulating my overall approach to tackling congestion in the short-to-medium term and forms a key part of the case for a step change in public transport investment as part of the mid-term review of the Government's capital plan.

In the time available, I will use the additional information that I have to elaborate further on the initiative. The proposal's aim is to overhaul the entire Dublin bus system and entails a suite of measures to transform the network of bus corridors with segregated cycling, a simpler fare structure, new bus branding, three bus rapid transit routes, a cashless payment system, new bus stops and shelters, a complete redesign of the bus network, a state-of-the-art ticketing system and the use of low-emission vehicles. The next step is the launch of the programme by the end of May, with public consultation on the bus network redesign to begin in early June, a subsequent engagement with local authorities and strategic transport committee chairpersons to agree an approach to consultation on individual bus corridors and a major public consultation later this year giving details of the proposals on the individual corridors, including the bus rapid transit routes. Key outcomes noted will be a transformation of the Dublin bus system, a fast and reliable bus service, journey times on many routes reducing by a third or more thanks to continued bus lanes, connecting more people to more places, a programme that delivers across the region, safe and largely segregated cycling facilities and providing Dublin with a world-class bus transport service.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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That initiative will be welcome. I agree that the main response to our traffic problem must be buses and cycling and pedestrian facilities in the first instance.

We have been talking about it for 20 years and I am slightly nervous that if we are just saying we are going into a consultation process, it is not real. For this to be real, there has to be a budget allocation in 2018. This has to be agreed over the summer as part of the budget process and it has to be substantial.

I mentioned earlier the projects that are ready to go, such as the Liffey cycle route, the Sutton-to-Sandycove bike route, the Dodder greenway, the Tolka greenway and the Santry greenway. These would all have a major effect in terms of making the city work, in addition to the bus measures the Minister mentioned. However, when we talk to local authority officials to see if these projects can be advanced, they say they do not have a single penny to do it. If this is to be real on both the bus and cycling front, yes, let us consult, but we have been doing that for 20 years. More than anything else, the Minister's seriousness or otherwise will depend on whether the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform allocates him the funding and whether he allocates within his own budget the funding for 2018 to make this real. Otherwise, there will be deep cynicism that we are just talking again as the gridlock gets ever worse.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy for his partly positive response. It might be sensible for him to sit back and look at this when it is presented at the end of May, and then make a judgment on it. However, it is a very serious proposal that will require an enormous amount of funding. For those who say we have no vision and no plans, here is a concrete and very constructive plan for relieving congestion in the Dublin region, which we in government acknowledge is a very serious problem. That is why the NTA has already made several presentations on this matter. My officials have seen the plans and they welcome them and believe they will make real progress in relieving congestion in the city, in moving people to efficient bus services and bus corridors, in improving cycling facilities and in being part of what has been the Government's policy and vision for a very long time.

As the Deputy said, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating but the first step is now. We will have a public consultation. However, that does not indicate some sort of lack of will. It means we will take from other people - I include the Deputy because I know his commitment to this - their suggestions and constructive proposals on the matter.

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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I am positive but I reiterate the key point that there is no point doing this consultation if it is not done at the same time that the Minister indicates the budget is there to deliver it. As I said, the problem lies at the heart of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, which historically, for many years, have had a flawed economic analysis that always favoured new roads over public transport and cycling infrastructure. If the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the Government are serious, let us do the consultation at the same time that we are doing the budget process - I am on the budgetary oversight committee, so I have oversight of this. There needs to be a radical and fundamental shift in the Department's budget allocation for 2018, and not any further into the future, because that is when we need to start making amends. If it does that, we will have a much more serious, productive and real public consultation system because everyone will know the Department is going to lead to real change, not just more of the same talk we have had over the past 20 years.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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It appears this is positive news but the devil will be in the detail and we are eager to see the detail of the Minister's proposals. This simply must not be about an announcement made to great fanfare and the Minister's aspirations must be backed up with the necessary resources. At present, transport in the capital city is in gridlock and it takes a huge amount of time for people to make very short journeys, which is having a negative impact on people's personal and family lives and on their mental well-being. It has to be said that the Minister's actions in the past 12 months would not lead us to say he will take on board the views of stakeholders. When will the Minister inform the House of the plans in detail?

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I anticipate that the launch of this project will happen before the end of the month and I am quite happy to have a debate in the House, to answer questions or to go to the joint committee on this issue, perhaps with the NTA. Anything that is necessary in order to inform people of this, I will do it. However, I do not think it would be helpful if we started suggesting the record of the Government in the last year has been this, that and the other. Let us look positively at this. Let us look at it with a very objective view. People talk about a lack of vision and have been critical about that, perhaps rightly so. However, this is part of a vision which I think we all share, which is to get people out of their cars and into buses, to get bus corridors working, to consequently reduce emissions and to resolve traffic congestion. That is what we are looking to do and, while this is only part of it, buses will be a major aspect. This will involve more investment in buses and in public transport, although that does not mean less investment in roads. That is the commitment we are making.