Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I thank all the speakers for their kind words of welcome. I welcome the opportunity to update Senators on the issues of smarter travel in general and public transport in particular, to outline for the Members how both these areas form a core part of this Government's transport policy and to explain our objectives. I also hope to address some of the points made in the contributions and shall also take the opportunity to outline what is happening in the related planning area of my particular brief.

Smarter travel is a new way of thinking about travel and transport in Ireland and public transport is a key element of that. In neither area can change be delivered overnight, but progress is none the less steady and apparent. I shall speak first on the smarter travel policy and then follow up on the particular issues raised by Senators in regard to public transport and Dublin Bus.

As Members will be aware, the smarter travel policy, A Sustainable Transport Future, was launched early last year as the Government's new transport policy up to 2020. Its aim is to set the overall vision for sustainable transport and a framework for action by the main players. That vision focuses on changing the way we think about and make policy for mobility, travel and transport matters. It encompasses the entire concept of people and goods moving from one place to another by walking, cycling, public transport, car journeys and movement of freight. It also concerns culture and behavioural change - where we live, how and why we travel, and choosing sustainable options. It puts transport within the sustainable agenda on issues such as reducing congestion and emissions, improving air quality, enhanced competitiveness, health benefits, and overall quality of life. It seeks to deliver a more rational and healthy, more environmentally friendly, more competitive and more quality focused society. This means thinking about mobility rather than transport and involves changing how we plan transport. It means more walking, cycling and use of public transport, a decrease in car modal share from 65% to 45%, reducing the need to travel, and promoting eco-driving and the sustainability of the road transport fleet, for example, cars and freight.

As a nation, we have become dependent - in some respects over-dependent - on the private car to meet our transport and travel needs. We are becoming increasing choked by cars on our urban roads. If trends continue, average speeds in urban areas in morning peak hour in Dublin will have dropped from 13 km/h to 8 km/h by 2016. The smarter travel message is not about banishing the car but, among other issues, involves considering what we use cars for, what is necessary, what can be replaced, and how we might develop a blueprint for a much better travel and transport system for Ireland in the future. Cars will continue to play a key role in transport in the future, but that role will be different.

Senator Coffey quoted the TomTom travel survey. I suspect the travel information for the survey came from TomTom GPS devices installed in private cars. However, I am more interested in improving quality and travel times for everyone, not just those who use a private car. If we were to use travel times for those who use slower modes such as walking and cycling, as well as those for who use public transport, we might get a slightly different figure. The smarter travel initiative is about improving transport choices for all, not just those who travel by private car.

There are alternatives. Bus services have seen significant investment in recent years. We have also invested heavily in excellent commuter rail services and Luas. Within the past six months on the DART network off-peak travel frequencies of 15 minutes have been introduced. I remember the days a year and a half ago when a person could arrive at a DART station and see a sign indicating the next DART was due in 23 minutes. Trains now arrive every 15 minutes off-peak, which is a significant step forward that puts the DART in the same league as Luas. One brilliant aspect of Luas is that the service is well used off-peak because the level of frequency is high, at less than one every ten minutes. There is no timetable because the trams travel so frequently. I want to see this replicated around the city.

We can consider the smarter travel initiative one year on. It is a long-term policy, but we are already seeing positive results. In the first phase the focus of the policy is on a number of key issues, including progressing cycling and walking policies; starting demonstration projects; progressing schemes for school and workplace mobility; developing guidelines for both transport and spatial planning; commencing the transformation of bus services; researching appropriate fiscal measures to promote sustainable travel; and setting up new institutional arrangements and making legal changes. More detailed information is available on the Department's smarter travel website, www.smartertravel.ie. Overall, seven of the 49 actions listed have been delivered and there has been progress on a majority of the others, with sound progress being made on 33.

The Department recognises that changing culture and behaviour is the key to embedding an ambitious and challenging sustainable transport and travel agenda. This is not a simple task, but our focus has been on supporting a range of pilot and demonstration projects to show people what works and on developing a cycling and walking culture, particularly in schools but also among commuters and leisure users. We work with partners such as the local authorities, Departments and agencies and other groups.

I will outline for Members some of the main areas in which progress is to be made in the first year. I might stand up in outlining them, as I understand the protocol is that I should stand when speaking.