Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to come before the Seanad today to set out the Government's commitment to smarter travel and sustainable transport and to reinforce that the choices we make regarding travel are the responsibility of all of us. It is vital that we all recognise and appreciate the value of smarter travel and a sustainable transport environment and the need for all of us, commuters, Senators, Deputies, Ministers and everyone else, to be active contributors to it.

As Minster of State with responsibility for public and commuter transport I am responsible for the Government's smarter travel agenda, under which we principally aim to reduce reliance on the private car by increasing use of public transport, walking and cycling.

I am glad of this opportunity to briefly explain the thinking behind the Government's smarter travel policy and to set out what we hope to achieve, working with our partners in local authorities, agencies and other Departments. The vision and targets for smarter travel are undoubtedly ambitious. By 2020, we would like to see mode share for car commuting drop from 65% to 45%. Smarter travel also contains a commitment to create a culture of cycling in Ireland. This commitment was cemented with the preparation of Ireland's first national cycle policy framework which aims to ensure that by 2020, 10% of trips to work are made by bicycle.

Working towards these key targets, the Government is committed to ongoing support of smarter travel and this year agreed a five-year multi-annual budget of ¤65 million for sustainable transport. There are a myriad of reasons to support the smarter travel agenda. Reducing car use will reduce our emission levels to help us to meet our international obligations and will also reduce our energy dependence. From the point of view of Ireland being a good place to do business, a less congested road network improves the movement of goods and people and means towns are not blocked with traffic, making them more attractive places to live and do business. Increased cycling and walking increases the health and fitness levels of the population and makes for safer streets and more liveable communities. We all know that walking and cycling are better for our health than driving and that using public transport cuts congestion and is better for the environment.

However, between workers and students, around 400,000 people travel 4 km or less to work, school or college by car every day - distances that are amenable to cycling or walking. Even if just these commuters shifted to walking or cycling, urban traffic congestion would be a thing of the past. Our economy would reap benefits from improved efficiency in movement of goods, it would mean lower overheads for everyone due to time savings, and it would provide a welcome extra boost foe competitiveness. Many Senators are from outside Dublin and I ask them to consider cycling when making journeys in the city during the week. I have challenged Senators on that before and would like to see progress on it. Senators can use Dublinbikes, which has been a phenomenal success.

Smarter travel is the transport policy for Ireland that sets out how the vision of a sustainable travel and transport system can be achieved. The smarter travel programme does not just set out a vision for better travel choices but also provides funding for information and improved facilities for cyclists, walkers and public transport users to make it easier for us to make the right choices. My Department is delivering many of the actions set out in the strategy, which aims to have over 200,000 additional people walking and cycling to work by 2020 through a number of programmes aimed at delivering significant modal shift. The national cycle network, active travel towns and smarter travel areas are just some of the programmes being delivered by my Department to support sustainable travel.

With regard to the active travel modes, since I have taken office, my Department has allocated over ¤10 million to local authorities for cycling infrastructure, such as cycle lanes, bike parking and cycle greenways. Projects that have been completed include the Grand Canal cycle way in Dublin, the extension of the great western greenway to form a continuous off-road route from Achill to Westport and a range of smaller scale projects, including new cycle lanes in towns around the country.

Developing a national cycle network is one of the objectives outlined in the national cycle policy framework. In line with the Government's commitment to support the cycle policy, I have placed significant importance on developing cycle routes that will act both as local transport infrastructure and as recreational and tourism facilities. I launched a national cycle network funding scheme in March of this year. There was real enthusiasm from local authorities about the funding scheme, and a total of 51 projects were submitted for consideration. In June it was announced that a total of ¤7 million will be invested in 18 of these projects between now and the end of 2014. To give some examples of the type of projects being supported, Westmeath is to be funded to develop 13 km of route along the Royal Canal, extending the existing route. Routes are being developed along former national roads in Roscommon and Offaly, making good use of road infrastructure bypassed by motorway. In Louth a new 6 km greenway is to be developed along an abandoned rail line near Carlingford and in Meath the council is being supported to develop the first phase of a route along the Boyne Valley. It is an exciting project. Each project has the potential to contribute greatly to the economic development of the areas where they are being developed. I am hopeful the ¤7 million investment will yield significant benefits and, as with the success of the great western greenway, lead to continued investment in such routes.

Another key programme under the smarter travel initiative is active travel towns. Active travel towns is a multi-annual programme that will provide funding for small and medium-sized towns in Ireland to develop walking and cycling infrastructure and behavioural change measures to encourage their use. I have announced investment of ¤5 million in these projects between now and the end of 2013. We have moved away from focussing just on individual projects and more on comprehensive and complete integrated strategies in towns.

Securing our national cycle policy target of 10% of all trips to be made by bike by 2020 will require a focus to be placed on population and employment centres where safe, convenient alternatives are available particularly in undertaking short journeys. The principal objective of active travel towns is to achieve a modal shift from the car to either walking or cycling in a short time.

I announced the launch of three smarter travel areas - Limerick, Dungarvan and Westport - in February, following a national competition run by my Department. These three areas produced excellent proposals for delivering a transformation in sustainable travel, involving schools, businesses, communities and wider stakeholders. The smarter travel area programme will run for five years and is a real opportunity both to demonstrate nationally the benefits of investment in sustainable travel and for local authorities to learn what works best in Irish smarter travel.

The smarter travel areas include a range of measures to encourage people to travel more sustainably, including provision of high-quality facilities for walkers and cyclists, encouraging car sharing and e-working, promoting school and work travel plans, and promoting the individual and community level benefits of smarter travel. My Department remains committed to exploring a range of mechanisms to secure public bikes schemes in other cities, building on the success of the Dublinbikes scheme. It is one of the most successful in the world. We are currently developing, along with the National Transport Authority, a procedure for expressions of interest in scheme sponsorship to further the process of engagement with potential private sector funding. I have also tasked the National Transport Authority with progressing the extension of the current Dublinbikes scheme. The scheme is among the most successful in the world, with the most bike usage of any city.

In the current economic climate, we are unlikely to be able to build any shiny new towns but we can do much to improve the quality of life in existing communities through sensitive development of transport infrastructure, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists. The funding allocated by the Government to smarter travel will do much to improve our infrastructure but a major challenge will continue to be persuading people to use these facilities. To that end, my Department funds, and in some cases runs, a number of schemes to promote and encourage smarter travel, including the successful annual bike week to encourage more people to take up cycling, the travel flag of the green schools programme, which is proving successful in securing behavioural change - often to walking and cycling - on the school run, and smarter travel workplaces, which helps employers to work with their employees to bring a smarter travel focus to workplace commuting.

Other areas outside the smarter travel brief but which nonetheless contribute to enhancing public transport and the smarter travel agenda include initiatives such as the Leap card and the student Leap card, which was launched in the past two weeks, the real time passenger information signs for bus journeys, the national journey planner and investment in public transport wifi. These are all highly successful initiatives undertaken by the Government to enhance the attractiveness of public transport. Major progress has been made in using technology to promote public transport. The agenda will be followed thoroughly in my portfolio.

I am pleased to announce the Leap card is growing all the time. With over 145,000 cards sold and 1.2 million journeys being taken per month using the Leap card, I am satisfied with its progress. It is a major success and will be developed further in the coming months with other products and services. Over 450 real time passenger information signs, giving people access to live bus information, have now been installed in Dublin. There are 45 in Cork city and it is proving so popular that an additional 150 will be installed in the greater Dublin area and 50 in Galway, Limerick and Waterford. I look forward to further investments in wifi and the national journey planner, a one-stop information source for all public transport users. I encourage Senators to use the information to get around Dublin and beyond and to promote the national journey planner. It is great technology and everyone should be aware of it and use it.

I have given Members an overview of the importance of the smarter travel programme and how we are setting about working towards making Ireland's transport and travel more sustainable. I look forward to hearing Members' views on it and I welcome their contributions.