John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and hope he is winding down from the celebrations of the past week. However, knowing Donegal people, I think the celebrations will continue for months.

The aim of smarter travel is to get us to think about how we travel and our travel choices. It is about considering how our travel decisions impact on ourselves and others. We all know that walking and cycling are better for our health than driving and using public transport. It reduces congestion on the roads and is better for the environment. We need to use this knowledge to inform our choices. Do we need to drive to the local shop to pick up the newspaper? Do we need to drive to work or could we cycle? If we have to drive the children to school, could we share a car with other parents? If we need to go the airport, could we use the bus? As the Minister of State said, between workers and students, approximately 400,000 people travel less than 4 km per day to either school, college or work. These are distances that can be reached by walking for 20 minutes or cycling for six or seven minutes. If these commuters shifted to walking or cycling, urban traffic congestion could be a thing of the past, the economy could reap the benefits from improved efficiency in goods movement, lower overheads for everyone due to time savings and provide a welcome extra boost for competitiveness. The Dublin bike hire scheme has been a major success, albeit I almost knocked a cyclist yesterday. However, the scheme needs to be rolled out to many towns and cities throughout the country.

Smarter travel is a transport policy for Ireland that sets out how the vision of sustainable travel and transport system can be achieved. For example, the greenway from Westport to Achill island has been a huge success and is being used by thousands of people every year. It has been a tourism boost to west Mayo. As there is evidence of more people taking up walking and cycling there is a need for more investment in cycle lanes. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Alan Kelly, for the investment in cycle lanes in counties Roscommon and Leitrim. It is encouraging that the scheme is growing and I hope it continues to grow. I compliment the Minister of State on his innovation in the area.