James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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61. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to deal with the increasing travel demand across the Dublin region in general; the position regarding the implementation of the Leinster outer orbital ring road; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30198/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​I fully recognise that there is considerable evidence emerging of increased travel demand across the Dublin Region in general.

Insofar as congestion issues in Dublin are concerned, the National Transport Authority's (NTA) Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Areaprovides the overarching framework for the planning and delivery of transport infrastructure and services over the next two decades. Addressing urban congestion on both the strategic road network and locally in certain locations is an important theme in the Strategy. The measures proposed are linked to an analysis of current and projected levels of travel demand across the region.

The Strategy does not include the implementation of the Leinster Outer Orbital during its lifetime. Large scale projects proposed in the Strategy include the DART Expansion Programme, New Metro North, and various other light rail projects.  While funding is provided in the Capital Plan to commence construction of new Metro North and to progress electrification of the Northern line to Balbriggan, these projects will not be delivered in the short to medium term.  Therefore, the most realistic option to meaningfully tackle congestion in the short to medium term is to radically improve the bus system to deliver a step change in performance across the GDA and to complement that improved public transport system with a network of park and ride sites.

In this connection, the NTA launched BusConnects last month. BusConnects involves a suite of measures to transform Dublin's Bus System including the development of a network of "next generation" bus corridors with segregated cycling, a complete redesign of bus network, development of three bus rapid transit routes, simpler fare structure, and a cashless payment system. This initiative is currently at public consultation stage and I look forward to it being progressed.

I must also highlight that already planned projects for the period 2015-2018 which include Luas Cross City, the Phoenix Park Tunnel, additional bus fleet and bus lane infrastructure, small scale interventions on the M50 and numerous other measures will go some way to addressing growing travel demand. However, we must look to a greatly strengthened bus system as the basis for tackling congestion. This requires a step-change in funding and I have made a strong case for increased public transport investment as part of the Mid-Term Review of the Government's Capital Plan.