Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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190. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the cost per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions abated by measures to encourage a modal shift to cycling and walking; the source of this estimate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2361/18]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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191. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the cost per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions abated by measures to encourage a modal shift to public transport; the source of this estimate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2362/18]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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192. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the cost per tonne of greenhouse gas emissions abated by measures to reduce the speed of motor vehicles; the source of this estimate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2363/18]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 190 to 192, inclusive, together.

Central to the development of the National Mitigation Plan (NMP)was the robust economic evaluation of key emission mitigation measures. A Marginal Abatement Cost Curve approach (MACC) was used to compare ‘business-as-usual’ economic activity to ‘low carbon’ options. The MACC tool was developed by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). An estimated marginal cost per tonne of carbon abated was attributed to certain mitigation measures. This technique allows for comparative analysis of ‘low carbon’ alternatives across the key sectors in the NMP. An overview of costs and emission reduction potential of sector specific mitigation measures can be found in the NMP ().

The Strategic Research and Analysis Division within my own Department employed the MACC tool to help model the economic and environmental impact of reducing speed limits on motorways from 120km/h to 110km/h for cars/vans and from 90km/h to 80km/h for heavy duty vehicles. They estimated that such a measure would be associated with a marginal cost of €573 per tonne of carbon abated. Reducing speed limits lessens energy use; it is estimated that this measure could potentially reduce CO₂emissions by about 1.9Mt CO₂between 2017 and 2030. The introduction of this measure would require extensive consideration of economic impact, traffic flows, implications of traffic transfer on to secondary networks, enforcement requirements, and potential modifications to the design of existing motorway infrastructure.

The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the cost per tonne of carbon abated through measures that encourage modal shift to either public transport or active travel modes is not currently available in the format sought. Limitations in ascertaining robust baseline data and selecting representative modal shift scenarios hinder meaningful analysis; however, further work on modelling scenarios will continue over the lifetime of the NMP, and in the future it may be possible to do similar technical modelling work on these options.

In the meantime, modal shift towards public and sustainable transport continues to be usefully measured using other tools such as the National Travel Survey and the Canal Cordon Report. Findings from these sources show that in Dublin alone, over 67% of all journeys in to the city centre are now made through sustainable means (walking, cycling, public transport) - a dramatic increase from 59% of journeys in 2010; while cycling and walking have grown greatly in popularity increasing by over 16% and nearly 9% respectively between 2014 and 2016. Nationally public transport accounts for 5.5% of all journeys taken, with the number of passengers using public transport increasing to 251 million in 2017 - a 7% increase since 2016. Promoting modal shift away from the private car results in fewer CO₂emissions as well as a reduction in vehicle volume and so is an integral measure in decarbonising the Transport sector.