Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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114. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his plans to alleviate the delays and service cancellations affecting Dublin Bus services as a result of traffic congestion and the operation of the Luas cross city; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25410/18]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Following a period of reduced transport usage and suppressed transport growth during the economic recession, Ireland's transport activity and demand has been growing again and is expected to expand further in future years in line with forecast economic growth rates. This higher demand is evidenced in the NTA’s recent published Bus & Rail Statistics bulletin that shows a percentage growth of PSO passenger journeys in the Dublin Region at 21.1% and 23.4% for Dublin Bus and Luas respectively between 2013 and 2017. In 2017 alone Dublin Bus carried 136.26 million passenger journeys and Luas carried 37.65 million. While these figures are encouraging, they highlight why the major investment in public transport outlined in the recently published National Development Plan (NDP) 2018-2027 is needed to respond appropriately to this growth and to address the congestion problems of the Dublin region.

A number of key investment priorities across the Dublin region are set out in the NDP which will address congestion in Dublin and capacity constraints on the existing public transport network. These projects include investing in the existing road, rail and bus network, BusConnects, MetroLink and priority elements of the DART Expansion Programme.  Planning of the large projects is now underway and they are scheduled for delivery progressively over the life-time of the 10-year NDP.  Meanwhile, in the shorter term, various measures and schemes are being taken to ensure more efficient functioning of transport within Dublin city centre;  these involve the National Transport Authority (NTA) working with local authorities and agencies and public transport operators.

While the recently opened extension to the Luas Green Line is realising substantial benefits for customers and for Dublin, it has experienced a number of problems in its first few months of operations.  All parties have worked hard to overcome these problems including An Garda Síochána who have supported the smooth functioning of trams across key city centre junction by regularly patrolling it in peak periods.  I would also like to acknowledge the continual improvements Dublin City Council make to the signalised junctions on the shared-running sections of the Luas system and also on key bus routes in and out of the city. Such fine-tuning of the signals is an essential on-going support to the Bus and Luas system and traffic management in general.

In relation to bus services, the 2017 performance by Dublin Bus was very strong and the company provided the largest annual number of passenger journeys in 2017 at approximately 136 million. This represents an increase of over 10% on 2016 and also represents five straight years of passenger growth. Against this backdrop 140 new buses are being purchased in 2018 for the Dublin Bus fleet to replace older buses and cater for market growth and new routes. This will bring the total fleet up to almost 1100 buses, with a further expansion of the fleet expected in 2019 in advance of the roll-out of BusConnects. Passengers will also see service improvements coming from bus market opening with, as recently announced, October 2018 seeing the commencement of an increase of service capacity of about 35% across the 24 routes involved.

Looking to the medium term, the BusConnects Programme aims to transform the bus system in Dublin.  It will include: a full redesign of the bus network in order to provide a better and more efficient network for passengers; an expanded and modern fleet of vehicles;  new road infrastructure to facilitate bus priority and faster journeys for public transport users; improved passenger information and ticketing technology; and transition to a lower emission bus fleet.  The public will be fully informed by NTA about the BusConnects programme as it progresses and will have the opportunity to input at various stages to its development.  Over the coming weeks and months there will be number of informative stages.  Firstly, the NTA plans shortly to publish an information report about the 16 pathways that are emerging as the likely core bus corridors in and out of the city under the new investment Programme.  Secondly, the NTA will conduct a public consultation on redesign of Dublin's bus network, including proposals on a major redesign of routes, schedules and fare structures.  Thirdly, the NTA then plans to hold a public consultation on the emerging proposals for the 16 core bus corridors.

Passenger numbers on Luas also increased (up 10.5% in 2017), which represents 3.6 million more passenger journeys compared to 2016.  The Luas Cross City extension boosted numbers using the Green Line by around 24% in January 2018 compared to January 2017.  This shows that demand for Green Line services has grown significantly, now that it has been extended to Broombridge and provides interchange with the Red Line and greater connectivity to mainline and DART rail services. As such, passenger numbers are likely to continue to grow in 2018 and beyond.

Again looking to the future, a number of Luas related measured will be implemented to cater for this demand. A new timetable will be published in June to make best use of the new 55-metre trams that have been introduced with Luas Cross City and also a shuttle service between Heuston and Connolly. It is intended to add further additional Green Line Luas Capacity, by lengthening the 26 existing trams from 43m to 55m. The first extended tram will come online in late 2019, and the final by late 2021. Beyond that it is intended that a further 8 new 55m trams will be delivered and introduced into service.

All the planned investment in public transport, short, medium and long-term, combined will add greatly to the level of service available for the travelling public, connecting more people with more places, easing congestion and combatting climate change.