Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

494. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the capital and current funds made available for walking and cycling investment in each of the past five years; the amount of funding he plans to make available in 2018, 2019 and 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27966/18]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy may be aware, investment in cycling infrastructure over the period in question was delivered under a number of different programmes and schemes, namely the Smarter Travel Programme, Sustainable Transport Measures Grants (STMG) Programme and the Regional Cities Programme.

Projects funded under the Smarter Travel Programme, funded directly by the Department, involved integrated initiatives across a number of aspects of active/smarter travel and incorporated measures such as investment in cycle lanes, bike parking, footpaths, traffic calming measures, shared streets and other interventions that encourage and support modal shift to walking and cycling.

In addition since 2010 my Department has also provided funding to the National Transport Authority (NTA)  under the Sustainable Transport Measures Grants (STMG) Programme and the Regional Cities Programme to implement sustainable transport projects, including providing cycling infrastructure, in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) and the regional cities of Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.

Given the overarching scope of these programmes, it is not possible to isolate the specific funding allocation to cycling infrastructure over the preceding 5 years.

Looking forward, I was delighted to secure over €110m in capital funding which will be directly allocated to develop cycling and walking infrastructure in the Greater Dublin Area, Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford over the period 2018-2021, which represents a threefold increase in funding on 2018 over the four year period. This programme will provide active travel routes to help alleviate congestion by providing viable alternatives and connectivity with existing public transport infrastructure. Allocation of funding and details of individual projects are managed by the National Transport Authority in conjunction with the relevant local authorities.

A further €135m capital funding is allocated over this same period for investment in Sustainable Urban Transport projects, and these will include projects that will provide either direct or indirect improvements for urban cycling.  This programme builds on investment to date to deliver improvements in public and sustainable transport infrastructure in the regional cities and the Greater Dublin Area.  It includes traffic management, bus priority and other smarter travel projects, which will allow transport infrastructure to function more effectively and will help relieve traffic congestion.  Allocation of funding and details of individual projects are also managed by the National Transport Authority in conjunction with the relevant local authorities.

As the Deputy is aware, a further transformative initiative to support the modal shift to cycling will be delivered under the BusConnects programme, a plan to fundamentally transform Dublin's bus system. It is calculated to either build or improve over 200km of cycle tracks/lanes, alongside bus routes on the key radial routes into the city centre. This will provide safer cycling arrangements, largely segregated from other traffic along those corridors.  This initiative is the foundation of the overall cycle network that has been planned for the Greater Dublin Area.