Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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76. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the way in which emerging technologies and data analytics are being utilised to optimise service scheduling and fleet management in the context of a growing population. [67399/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure, including the development of related technology systems.

The NTA awarded a contract to implement and support a National Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) system for all Public Service Obligation (PSO) buses to Trapeze in December 2023. The upgrade will improve the quality of bus service operations and the timeliness and the quality of real time bus service information.

This will enable to the NTA to consolidate several existing bus AVL systems into one central system to be used by all PSO bus operators in Ireland and has expansion capacity to meet the growing demand for public transport in Ireland. The migration to this upgraded system is expected to take place across the coming years.

Noting the NTA's responsibility in the matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the NTA for a direct reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 days.