Green Party councillor opposes free bus travel in Cork City
Motion Ted Transport To Instruct' Ryan Minister The Workers' Authority City Party The Bus On A To Fares On Eamon National Urging From Transport Council Picture: Abolish In 'to Services Larry Cummins Councillor Councillors The Call Tynan Supported
A senior Green Party figure has cautioned against abolishing bus fares in Cork City as part of a trial project.
Veteran councillor Dan Boyle insisted the Government’s current approach of lowering fares and targeting reductions at certain groups is the right approach until the right infrastructure is in place.
“Unless we have the infrastructure in place, unless we have the capacity, in terms of hiring enough people to staff our public transport system, we could be paying people to use the public transport system and it's not going to improve the overall service," he said.
He was speaking after several councillors supported a motion from Workers' Party councillor Ted Tynan urging the council to call on Transport Minister Eamon Ryan “to instruct” the National Transport Authority to abolish fares on bus services in the city.
“This initiative would encourage more commuters to move from cars to the bus service, as has happened in other countries where fares have been abolished. In doing so it would reduce the level of CO2 emissions in the city and alleviate traffic congestion,” Mr Tynan said.
He pointed to the success of free bus schemes in Dunkirk and Brussels, and said it was being proposed in Washington DC, “the cradle of capitalism”, and Cork City could be a pioneer in Ireland in this area.
He was backed by Fine Gael councillor Shane O’Callaghan, who said “there is a lot of stick and not enough carrot” in terms of transport policy, and by his party colleague Damian Boylan, who described Mr Tynan’s idea as “a great carrot”.
But Mr Boyle said existing Government policy offered plenty of "carrots".
“Public transport fares have been significantly decreased over the last two years, led by a Green Party minister in Government,” he said.
“The fact is we are experiencing problems of success as a result of that policy.
“We could have free transport in the morning and our buses would still be stuck in gridlock traffic."
Citing the then finance minister Charles Haughey’s decision to introduce free travel for over 66s, Mr Boyle said: “That’s how you introduce the policy. You target the groups who need it most, the age cohorts, the economic groups. We are going on the right road and I am convinced that we will do it.”
He also said it underlined the need for the value of BusConnects to be explained to people to ensure that bus transport is the transport system of choice for people.
His party colleague Oliver Moran supported Mr Tynan’s motion but said it was not “a silver bullet”.
“Unless workers can arrive at work on time, if someone is going to a hospital appointment, to school or college, it doesn’t matter what price the bus fare is, if it doesn’t get them there on time," he said.
“Price isn’t the major barrier. It’s the reliability and frequency of service, and that's going to take a stick approach," he said.