NTA set to spend €16m on consultants over next four years

The Cork BusConnects programme is among the  NTA's transport plans. Picture: Denis Minihane

The National Transport Authority (NTA) is set to spend €16m on consultants to advise on everything from fare structures to climate action plans over the next four years.

The body, which is responsible for the procurement of public transport services around the State, has said it wants to enlist the consultants for a range of services which also include developing business cases to support public and sustainable transport models, and research how transport is provided in other jurisdictions.

It comes as the NTA continues to expand public transport services around the country with multi-billion euro investments, including the recently announced phase of the transformation of the Cork Area Commuter Rail Network which is being funded by the statutory body.

Further transport plans include the Cork BusConnects programme and similar initiatives in Dublin, Limerick and Galway. The bus network redesign rollout is well advanced in the Dublin area, with five phases already implemented.

As well as public transport, the NTA also licences taxis and hackneys, has responsible for vehicle clamping regulation in the State and rolls out active travel programmes.

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The body said that, arising from its broad remit, it was enlisting the multi-million euro advice on a range of topics over the coming years.

This will see reviews of transport operators’ costs and operations, as well as economic and commercial analysis of fares and fare structures. Under discounted fares introduced on the Leap card, passengers can travel across Dublin for a flat fee of €2 for 90 minutes across bus, Luas and rail.

The consultants may also be tasked with analysing transport competition issues and State Aid issues associated with public transport investment.

It said: “[We also require] development of climate actions plans and related strategies for transport projects and programmes [and] analysis of and advice on climate strategies and sustainability with regard to the provision of public/sustainable transport services.” 

The contractor must also develop business cases and plans for specific public or sustainable transport proposals, and review business cases developed by other parties, the NTA said.

The NTA added that it envisages the contract with these consultants to run for an initial three-year period, with the option to extend it by a further 12 months.

In Cork, the recent announcement of the rail network expansion was hailed as potentially being as transformational for Cork as the Dart was in Dublin.

It will include new stations at eight locations, a new fleet maintenance depot and the upgrade of nine existing commuter stations. The network capacity is envisaged as having trains up to every 10 minutes on all three commuter lines of Cork to Cobh, Midleton, and Mallow.

“It’s a really significant step change from where we are today, operating a 30-minute service on those routes, to a 10-minute service frequency in the future,” Irish Rail’s AJ Cronin said.

Previously, the NTA spent almost €2.5m on public consultation for its €600m BusConnects Cork project. It could be early next year before the final designs for its network of 11 strategic transport corridors are ready for submission to An Bord Pleanála.