Eamon Ryan: Free public transport would 'increase level of unnecessary trips'

People Before Profit’s Bríd Smith said: "The bulk of journeys undertaken by older people at present under the current free travel scheme would probably be labelled ‘unnecessary’ by the same research."

Eamon Ryan cited unspecified research to support the claim that making fares free would increase the level of unnecessary trips. File picture Colin Keegan, Collins Dublin

Any increase in passenger numbers if public transport was made free “would largely be achieved by reductions in active travel and an increased level of unnecessary trips”, according to the Minister for Transport.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan, responding to a parliamentary question from People Before Profit’s Bríd Smith, said that an additional €540m in Exchequer funding would be required “at a minimum” annually and that free fares “would not substantially boost the sustainability of the transport system”.