Why not more buses to more places at a fraction of the cost?
The obvious answer is more buses and bus corridors.
While Transport Minister Martin Cullen dangles the prospect of large scale increases in bus capacity over the next ten years, all he is offering immediately is 20 new vehicles for Dublin, when what we need is another 150.
To put this in context, what this allocation represents is roughly one half day's apportionment of the overall investment plan, which is calculated at €9.4 million.
There is nothing at all on offer in the plan for Bus Éireann which, unlike its private competitors, is providing an integrated public transport service outside of Dublin on a shoestring and is being starved of the necessary vehicles.
If Mr Cullen had consulted adequately with transport workers they could have told him that buses are the cheapest, quickest, most cost effective and flexible solution to our problems.
This would not rule out other, more ambitious or expensive options.
But if we had a comprehensive network of bus corridors and the vehicles to use them in our cities, as well as an adequate supply of buses outside Dublin, we could immediately experience a tangible improvement in services at a fraction of the overall investment cost to complement welcome projects in sectors such as Irish Rail and roads.
Michael Halpenny
National Industrial Secretary
SIPTU
Liberty Hall
Dublin 1.
