PLANNING AND development in the Greater Dublin Area will in future have to demonstrate "consistency" with a strategy to be prepared by the incoming Dublin Transport Authority, it was announced yesterday.
Launching the Government's long-awaited Bill for the Dublin Transport Authority (DTA) yesterday, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said the new authority would have oversight of local and county development plans, as well as the work of transport providers such as CIÉ and the Railway Procurement Agency.
The move has already been welcomed by the Irish Planning Institute which called for such land use and transportation regulations to be extended to all regional hubs and gateways.
Under the terms of the Bill, the authority will also be the funding body for new infrastructure such as Metro North and the new Luas lines and will assume responsibility for integrated ticketing, creating a single "transport brand" across the four counties of Dublin, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow.
The Dublin Transport Authority will also oversee the development of "Underground Dart", between Heuston Station and the Docklands. Also included in its remit is the co-ordination of traffic management across the seven local authorities in the region, and the development of new transport infrastructure, including potential new roads and new rail links.
The new authority will also be responsible for setting public transport fares in the region.
Mr Dempsey is also considering a late amendment to the Bill to include the Commission for Taxi Regulation in the new authority.
However, the new authority will not be "some monolith", according to the Minister, who said local authorities and transport companies would still be responsible for day-to-day operations. While the authority will be involved in land use planning "from the earliest possible stage", such plans will continue to be made by local authorities. The ministers for the environment or for transport will have powers to ensure the development plans are "consistent" with DTA strategy.
The Dublin Transport Authority will also leave the day-to-day running of transport companies to the operators but the operators must comply with the requirements of a 12 to 20-year strategy and a six-year implementation programme prepared by the DTA.
In the case of infrastructure projects, the authority will have "step in" powers where it believes this would be beneficial.
The authority will be reporting to the Minister for Transport and Oireachtas committees. Its strategy and implementation plans are to be subject to ministerial approval.
Commenting on the timescale for the plans yesterday, Mr Dempsey said he had been assured by Fine Gael that the Opposition would treat the passage of the Bill as important and urgent. Mr Dempsey said he hoped to introduce the legislation to the Dáil this summer and was planning for the authority to be set up on a statutory basis on January 1st, 2009.
However Fine Gael transport spokesman Fergus O'Dowd said delays with the Bill meant it would already be too late to co-ordinate planning for the planned new rail lines for Dublin.
