The root of Ireland’s woefully inadequate public transport system is simple: we voted for it. More precisely, we voted for today’s transport system 10 years ago.
Ten years ago, the Irish economy was still on its knees after the financial crash. Metro North and the Lucan Luas line had both been stopped. In 2016, the new Fine Gael-led government shelved the Dart underground project. Work on BusConnects began, but it took four years to launch the first route. It wasn’t until 2018 that work began on Dart+, with improved services now due in 2026. Long lead-in times, a lack of sustained policy commitment, and start-stop approaches to big projects all contributed to where we are now. Even the acquisition of buses and the recruitment of drivers takes years. So why should we be surprised at the state we are in – overcrowded buses and trains, ghost buses, inadequate services to many areas?
The Covid lockdowns were a glimpse into a more humane world of work, one that gave us a taste for remote working and pop-up cycle lanes. Yet, in 2021, when there was an opportunity to make remote working a family-friendly and part of low-carbon policy, then-tánaiste and minister for enterprise Leo Varadkar introduced the right for employees to request remote work, but no obligation on employers to grant it. People started to go back to the office, and the traffic jams returned.
[ Public consultation opened on right to request remote workingOpens in new window ]
Given what is at stake, it is infuriating that we still cannot manage to have a sensible discourse on transport policy, and that we seem to be able to talk about it only from the point of view of the motorist trapped on the M50 or the N7. Congestion and delays are real costs to the economy but there is also the impact on the environment and human health, and the lock-in effect of poorly designed solutions.
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Where are the drivers clamouring for light rail, improved bus and rail services or transport-oriented land-use planning? Often the public debate is dominated by those have no intention of giving up their cars, even if you put a Luas line right outside their front door. We rarely hear the voices of children who would – almost universally when surveyed – love to walk or cycle to school. We don’t hear enough of the voices of women who are afraid to use public transport at night, or who rightly fear for their safety while riding a bike.
We do hear from commuters under pressure – who must navigate ghost buses, awkward timetables, buggies and small children – but their needs always seem secondary to the rights of private motorists. Mobility is about getting from A to B and no one person’s journey (besides emergency vehicles) should be more important than anyone else’s.
When transport planners work on the assumption that the car is the default way of getting around, the physical environment is reshaped by traffic management systems and road designs that give cars priority in terms of speed, road space and parking. Inevitably, this leads to friction between road users. With limited road space, there are only traffic management and road space reallocation options available to address the congestion crisis in the short term. That means we should immediately introduce more bus lanes, segregated cycle lanes and measures to nudge as many motorists as is feasible and fair out of their cars. Even a reduction of 20 per cent, as we saw during Covid, would be transformative.
Voters rarely raise public transport services with politicians, and most politicians outside of Dublin seem to equate transport policy with roads policy.
How different would our public transport system be if politicians were reliant on it? Every elected representative should be given a six-month all-you-can-eat public transport and bike-share card and invited to familiarise themselves with the daily reality for public transport users, parents with buggies and small children, disabled people and those who do not, or choose not, to drive.
For the rest of us, by far the most effective way to influence public transport investment is to start demanding it. Support the Irish Cycling Campaign, Irishcycle.com or the Dublin Commuter Coalition. Any member of my family who complains about their commute is getting a subscription to one of these for Christmas.
Sadhbh O’Neill is a climate and environmental researcher. She is a member of the board of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) but is writing in a personal capacity. Her opinions do not reflect the opinions of the board or the executive of TII.
