REARVIEW:WE'RE BEING told this election will be unlike any other as the usual micro-factors that influence voters have been obliterated by the economic crisis.
I wouldn’t be so presumptuous. When it comes down to ticking boxes, all politics is local, no matter what the pundits say. Promises to address the issues of potholes and rickety school buses could still sway the result.
With this in mind, I asked the five main parties what their three main transport priorities would be if elected to government.
Fianna Fáil sent its reply from the grandly-titled “research office”. It says its priorities would be completing the Metro North project in Dublin, finishing the Dart interconnector and making public transport more accessible.
Fine Gael would promote “ambitious and far-reaching transport policies that tackle issues such as electric car networks and fully-integrated transport services, while facilitating competition”. It would introduce competitive tendering for all bus routes, expand rural transport services and reprioritise capital funding to address the deterioration in non-national roads due to severe weather.
Labour said it would subject all planned transport infrastructure to cost-benefit analyses and prioritise projects that provide the best value for money and cut emissions. It would allocate a chunk of the road building budget to repair secondary roads. The taxi industry would also be reformed. The second-hand licences market would be ended and a nine-year rule for replacing cars deferred until next year.
The Green Party and Sinn Féin did not deign to reply to my request. One can only assume they have other priorities.