The appointment of a single minister for transport, competitive tendering of Dublin Bus routes and a transport authority for Dublin are the main proposals in Fine Gael's new transport policy, which was unveiled yesterday.
Mr Ivan Yates, the party's spokesman on public enterprise, pointed out that three ministers currently have responsibility for traffic management. He argued that transport would get greater priority if a single minister was made accountable.
In its policy document, "Getting Dublin Moving", Fine Gael has proposed setting up a Dublin Area Transport Authority, which would take responsibility for all aspects of transport in the city, including Operation Freeflow and park-and-ride facilities.
The party has also called for the competitive tendering of 20 per cent of the 100 core routes operated by Dublin Bus over five years. Mr Yates and Ms Olivia Mitchell TD, the party's spokeswoman on Dublin traffic, cited Copenhagen as an example of good traffic management.
Mr Yates said the Danish government had set up a special agency in 1989 to manage all aspects of traffic control. This agency had tendered out 45 per cent of bus services in the Copenhagen region. The process had been completed ahead of schedule and now all bus routes were open to bids from public, private or foreign operators. Passenger numbers were up, fares had fallen and industrial disputes were rare.
Criticising the current response to traffic congestion, Mr Yates said the Government's attempts to solve the problem over close to three years had been an "utter failure".
He claimed that an additional 1,000 new cars a week were being registered in Dublin, peak-hour speed was set to slow to eight kilometres an hour by 2016 and the demand for public transport was expected to double. The Government's current strategy was vague, confused and unworkable, he said.
Asked how Fine Gael had tackled the problem when it was in office, Mr Yates pointed to the Rainbow government's proposals for an EU-supported LUAS project. "But the Government decided to scrap that, and now they are scrapping what they had suggested in its place," he said.
Ms Mitchell said that if LUAS had gone ahead as Fine Gael had originally planned the first line would be opening this year.
The party's deputy leader, Mrs Nora Owen, said that Operation Freeflow, the park-and-ride facilities and the Greystones and Malahide DART extensions had all been initiated while Fine Gael was in office.
"We really thought that the incoming government would take the ball and run with it to the next stage," Mrs Owen said.
In other proposals, Fine Gael wants double the number of taxis in Dublin and has suggested that a personal income tax incentive of £500 a year be granted to commuters who use approved public transport. It wants Operation Freeflow, the Garda initiative first introduced to improve traffic movement over the Christmas period, to continue all year round.
Mr Yates called for park-and-ride facilities to be situated close to quality bus corridors. He claimed that bus usage had increased by 150 per cent on the Stillorgan route since the introduction of the QBC on that route.
