A national authority should be set up to plan and develop transport projects and assume certain functions of CIÉ, the Green Party said today.
Speaking in Galway this morning, party leader Trevor Sargent said the authority would create a link between land-use planning and transportation policies leading to better regional development.
"In Government the Green Party will review the National Spatial Strategy and the decentralisation programme so that a more targeted approach is applied to regional development," Mr Sargent said.
The authority would be a regulator, assuming functions carried out by CIÉ such as setting standards and fares and managing timetables.
Greens transport spokesperson Eamon Ryan said: "We are proposing to instead give the planning role to the new regulator and allow it to monitor whether service levels are being delivered."
He cited the example of Dublin where he said "major structural change which should be overseen by our proposed transport authority" would be needed rather than putting more buses on already congested streets.
Mr Sargent and Mr Ryan were joined by Galway mayor and Galway West candidate Niall Ó Brolcháin who said the Government policy of building "ring-roads and roundabouts" had failed.
Better public transport, such as his party's proposal to build a light rail system linking major institutions and transport hubs, would ease congestion for those with no option but to use a car, Mr Ó Brolcháin said.