The Department of Transport, and Darragh O'Brien, the Minister for Transport, have announced a pair of new five-year plans to try and sort out Ireland's transport issues. They are the Moving Together and the Sustainable Mobility Policy (SMP) Action Plans, and they're designed to: "optimise conditions for daily travel with expected benefits for all.”
What are the plans for these… er, plans?
Well, according to Minister O'Brien: "The Sustainable Mobility Policy Action Plan supports the delivery of over 40 transport-related commitments in the Programme for Government. This includes major public transport projects such as MetroLink, BusConnects, DART+, and Cork Commuter Rail, as well as ongoing investment in active travel infrastructure and the Safe Routes to School programme, the development of Park and Ride facilities, measures to increase taxi provision and investment in improving transport accessibility. By investing in new and innovative transport solutions like shared mobility, Bike Libraries and Smart Demand Responsive Transport, the Plan reflects the Government's commitment to transforming Ireland's transport system.”
He went on to say that: "Aligned to the SMP Action Plan, the Moving Together strategy allows for a systematic review of that system, working across Government and society to explore and champion further ways of addressing the problem of congestion and its negative impacts such as air pollution, environmental damage and economic constraints. People need to travel for many reasons - work, education, health, leisure - and the Government recognises that sustainable options are not always available, especially in more rural or remote areas. Our transport network must also be efficient to support the transportation of goods. Equally, our urban centres and streets must meet the needs of business and retail, must ensure that urban residents are protected from the impacts of congestion and pollution and must be fully accessible to vulnerable road users and the disabled community. Finding solutions that work for all is important, and this new Strategy seeks to do this in a balanced way, by 'moving together' on key issues and future proofing our system for generations to come.”
OK, is there any more detail than that?
Yes, a bit. According to the Department of Transport, the Sustainable Mobility Action Plan 2026-2030 is basically a continuation of the previous policy of the same name, and apparently it contains: "95 actions to be delivered over the next five years, with clearly defined outputs and delivery timelines. As well as commitments on public transport, active travel and shared mobility, the Plan includes enabling actions related to research, citizen engagement, and capacity-building.”
What about the Moving Together plan?
A key part of this second, parallel plan is to reduce traffic congestion, which has reached epidemic proportions, especially in the greater Dublin area of late. The plan aims to make: "the transport system… work better for everyone and will make our public transport services more reliable and our roads safer for walking, wheeling and cycling.”
Is this all aimed at getting us out of our cars?
To an extent, yes, although the Department did also point out that the two plans also include: "investment in Electric Vehicle (EV) infrastructure to support the transition to electric vehicles charging. Fulfilling another Programme for Government commitment last week, the Minister for Transport launched a public consultation on the draft of a new National EV Infrastructure Charging Strategy. Each of these initiatives - Moving Together, the new SMP Action Plan, and the EV Infrastructure Charging Strategy - represent one element of the Avoid-Shift-Improve approach to decarbonisation, but collectively they showcase the Government's determination to build a transport system that is efficient, and responsive to the evolving needs of the country's people and its businesses.”
Will any of it work?
That's rather debatable. The Department, and particularly Minister O'Brien, have come in for significant criticism recently for the handling of the Bus Connects programme, which has aroused the ire of bus users across Dublin for seemingly nonsensical timetable and route changes, and more recent accusations of 'phantom cancellations' whereby scheduled buses simply never show up. Given that bus timetabling is supposed to be a 'ground floor' simple action for any public transport system, that doesn't bode well for more complex projects.
The Government was also criticised again this week for its handling of the Tax Saver system, which is aimed at making public transport more affordable for commuters by offsetting some of the cost of monthly and long-term tickets against their tax. However, Mobility Partnership Ireland (MPI - a lobbying group backed by the likes of Enterprise Mobility, GoCar, Yuko, Moby, Bleeper, Payzone and FreeNow by Lyft) says that in spite of the ever greater demand for commuting as home owners and renters are priced out of city centres, the numbers using the Tax Saver scheme have fallen by 58 per cent between 2019 and 2024.
MPI Chair, Hugh Cooney, stated: "At a time when Ireland is seeking to reduce transport emissions and address worsening congestion in towns and cities, it is essential that our principal tax relief for sustainable commuting reflects how people now travel to work. Since Covid-19, five-day office attendance is no longer the norm, with many employees adopting hybrid and more flexible working patterns. The current TaxSaver model, built around fixed-price tickets for traditional commuting routines, has not kept pace with these changes. Broadening the scheme to support more flexible and multi-modal travel options would provide commuters with practical and attractive alternatives to private car journeys, while directly supporting the Government's objective of achieving a 50 per cent increase in daily active travel journeys”