|
The Green Party
today launched its submission to the Government's
sustainable transport strategy, calling for an urgent
refocusing of investment towards public and other low-carbon forms
of transport. In a ten-point plan, presented to the media aboard a
Dublin Bus travelling around the centre of the Capital, the Party
proposed that the Government fast-track rail projects to help the
country meet EU emissions-reduction targets; that new bus routes and
services be established in Dublin; and that regional air subsidies
be redirected towards public transport projects. The Party also
called for schools, businesses and local authorities to encourage
cycling and walking.
Party Transport spokesperson Ciarán Cuffe TD said: "Faced with the
likelihood of ongoing high oil prices and the certainty of major
fines from Europe if we do not begin to reduce our greenhouse gas
emissions, we must radically and rapidly change our travel and
transport activities. As a country we can, like Sweden, break our
dependence on oil, but that is not going to happen if we continue
down the same path.
"In our submission we argue that rail services should be
strengthened and expanded, and that new high-speed, inter-urban
trains could eliminate the need for most of the costly and polluting
internal flights that the Government currently subsidises. We push
for the urgent completion of feasibility studies on light rail
systems in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford, and we make the
case for more frequent, joined-up bus services, accessible timetable
and route information, and more, well-designed Quality Bus
Corridors. To increase by a factor of ten the number of bike trips
made by Dubliners – which would bring the city onto a par with
places like Copenhagen – we recommend safe cycle routes, more
storage and rental facilities, and the introduction into school
curriculum's of cycle training.
"I do not understand how somebody like the chief executive of the
National Roads Authority Fred Barry can argue in favour of ever more
big road projects. He said only last week that the "the economic
arguments for building Dublin's eastern bypass and the proposed
Leinster outer orbital motorway were 'immense'." I would counter
that, unless we electrify every car in the country in advance,
building those roads would be immensely stupid as the emissions
produced as a result of yet more car journeys would result in
taxpayers paying greater fines to Europe."
Finance spokesperson Senator Dan Boyle added: "From 2002 to 2006,
the Government spent three times as much money on building roads as
on public transport. The Transport 21 programme envisages a slight
improvement in the proportionate spend on public transport, but
there needs to be major new emphasis in order to redress the
imbalance that has occurred over the last number of years, and steer
us back onto a sustainable course. We support a new cost-benefit
analysis of all projects planned under Transport 21 to take into
account the projects' energy costs and contributions to Ireland's
emissions targets.
"We favour an overhaul of the 1932 Road Transport Act to allow more
private bus operators into the market. Greater clarity as to how
route licenses are awarded and a more efficient decision-making
procedure would give more certainty to potential bus operators
seeking to enter the market. We believe that competition in the
market can and will benefit consumers, provided the regulators do
their job.
"Despite oil producers announcing that they would significantly
increase production capacity, in New York's commodity markets
yesterday oil came within five cents of its all time peak of
$127.82. Some serious analysts have predicted that we can expect
prices of over $140 dollars per barrel during this year. Let us
remember that just a year ago oil was trading at $66 per barrel, and
we thought that was expensive!
"Economically, these are difficult times. We should be keeping a
handle on our costs and economic competitiveness, and making sure
that inflation stays under control. We simply cannot afford to allow
our economic security to be dependent on the price of oil. We must
wean ourselves off it and find ways to secure prosperity that don't
involve adding nearly 200,000 cars to the roads and chugging out 13
million tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. Our submission shows how
this can be done and we trust that Minister Dempsey will give due
consideration to our proposals." |
CiaranCuffe.com