Transport body begins work soon

The new Dublin Transport Authority, which is to have control of traffic and public transport in the Greater Dublin Area, is to begin operating as a "shadow authority" by the autumn, according to Minister for Transport Martin Cullen.

Under proposals to be brought to Cabinet within weeks, the new organisation will assume all of the functions of the current Dublin Transportation Office, as well as responsibility for the Railway Procurement Agency - including the development of the new metro - and some of the functions of Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann.

It is also proposed that the authority will assume the traffic-management services currently carried out by Dublin City Council and other local authorities in the region. Critically, the new authority is to have the power to set fares, complete the integrated ticketing project and regulate the entire market.

Mr Cullen said: "An independent regulatory body is needed to deal with a range of issues relating to the Greater Dublin Area. The proposed Dublin Transport Authority is that body."

The plan is similar to the British development of Transport for London.

Mr Cullen said: "There are good examples from other capital cities as to how a regulatory authority works, and it is feasible to do the same in Dublin, particularly in the Greater Dublin Area."

Mr Cullen, who has already circulated his plans to the Departments of Environment and Finance, intends to seek Cabinet approval for his plans "in the next few weeks". Assuming the Cabinet approves, the legislation will be published in the autumn.

However, it is unlikely to get through the Dáil before Christmas and possibly not before next year's general election.

In the meantime Mr Cullen said he would "establish the body in shadow form" to begin co-ordination work and ensure there were no delays with the Dublin-based projects in Transport 21, the Government's 10-year transport strategy.

Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Cullen told Fine Gael's Olivia Mitchell that there was good precedent in the establishment of a shadow authority to begin co-ordinating policy in advance of it being set up on a statutory basis.

This had worked well in the setting up of the Railway Safety Authority "which had a huge impact long before any legislation was in place".

The Minister is keen that work on the Dublin metro, the linking of the Luas lines and the rail interconnector and other infrastructure should not be delayed by the drafting passage of legislation.

He said the proposals "are not preventing the quick delivery of many projects, including the new railway station in the docklands area of Dublin, four Luas projects, Metro North and all the different roads which are being started and opened on a weekly basis".

The Minister's proposals stem from the report of a Dublin Transportation Authority "establishment team" led by Prof Margaret O'Mahony, head of the department of civil, structural and environmental engineering and director of the centre for transport research at Trinity College Dublin.

Prof O'Mahony is to be the non-executive chairwoman of Transport 21.

The other members of the establishment team were John Lumsden and Pat Mangan, assistant secretary generals at the Department of Transport, and Colin Hunt, Mr Cullen's special adviser.