Public transport and the capital

Sir, – For many people who work in the city centre and inner suburbia, public transport just isn’t a viable option.

Forced by excessive housing costs to live well outside the city and with an inadequate public transportation system with not enough capacity to cater, if every commuter did abandon their cars, it’s hardly surprising that the car is the default option for many.

The implementation of the Bus Connects programme is apparently delayed due to objections, but isn’t this public transportation programme at least as important as speeding through planning, through the Strategic Housing Development policy, of build-to-rent corporate landlords?

In fact, it makes far more sense to prioritise Bus Connects approval over the Strategic Housing Development policy, so that the eventual residents of these high-density developments will then have a decent option not to use their cars from the day they move in.

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Bus Connects should even take priority over Metro North, as it will serve a much wider population of the city in their day-to-day lives.

Dublin Airport and Swords could be served with a rail-based link by extending the existing Luas from its terminal at Broombridge, at far lower cost and more quickly, than Metro North, along with continuing with the existing bus services which can be tied into the Bus Connects programme.

A further extension of that line could be constructed to link with the Dublin-Belfast rail-line, to further remove the need to go into the clogged city centre.

Consideration should also be given to moving Government departments out of the city centre to premises on the edge of Dublin.

Perhaps even the Daíl, which, in any event, will need to be enlarged to cater for increased TD numbers and their assistants. Does Government really need to be in the city centre?

Removing the need to go into the city centre should be a first step in reducing congestion.

Making sure there is sufficient public transportation first and proper segregated cycle lanes, along with real alternatives to going through the city centre, before banning the car, is simply logical. – Yours, etc,

DAVID DORAN,

Bagenalstown,

Co Carlow.