Latest news with #publicTransport
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on public transport in Dublin: keep pushing forward
It has been eight years since Ireland last delivered a fixed rail project – the Luas cross-city line, which was delivered efficiently, albeit with inevitable disruption. Since then headlines have been dominated by plans for new projects – including the giant Metrolink – but little enough by way of construction work. In this context, the expansion of the Dart network is a a vital element. It may not be as dramatic as the Metro, but it could offer better connectivity to a host of areas around Dublin and beyond into some of the commuter counties. Like all major infrastructure plans, various aspects of this strategy have been proceeding slowly through the planning and in some cases a procurement process. The announcement this week that two legal challenges to the Dart+West project will be avoided due to agreements being reached with two businesses in the Ashtown area is welcome. While the details of these agreements have not been revealed, studies had shown that the two businesses would be the most seriously affected in the area from work on the new line. Now a way has been found to deliver the huge advantages to the public, while avoiding the uncertainties of the legal process. New planning laws can help to lessen spurious objections, but it is also necessary to deal with genuine ones – like those held by the two businesses – if vital projects like this are to proceed. And ideally without recourse to the courts. READ MORE The Dart project is also proceeding on other fronts, too, with an announcement this week of a proposed new station in Cabra on the Dart+ South West project. Strikingly, 26,000 people live within 1Km of the chosen location. The idea emerged from a public consultation process. The Dart expansion is part of a complex web of projects planned for Dublin, also including Bus Connects and the Metro. Progressing these is vital to get people out of their cars, cut emissions and open up new land for housing. We must presume that the necessary funds will be set aside in the revised National Development Plan, which is due shortly.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Dublin transport contactless payment system not operational until 2029, says minister
Contactless payments across Dublin's bus, tram and railway public transport networks will not be fully operational until 2029, Darragh O'Brien has told an Oireachtas hearing. The first testing phase of the 'next-generation ticketing' contactless payments system will be introduced in 2027 in a 'controlled area within Dublin across bus, rail and Luas', the Minister for Transport told Wednesday's Oireachtas hearing on 2025 transport estimates. A second phase is scheduled to run in summer 2028, with a third one to follow in 2029, he said. 'Obviously how we roll it out will be dependent on the first phase – if that goes well and the testing of that is robust and we don't require many system changes,' Mr O'Brien said in response to a query on the system from Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman. 'By 2027 to 2029 we would have the system fully operational.' READ MORE The Minister said he was investigating whether it was possible to 'shorten the distance' between the first two testing phases, but he could not give a commitment on that. 'It is a roll-out of, effectively, a whole new contactless ticketing system that's going to be with us for a generation and will make a very significant change.' A National Transport Authority report published this year stated contact payments on public transport would take about three years to deliver. Spanish company Indra is responsible for the introduction of the contactless system across bus, tram and rail services. Asked by Fine Gael TD Grace Boland whether the Government planned to maintain the 90-minute €2 fare beyond the end of this year, Mr O'Brien said it was his 'intention to keep that'. The Minister also referred to the extension of free travel for five- to eight-year-olds from September and extending student travel fares to 25-year-olds. Anecdotally, recent fare reductions have resulted in more people taking public transport, the Minister said. However, it was difficult to quantify how many people were opting for bus or rail as a result of such price cuts, he said. Recently published data showed more than one million public transport journeys are now taken in Dublin daily. The Oireachtas committee also heard how the number of electric-vehicle (EV) charging points across the State remained far behind the European Union average. At present, there are seven EV charging posts for every 10,000 people, compared to an EU average of 20 per 10,000 and 13 per 10,000 in the UK, Sinn Féin's Pa Daly told the committee. People needed to have 'confidence that the battery will take them far enough, but also that they'll be able to recharge around the State', Mr Daly said. He also cited a recent warning from the Climate Change Advisory Council that the Government did not support access for lower-income families to EVs, which jeopardised emissions targets. Acknowledging that the number of charging points was below the EU average, Mr O'Brien said his department was addressing the shortfall and investigating EV grant options for lower and middle-income families and for rural dwellers. Asked if this would include grants for second-hand EVs, Mr O'Brien said it would. Earlier on Wednesday, the Minister told Newstalk Breakfast radio he did not expect the State would hit its projection of one million EV users by 2030, but said numbers would most likely reach 630,000-700,000 by the end of the decade. Responding to concerns from Mr O'Gorman regarding the 'almost systematic removal of references to cycling in this programme for government', Mr O'Brien told the committee the TD could 'be absolutely assured that this Government is as committed as the last to continue the real advancements that were made over the last five years in the provision of active travel schemes'. In addition to the Government's commitment to spend €360 million on public transport infrastructure, Mr O'Brien said his department would seek additional funds through the updated National Development Plan to improve 'active travel'.
UAE Moments
3 days ago
- UAE Moments
Free Parking Announced in Dubai for Hijri New Year
In celebration of the Hijri New Year, Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced free public parking across the city on Friday, June 27. The free parking applies to all public parking zones except multi-level parking terminals. Regular parking fees will resume on Saturday, June 28. If you're planning to head out over the long weekend, here's what you need to know. Public Transport Operating Hours Dubai Metro: Will operate from 5am on Friday, June 27, until 1am on Saturday, June 28. Dubai Tram: Will run from 6am on Friday, June 27, until 1am on Saturday, June 28. Make sure to plan your journey in advance using the RTA or S'hail app to check timings for buses, metro, tram, and marine transport. Service Centre Closures Whether you're spending the day with family or exploring the city, this is a great time to take advantage of the free parking and extended transport hours.
CBC
5 days ago
- Business
- CBC
TTC backs away from platform edge door pilot project at Dundas station
Social Sharing The TTC is backing away from a pilot project that would see platform doors installed at Dundas station next year, saying it will instead ask a committee to consider the measure as part of its 2026 budget priorities. Platform edge doors are barriers and doors separating platforms from train tracks. When a train stops at a station, the doors open, allowing riders inside, and prevent people, animals and objects from falling onto the tracks. The TTC has been studying platform edge doors for years. The capital cost of a platform edge door system for Lines 1, 2 and 4 is estimated at $4.1 billion, according to a report that went to the TTC board at a meeting on Monday. The report says the average costs of the doors for two platforms at one station would be $44 million to $55 million. "Platform Edge Doors (PEDs) improve subway safety and service by preventing track access, thus reducing injuries, fatalities, staff trauma, and service disruptions," the report says. The board decided its strategic planning committee should look at the idea of platform edge doors and the estimated cost as part of next year's budget submission. WATCH | Breaking the silence about subway suicide: Breaking the silence about subway suicide 6 years ago Duration 13:27 At the meeting, the TTC board also decided that it will direct staff to look at the costs and benefits of "technically feasible options" to detect or discourage what the TTC calls "track-level intrusions" at subway stations. TTC spokesperson Stuart Green said intrusions are incidents in which "people are involved at track level and there's a delay to service, whether it be someone jumping down to retrieve a lost item or someone suffering a mental health episode." Doors 'very expensive undertaking,' chair says Coun. Jamaal Myers, chair of the board, moved a motion to delete a staff recommendation to launch the pilot project, saying platform edge doors would be a "very expensive undertaking at this point." Myers said there may be a less expensive option to the doors and the board needs more information. "As chair, I get the emails, probably once every couple of weeks, of priority one, of someone who has [died by] suicide on the tracks. Obviously, it's very tragic for their family and whoever has done it. But it's also incredibly traumatic for the employees who are driving the trains at this time," Myers said. "We do have an obligation to move forward with this and to make a decision and to see where this fits in the priorities of the TTC." According to the report, the pilot project would have helped to identify challenges in implementing the doors, including cost, risks, timing, constraints and feedback. "In addition, this will validate operations and maintenance impacts and generate public interest and support before planning and budgeting for the remaining stations across the system," the report says. 'I don't want this to be sidelined,' councillor says Coun. Josh Matlow, a board member, said during the debate that referring the item back to committee means the board is delaying a decision on the platform edge doors. "I get that we need to set priorities and we struggle between them, but I don't want this to die. I don't want this to just disappear. I don't want this to be sidelined. I don't want this to be studied into non-existence. And I fear that that's where we're going if we're just sending this off to a committee," Matlow said. Matlow said he would have liked the TTC to proceed with a pilot project at a station. "I'd like it to eventually roll out to many more where the data demonstrates that we are having the most issues with trespassing," he added.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Telegraph
I stood up to a fare-dodger on the Tube while TfL just shrugs
At 8.30pm on an evening last week, I walked into St James's Park underground station. A group of four or five young people were loitering. As I touched my card on the reader to open the barriers, one of the group tried to push past me. I am the size of an average 11-year-old girl, standing 5ft tall on a good day. I may talk tough on The Telegraph, but I know better than to engage in confrontations which have the potential to escalate. Yet in that fleeting moment, I surprised myself by making a stand. Perhaps Robert Jenrick's crusade on fare dodging had emboldened me, or I had finally had enough of witnessing malefactors pushing past paying customers on the Tube multiple times a week. I put my hand up and said, 'No thank you. You can use your own ticket.' The barrier closed behind me and I headed towards my platform, watched on by Transport for London (TfL) staff. The next afternoon, at Victoria station, I watched a man following a fare-paying passenger through the gates, cool as a cucumber. It was in broad daylight, and the station was teeming with TfL staff, all simply hanging around. Why wouldn't you do anything about it, I asked a staff member. It isn't our job, came the answer. 'What is your job?' I probed. The response seemed so absurd that I made a note of it: 'Our job is to assist paying customers, we can't assist customers who don't pay.' If you can make any sense of this statement, please let me know. It is understandable that the staff themselves may feel intimidated by these brazen offenders or even fear for their own safety. But their total indifference towards these offences being committed day in and day out on their watch betrays a contempt for those of us who do pay for the service. TfL's apparent corporate policy, which is reflected in the culture of its staff on the ground, has allowed fare dodging to reach such a stage of late that we appeared to have accepted the offence as a part of London life, until Jenrick decided to confront some of the offenders himself. For a week or two following Jenrick's video becoming viral on social media, there did appear to be an increased police presence in some stations, while TfL claimed to 'take fare evasion extremely seriously'. But as the news cycle moved on, so – it seems – did the authorities' interest in the matter. The vast majority of TfL's income (around 60pc) is generated by fares, followed by government grants and tax intake. Commercial activities, including advertising, make up the rest. Even this revenue stream is dependent on the fares and public funding keeping the train and underground networks commercially viable. According to TfL, fare evasion costs an estimated £130m each year, with passengers abiding by the law having to shoulder any rises in fares needed to plug the shortfalls. For those of us who pay for our tickets, Tube and rail fares in London rose by an average of 4.6pc in 2025. This follows what was reported as the biggest rise in transport cost in a decade when fares increased by an average of 5.9pc just two years ago. An increase in fare dodging therefore has a very real impact on the pockets of the law-abiding commuters who cough up the correct fare for their journey.
