Dublin is expanding rapidly and the populations of its dormitory towns are growing at an unprecedented rate. But the Government has failed to deliver an efficient and effective public transport system to bring these people to work.
It has, of course, provided funding for an upgrade of Dart and commuter train services. And the Luas light rail system was introduced last year. But the bus service, which carries the bulk of public commuter traffic, has been starved of resources because of a stand-off with the trade union movement over the privatisation of services.
Three years ago, the then minister for transport Séamus Brennan announced his determination to restructure CIÉ and to privatise 25 per cent of the routes provided by Dublin Bus. In response, Siptu and the National Bus and Rail Union - with the backing of Ictu - threatened a series of protests and strikes to protect their members' interests. Following initial skirmishing, Government plans were quietly put on hold. Two years later, Mr Brennan was replaced as Minister by Martin Cullen. Now, following negotiations with trade unions and various transport interests, Mr Cullen is hoping to secure agreement on a programme of more modest reforms.
Central to the new arrangements will be the establishment of a statutory regulator who will issue licences for new bus routes; decide whether they should be subsidised or not and oversee the tendering process. Before that happens, however, the Department of Transport has proposed that up to 15 per cent of new Dublin bus routes in areas of rapid population growth should be awarded to private operators.
At the same time, Government assurances have been given that Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann will not be privatised or downsized. As a further sweetener, funding for hundreds of new buses that was withheld from both companies will be made available.
It may be that this stop-go strategy by the Government was the only way in which significant competition could be introduced into Dublin's creaking transport system. Certainly, failure to invest in new buses during the past two years has affected the quality of bus services, increased congestion and done nothing to entice private car users to switch modes of transport.
A redesign of bus routes in the greater Dublin area, planned for the coming winter, will offer an opportunity to Dublin Bus - and to possible competitors - to put the consumer first and provide a more integrated system of transport for the capital. That would be a considerable advance. For, in spite of anti-competitive undertakings by the Government, change is urgently needed.