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Green Party transport spokesperson
Ciarán Cuffe has called for radical reform of the way Dublin Bus
operates to better equip it to serve the needs of a changing Dublin.
Deputy Cuffe was reacting to the news that the company projects
losses of €31m in 2009 and plans a 10 per cent reduction in service
and staff numbers.
Deputy Cuffe said "Dublin Bus has chosen the easy option of
service cuts without discussion with Government. The Company needs
radical reform in how it operates from senior management to the
shop-floor.
"The routes and time-tabling need substantial change to reflect the
needs of the city in 2009 as the recent consultant's report by
Deloitte to Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey recommended. We need
to be getting more people onto buses, not cutting services.
"In 2007 the Government gave Dublin Bus €18m more towards the
company's running costs than it did in 2004; payroll costs were 22
per cent higher; there were 240 more staff and 130 extra buses. Yet
1.5m fewer passengers were carried. In the last weeks we have heard
that passenger numbers have dropped again by more than four per cent
and that there were 600,000 fewer journeys made by bus in 2008.
"This clearly shows that Dublin Bus's management strategy is not
working. Simply pumping more money into the company will not improve
services. We need radical reform.
"Integrated ticketing and real time passenger information were
recommended in the Dublin Transportation Initiative report in 1994.
Fifteen years later we're still waiting for Dublin Bus to deliver.
"The Dublin councils also need to play their part. Greater bus
priority is required in Dublin city centre and on the approach roads
to the M50." |
