New Transport Co-Ordination Unit
Posted by Alan Kelly on July 11, 2013 at 04:09 PM
Tipperary is set to benefit from major changes to the rural transport programme with the creation of a new Transport Co-Ordination Unit (TCU) for the county.
The new unit will oversee the co-ordination of rural transport services across Tipperary. The TCU will be an independent company but likely to be based from a local authority office. They will be the ‘go to’ point for local communities and passengers to develop transport services right across the county.
I am overseeing the changes to the rural transport programme and I believe the changes will be a major boost to transport services in Tipperary.
We will now have the structure to create a proper county-side system of rural transport. Access to transport is a huge quality of life issue – particularly for elderly people in isolated areas who may no longer be able to drive. The changes announced will ensure that transport services are not only protected in Tipperary but can grow in the future and to try and ensure a better spread and coverage of services in Tipperary.
The Tipperary TCU will have to work to a rural transport annual plan devised by the new merged Tipperary local authority giving local government and local councillors a role in rural transport development for the first time. This will create opportunities for better coverage of the rural transport programme in Tipperary.
The new unit will be asked to retain databases of people in rural areas who require access to transport. Where they cannot provide this transport directly, they will be able to provide assistance and support to community transport schemes to give people like the elderly, cancer or dialysis patients access to transport. Door-to-Door transport and scheduled services will be able to continue as part of the changes.
The TCU will also have a role in co-ordinating all state transport services in Tipperary from HSE, school services in order to maximise the benefit to the public of the state’s transport spend in Tipperary.
Tipperary will benefit from a major reform and overhaul of the Rural Transport Programme nationally. The Tipperary TCU will be the ‘go to’ point for local communities across the county who are seeking help with local transport initiatives. The TCU will be able to assist local groups with their community car schemes, maintain databases of people with transport needs in Tipperary and work to a locally adopted rural transport plan devised by the local authority.
Currently rural transport services are provided in the North Tipperary by the Leader Partnership and in the South by Ring-a-Link – who also operate in Carlow and Kilkenny. The changes will come into effect early next year but all services will remain in place in the interim.
While the planning and the route design of all transport services will be done by the Tipperary TCU, all services provision will have to be subject to a tender competition. While Ring-a-link will likely be the TCU operators for Carlow-Kilkenny, they will be able to tender for the services in South Tipperary.
The TCU’s will also have a role in carrying out assessments for areas for their eligibility for a rural hackney licence – a proposal of mine currently under development. I believe changes to the rural transport programme were necessary and this will allow the development of a better system of public transport in the county in time.
The Rural Transport Programme was simply not achieving its full potential and it would have to be reorganised in order to do this. The changes we are announcing today will ensure that Rural Transport Services remain in Tipperary for generations to come. The changes are absolutely necessary in order to ensure the survival of rural transport services in Tipperary.
I announced the creation 18 new Transport Co-Ordination Units (TCUs) across the country as part of a major overhaul of the Rural Transport Programme (RTP).
The new TCUs will be based where practical in local authorities and will co-ordinate the running of transport services within their area and overseen by the National Transport Authority (NTA)
They will become a ‘go to’ point for rural communities to address their transport needs. They will be will be staffed by personnel from the existing 35 rural transport programme companies currently in operation.
As part of the reform, each local authority will prepare annual rural transport plans which the TCU will have to work to. This will give local Government a role in the planning of rural transport provision.
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