The Government’s decision not to include Cork in a €5.8 million Department of Transport project to install Real Time Passenger Information Display Signs at bus stops is a bad decision.

Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has confirmed that Cork will be excluded from a €5.8 million project to install Real Time Passenger Information Display Signs at bus stops. In response to questions I raised with him in the Dáil the Minister admitted that the funding would be used to provide 500 Real Time Display Signs at bus stops across Dublin but that none would be provided outside Dublin.

Real Time Passenger Information Displays at bus stops can provide passengers reassurance on the length of time they will have to wait for the next bus. These Digital Display Signs show exactly when the next bus is due. Such display signs are already used at LUAS & DART stops in Dublin and this extension to major bus stops represents a welcome advance in the provision of reliable public transport.

It is important that we encourage more people to use public transport. Printed timetables at bus stops no longer meet the needs of bus users. Public Transport passengers expect relevant, accurate and timely information to allow them to make informed decisions.

It is very disappointing that Cork has been excluded from this project and that bus users in Cork will be denied such a useful service.

The signs will begin to appear across Dublin later next year but we are unlikely to see such signs in Cork anytime soon.

Dáil Question
No: 265

My Department has approved funding of €5.8 million to enable Dublin City Council to undertake the installation of Real Time Passenger Information (RTPI) Display signs and an RTPI system in the Greater Dublin Area. These RTPI displays will be located at 500 selected bus stops or interchange points in the GDA. The choice of bus stops that signs will be allocated to is a matter for Dublin City Council. I understand that Dublin City Council will be issuing a tender for the signs shortly and the system will be delivered during 2010.
The future extension of RTPI will be contingent on a review of the operation and impact of this scheme and the level of funding available to my Department in the current economic climate.