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National Sustainable Mobility Policy |Year One Progress Report

On-Schedule

Further information about the Forum and the topics discussed can be found later in this report.

The majority of actions remain on schedule and progress related to these is detailed in Annex I.

The Department has also established a number of groups to complement wider efforts to integrate sustainable transport with other key policy areas including road safety (Action 63), urban planning and development (Action 80), and research and analysis to help guide and evaluate policy in terms of both focus and delivery (Action 74).

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In its first year, the SMP has had a direct and positive impact on the daily transport experiences of members of the public.

Figure from page 7

Enhanced public transport services have been introduced to towns and villages around Ireland with the commencement of the Connecting Ireland Programme3. 250,000 people in over 50 towns and villages have been connected through access to new or enhanced services.4 The work to enhance rural connectivity and mobility will continue throughout 2023 and into the coming years and will include innovative measures such as Smart Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) and rural hackney schemes (SMP Action 36).

Young Adult Travel Card

The Young Adult and Student Travel Card (YAC) was introduced on PSO services in May 2022 and extended to include participating commercial bus services in September 2022, allowing students and young people to avail of a 50% reduction in travel fares. Funding was secured under Budget 2023 to continue the YAC scheme, allowing for more sustainable transport choices to be availed of more readily among this cohort.

Work to establish Active Travel units across all 31 local authorities (Action 54) was completed, with Active Travel officers working to deliver enhanced facilities across the country, providing local communities with safer and more accessible opportunities for walking, cycling, and other forms of active travel. In addition, many Active Travel units are now closely involved in the delivery of projects as part of the Pathfinder Programme, thus helping to showcase the potential of sustainable mobility in our cities, towns, and rural areas over the next 2/3 years.5

There have been 142,243 Young Adult Cards issued since the commencement of the programme. In addition, there have been 98,238 student cards issued which includes third level students who are over 23 and not eligible for YACs.

Planning and conducting an ex-post evaluation of the project, incorporating lessons learned into processes and guidance, and submitting an Ex-post Evaluation Report to the Approving Authority.

Under the Climate Action Plan 20236, DoT is committed to developing a National Demand Management Strategy to identify mechanisms for increasing efficiency in the transport system rather than increasing capacity and for complementing sustainable mobility objectives. To this end, the department has established a unit (Action 39) to lead on development of the Strategy. Work to develop this strategy had commenced by end April.

As per the commitment under Action 71, the first National Sustainable Mobility Forum7 was convened in Athlone on 19-20 April 2023. It brought together a diverse range of stakeholders and interest parties from across Ireland, and beyond, to discuss key issues related to sustainable mobility and future policy priorities.

3 https://www.nationaltransport.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Connecting-Ireland-Bulletin-Q1-2023-Rev.4-1.pdf 4 https://www.nationaltransport.ie/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Connecting-Ireland-Phase-1-Key-Achievements-Infographic.pdf 5 https://www.gov.ie/en/press-release/9f9b8-minister-ryan-launches-transformative-pathfinder-projects-to-bring-more-publictransport-walking-and-cycling-options-to-our-villages-towns-and-cities-by-2025/ 6 https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/7bd8c-climate-action-plan-2023/ 7 https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/0d8cd-national-sustainable-mobility-forum-19-20-april-2023/