View Full Version : [Article] Cullen to announce details of Dublin Transport Authority
Navan Junction
09-11-2006, 10:20
Last updated: 09-11-06, 07:42
Minister for Transport Martin Cullen will today announce plans for a new Dublin transport authority designed to reform the capital's traffic management systems.
He will today publish a report that will set out how the new Dublin Transportation Authority will work.
It will propose that the new authority assumes responsibility for overseeing all major public transport projects, including Metro, a new rail tunnel through the city centre and the extension of the Luas network.
The authority will also be responsible for regulating public transport in the city and will ultimately have responsibility for bus routes.
The Railway Procurement Agency is to be subsumed into the new authority, which will also take over some of the functions of Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann.
The report also proposes that the new body will have the power to set fares, complete the integrated ticketing project and regulate the entire market.
© The Irish Times/ireland.com
http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2006/1109/breaking13.htm
Minister for Transport Martin Cullen will reportedly announce details of the workings of the planned new Dublin Transportation Authority (DTA) later today.
The body is being set up to oversee the delivery of the Dublin-based aspects of the coalition's Transport 21 proposals, including the proposed Metro, LUAS extensions and the M50 upgrade.
Reports this morning say the new authority will also be given responsibility for regulating public transport in the city, including the setting of fares.
The Railway Procurement Agency will reportedly be subsumed into the new authority, which will also take over some of the functions of Dublin Bus and Iarnród Éireann.
This morning's reports say legislation allowing for the establishment of the DTA will be brought to Cabinet before Christmas
I wonder if he will....
Navan Junction
09-11-2006, 10:21
It will propose that the new authority assumes responsibility for overseeing all major public transport projects, including Metro, a new rail tunnel through the city centre and the extension of the Luas network.
The Interconnector???
I wonder if he will....
Isn't there an expert group report on it due out today?
He'll announce that it's on his desk and he's giving it careful consideration. And then (several months later) get a consultant to report on the expert group report which will take another few months. That report will sit on his desk for another few months while he does precisely nothing except release press reports.
Cullen publishes Dublin Transport Authority Establishment Team Report
Date: 09 November 2006
Transport Minister, Martin Cullen, T.D. has today (Thursday 9 November 2006) published the report of the Establishment Team of the Dublin Transport Authority (DTA). The Team, which was put in place by the Minister last year, was asked under its terms of reference to make recommendations on the establishment of a new transport authority for the Greater Dublin Area; to address the remit of the authority - its powers, structure and the kind of organisation, human and other resources required; to advise on the content of the legislation that would be necessary to establish the authority on a statutory basis and to make recommendations on what interim arrangements should be put in place, pending the enactment of the legislation.
The Establishment Team, appointed by the Minister, was chaired by Professor Margaret O’Mahony, Head of the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Centre for Transport Research at Trinity College, Dublin. The other members were John Lumsden and Pat Mangan, Assistant Secretaries at the Department of Transport and Colin Hunt, Special Advisor to the Minister.
The Team has recommended that the DTA should have overall responsibility for surface (i.e. road, rail) transport in the Greater Dublin Area (i.e. Dublin city itself, Fingal, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, South Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow). In particular it should have responsibility for a range of functions which are:
· strategic transport planning;
· ensuring the delivery of public transport infrastructure;
· allocation of exchequer funds for public transport and traffic management;
· procurement of public transport services;
· regulation of public transport fares;
· delivery on an integrated public transport system;
· traffic management;
· management of transport demand;
· land-use and transport integration and
· data collection and research.
The Government has already approved the drafting of legislation to establish the new authority on a statutory basis. It is also providing an opportunity for consultation before the legislation is finalised and published. The Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Transport are at an advanced stage in preparing this legislation.
Speaking today, Minister Cullen said: “It is my view and the view of the Government that a single authority with real powers is needed to deliver a fully integrated transport system for Dublin. This will ensure that the people of Dublin realise the full benefits of the €14 billion in taxpayers’ money being invested in Dublin in transport under the Government’s programme, Transport 21”. The Minister added: “Transport 21 is not only about delivering projects, such as the Metro, which will transform the capital as a place in which to live and work. It is also about making sure that we deliver high quality, integrated services across all modes of transport for people accessing the city every single day of the week. I want to ensure that the management of traffic, how people purchase tickets and how they get the best practical information about travelling between destinations is managed in an integrated way. We need to make certain that city dwellers and communities living both inside and outside the capital have a transport system that is responsive to their needs”.
The Minister added: “I would like to thank the Team for their excellent work, particularly Professor Margaret O’Mahony who chaired the Team. I welcome the recommendations in the report. I concur with the report’s key recommendation that the authority, when established, should have overall responsibility for surface transport in the Greater Dublin Area subject to direction by Government in respect of significant policy issues”.
The Minister said: “I have set aside the period up until the beginning of December for consultation. This consultation is in accordance with the Government’s social partnership agreement Towards 2016. Once I have had an opportunity to consider and reflect on the views received, I will finalise my proposals, taking account of the outcome of the consultation, and will publish a Bill before Christmas”.
The Minister proposes to establish an interim authority, which will be charged with putting in place the necessary organisational arrangements including the recruitment of a Chief Executive Officer and other senior management personnel, pending the passage of the final legislation.
Editor’s note:
Views are welcome from interested parties on today’s published report by the Establishment Team. Written submissions (on paper or by email) should be sent to: Mr Karl Seeber, Department of Transport, Transport House, 44 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. The email address is: KarlSeeber@Transport.ie <mailto:KarlSeeber@Transport.ie>.
The closing date for receipt of views is Friday 1 December 2006. The report is available to download in PDF format on www.transport.ie <http://www.transport.ie>
Issued by: Michelle Hoctor, 087 8563070
Veronica Scanlan, 087 6430622
www.transport21.ie
Donal Quinn
09-11-2006, 15:23
report looks good
P17
"Critical to the successful delivery of an integrated public transport infrastructure in the GDA within Transport 21 will be the effective completion of three landmark rail projects, namely the Metro North rail line with a north-south alignment across the city-centre, the Interconnector rail line with an east-west alignment across the same area and the construction of a genuinely integrated facility at St. Stephen’s Green allowing seamless transfer for passengers between Luas, Metro and suburban rail. Tunnelling adds significant complexity and risk in the context of these projects.
Ensuring that a coherent and integrated approach is applied from the commencement of planning, through detailed design and specification and to final completion of construction of these projects is a hugely important critical success factor in the context of overall delivery of Transport 21. Therefore the Team recommends that these three landmark projects should be the direct responsibility of the Dublin Transport Authority itself.
P19
Iarnrod Éireann is currently responsible for the Interconnector. Initial planning for the Interconnector is expected to commence in 2006, gaining momentum over subsequent years with the objective of commencing construction in 2010.
hmmm
P29
To afford the Authority additional flexibility, the Team recommends that it be given a substantial short-term borrowing authority, perhaps of the order
of €1 billion. This would allow it to manage the unevenness of its investment programme while being required to stay within its aggregate capital envelope under Transport 21.
p35
The Authority should be responsible for delivery of an integrated public transport system for the GDA. It should develop and promote a single brand for all public transport services; it should procure and operate integrated ticketing and integrated information systems for public transport and should have powers to require participation by providers of public transport in both these systems. It should also ensure good physical interchange facilities are provided for public transport passengers, including park-and-ride.
cool
p37
Critical to the successful delivery of an integrated public transport infrastructure in the GDA will be the effective completion of three landmark
projects - the Metro North, the Interconnector and the St. Stephen’s Green Interchange.
THe DTA will even have a dedicated "integration director" to make one brand and ticket and all that
if this goes ahead as the report suggests i'm voting FF at next election
interesting stuff alright
This sounds promising. I'd like to believe that this will be a turning point for Dublin but only time will tell.
I'm sure there will be strikes galore as a result of some of this. It will be interesting to see how they shall be dealt with.
Mark Hennessy
09-11-2006, 16:07
I'm sure there will be strikes galore as a result of some of this. It will be interesting to see how they shall be dealt with.
Good point Paul, what will happen when the suburban timetables are set by the DTA with the customer in mind?
Thomas J Stamp
09-11-2006, 17:41
Initial planning for the Interconnector is expected to commence in 2006,
They'd better hurry up, shouldnt they?
Mark Gleeson
09-11-2006, 17:43
Remember the tender issued in June, that was it
Donal Quinn
09-11-2006, 17:43
Govt rejects proposals on DTA
09 November 2006 16:04
The Government has decided against accepting all the recommendations made by a team set up to establish a new Dublin Transport Authority.
The team recommended the new body should have new powers over local authorities to ensure land use was not inconsistent with integrated transport.
But the Minister for Transport Martin Cullen has said accepting the recommendations would dilute the 'democratic accountability' of the planning process.
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He has instead published an alternative where planning authorities will have to consult with the Transport Authority on their plans.
(c) RTE
need to keep a VERY close eye on this
Mark Hennessy
09-11-2006, 18:37
But the Minister for Transport Martin Cullen has said accepting the recommendations would dilute the 'democratic accountability' of the planning process.
:(
Doesn't take much to decipher this one.
Derek Wheeler
09-11-2006, 18:45
No need to keep an eye on it. We all know that the Government will make a balls of it by rejecting the best parts of the report. They know that the planning process would be transformed if the transport aspects were controlled by the DTA. But this would compromise the cushy arrangement that already exists between this Government and developers.
Please prove me wrong and my faith may return.
A 51-page report, and the word "passengers" is mentioned...
...twice.
Harrumph.
Derek Wheeler
09-11-2006, 22:27
A 51-page report, and the word "passengers" is mentioned...
...twice.
Harrumph.
Thats what happens when you mix senior civil servants, engineers and politicians, who presumedly drive big cars to the office.
Fear not Thomas, Derek will prepare a submission based on passenger input and encourage similar orgs like P11 to do the same.
Just read the report in full and I think it's a fantastic piece of work. If it is implemented in full we will have a world class transport system within the next 10 years. This will finally take away all the political interferance that has marred transport development in Dublin.
This is what we have been crying out for on this board since the inception of Platform 11 - shouldn't we be a bit happier that it may actually be going to happen now :confused:
All eyes on Cullen now to see if all of the reports recommendations (minus the land use planning bits unfortunately) make it into the legislation. We can't let them water any of it down.
alek smart
10-11-2006, 02:08
One of the orininal stalling points of the ORIGINAL 1980`s Dublin Transportation Authority proposals was the powers which That Authority would have to impose significant penalty charges upon utilities which carried out Road Works in the City.
This initiative would have seen the DTA agree a time-frame for all Road Works and impose a contractual liability upon the "Statutory Bodies" to meet that Timetable or else pay for the resultant overrun at a significant and penal rate !!
Way to Go eh...?
As for the present wimpy carry on re the land use and development issue,I would consider that very topic to be the single most important one in allowing for PROPERLY constituted and devised forward planning.
Essentially MC and the "Lads" want to maintain the present and well appreciated Flawed Pedigree planning system which affords substantial opportunities to well-placed and equally well resourced Developers to subvent the Democratic Accountability which Martin Cullen so elequently espouses...
The Fish Market may well be gone,but the aroma lingers on....!!! :cool:
Mark Gleeson
10-11-2006, 08:15
Setback for Cullen as transport chief resigns
EMBATTLED Transport Minister Martin Cullen suffered another major setback yesterday when the head of the Dublin Transport Authority (DTA) resigned.
Her resignation came as the Government rejected a key DTA proposal to sort out the traffic mess.
Prof Margaret O'Mahoney stepped down, citing a promotion at TCD, and denied that her move was in any way linked to this rejection.
The DTA recommended that local authorities in the greater Dublin area should get approval from the DTA for development plans to ensure they are transport-friendly. But she only found out from the minister during a press conference yesterday that the Government had, surprisingly, thrown out this recommendation.
Ms O'Mahoney was sitting beside Mr Cullen in the conference room of the Transport Department and facing the assembled media when he dropped the bombshell that one of her key proposals was being ditched.
The DTA will have overall responsibility for delivery of the €14bn Transport 21 projects
The embarrassing disclosure meant that the Government has effectively clipped the wings of the new authority before it is even up and running.
The proposal to have a single authority in charge of land use and transport has been urged by a raft of reputable agencies to avoid long-distance commuting and urban sprawl.
The aim was to stop developers and local authorities allowing massive housing estates to be built in outlying places not served by public transport and with poor quality and often dangerous roads.
But the proposal was binned by the Government because of concerns that it would "unnecessarily dilute the democratic accountability of the planning process" and would be illegal, said Mr Cullen as he sat beside the TCD professor. It was then announced by Mr Cullen that Ms O'Mahoney would be stepping down as interim chairperson of the DTA as the job would become full-time when the authority is eventually up and running.
Mr Cullen said that Ms O'Mahoney had indicated that her work commitments at Trinity would preclude her from taking on the job on a full-time basis. Afterwards, Ms O'Mahoney said she had gone for a job as chair at the TCD civil engineering department and had been accepted. She said it was a big achievement to get this job.
The DTA will have overall responsibility for delivery of the €14bn Transport 21 projects in the greater Dublin area, which takes in counties Kildare, Meath and Wicklow. These include Luas, the Metro and the interconnector between Heuston and Connolly rail stations.
DTA will also be in charge of traffic management, bus and rail fares, and overall integration of the transport in the capital.
The first job of the new authority will be to prepare a traffic management plan for the entire region to ensure a consistent approach across all local authority areas.
Most traffic management functions will, however, continue to be carried out by the local authorities within the new DTA plan.
The Dublin Transportation Office and the Rail Procurement Agency in charge of the Luas and Metro projects are being merged in the new authority.
Treacy Hogan
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1722448&issue_id=14880
© Irish Independent/Unison.ie
All I can say is Prof Margaret O'Mahoney did get the chair of civil engineering in TCD on July 1st 2006 and is now head of department, not unexpected she, was going to stay or leave she couldn't do both
Mark Hennessy
10-11-2006, 10:11
Being head of the DTA would be a thankless job I feel, she made the correct choice.
Another pathetic joke.
Is anybody else just sick to death of this half arsed game that the politicians of Ireland are playing with our lives.
Not only was I 1/2 of an hour late for work this morning due to IE's complete incompetence to run a transport service but I read about Martin cullens fantastic foresight to drop this issue from the DTA's remit.
what a hopeless hole this country can be sometimes
Mark Gleeson
10-11-2006, 11:20
What most people have not spotted is page 41 where the report is signed March 28th 2006
Yesterday was November 9th
Where did the other 7 odd months go? Its yet more evidence of Cullen sitting on and holding up serious progress in Dublin Transport, I could understand a months delay buts its only 51 pages and its not unlike you could have guessed what is coming
Colm Donoghue
10-11-2006, 11:33
It's actually on the front cover
"March 2006"
What most people have not spotted is page 41 where the report is signed March 28th 2006
Yesterday was November 9th
Where did the other 7 odd months go? Its yet more evidence of Cullen sitting on and holding up serious progress in Dublin Transport, I could understand a months delay buts its only 51 pages and its not unlike you could have guessed what is coming
Disgraceful :mad:
It seems like the legislation is drafted and ready to go. Does it take 7 months drafting legislation as complex as this?
Mark Gleeson
10-11-2006, 14:06
Disgraceful :mad:
It seems like the legislation is drafted and ready to go. Does it take 7 months drafting legislation as complex as this?
Well it does take time and this is very complex since it relates to several bodies and has widespread impact, but we should have had the report in public within a month of it being finished, its contents are hardly unexpected
I doubt we will be seeing this anytime soon, buried in the report is a need to totally restructure CIE, it shouldn't have any union impact all it changes is management and funding however when that great day arrives that the DTA put the foot down it on service provision things are going to get really painfull in Irish Rail since the current love in they have with the DoT will be gone
All this service standard stuff already exists but is not legally enforceable, then again no one has ever seen the standard
Thomas J Stamp
10-11-2006, 18:00
Good Report.
Minister Bins it.
Head walks away.
Great days work for the DoT.
alek smart
10-11-2006, 23:50
I don`t Know about anybody else but this represents yet another underlining of our national weakness for forward planning.
From my perspective the Essence of the "New" Dublin Transport Authority was always going to be the power it would have to excercise Authoritative Power over what has become a national shambles concerning Planning and Development.
Mr Cullen might as well have closed the book and walked off the stage.
Without this essential element of AUTHORITY the DTA simply becomes yet another comfy board for Taoisigh to appoint "Friends" to.
We all remember Prof O Mahoneys opening salvo when she took up her interim appointment.
She was quite precise in her outlining of "Knocking Heads Together" as being something she would not shirk from if it came to that.
Well we now know that that awful scenario will not now happen,and the long established 4 ball`s will remain as peaceful and undisturbed as ever...
Sadly for Dublin we shall now have to watch as T21 descends into a fudge of well meaning chaotic spending with little real focus.
The predominance of the Local Government machine has been underlined and Ministers need not fret over the Democratic Process being undermined.
The confidence which this Political elite possess is shown by the barefaced straight face on the Minister as he rubbed the good prof`s nose in his Political Litter Tray.
I predict a very well defined slide into T21 chaos as the power struggles continue and I will be as surprised as hell if we even get the Drumcondra Station Bus Interchange as far as a detailed drawing....:eek:
Derek Wheeler
11-11-2006, 00:46
I don`t Know about anybody else but this represents yet another underlining of our national weakness for forward planning.
From my perspective the Essence of the "New" Dublin Transport Authority was always going to be the power it would have to excercise Authoritative Power over what has become a national shambles concerning Planning and Development.
Mr Cullen might as well have closed the book and walked off the stage.
Without this essential element of AUTHORITY the DTA simply becomes yet another comfy board for Taoisigh to appoint "Friends" to.
We all remember Prof O Mahoneys opening salvo when she took up her interim appointment.
She was quite precise in her outlining of "Knocking Heads Together" as being something she would not shirk from if it came to that.
Well we now know that that awful scenario will not now happen,and the long established 4 ball`s will remain as peaceful and undisturbed as ever...
Sadly for Dublin we shall now have to watch as T21 descends into a fudge of well meaning chaotic spending with little real focus.
The predominance of the Local Government machine has been underlined and Ministers need not fret over the Democratic Process being undermined.
The confidence which this Political elite possess is shown by the barefaced straight face on the Minister as he rubbed the good prof`s nose in his Political Litter Tray.
I predict a very well defined slide into T21 chaos as the power struggles continue and I will be as surprised as hell if we even get the Drumcondra Station Bus Interchange as far as a detailed drawing....:eek:
Well Im on your team Billy and the longer it goes on the more vocal I'll get. Im sure my opinions are well documented.
Con Job!
Dublin Transport Authority 1986 - 1987
Dublin Transportation Office 1995 - 2006
Dublin Transport Authority 2006 - ?
Have we gone full circle?
History has shown that if it isnt given the proper powers and freedom it will fail, simple as that.
From todays Irish Examiner
11 November 2006
RPA attacks Cullen’s plans to replace it with new agency
By Seán McCárthaigh
THE State body with current responsibility for the development of a Metro for Dublin has hit out at plans by the Transport Minister, Martin Cullen, to replace it with a new agency.
The Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) yesterday warned that proposals announced earlier this week by Mr Cullen to establish a Dublin Transport Authority (DTA) with sweeping powers over existing public transport companies could delay plans to complete the Metro by 2013.
In a statement released yesterday, the RPA stressed that it fully supported the establishment of the new body if it could “add value” to the work of existing transport bodies in implementing the Government’s Transport 21 programme for the greater Dublin region.
However, the RPA said it disagreed with Mr Cullen’s proposals that it should be fully absorbed into the new DTA.
The minister has approved the recommendations contained in the report of an advisory group that the DTA should take over direct responsibility for several key rail projects from the RPA, including the metro and an underground rail interconnector.
The RPA said the proposals would effectively lead to the dismantling and abolition of an agency which had built up a proven track record in recent years at delivering successful rail projects like Luas.
It questioned the rationale for such a decision due to the amount of work already carried out on future projects by the RPA.
“The report does not provide a credible explanation as to why a new State agency is required to take over the implementation of Metro and Luas projects whose planning is now well advanced,” said the RPA statement.
It pointed out that the RPA had already developed significant momentum on plans for the Metro and other projects like extensions to the two existing Luas lines.
The RPA warned that the establishment of a new body to take control of such projects could also cause confusion and consequent delays for such landmark projects.
It is understood that the RPA would be reluctant to issue any legal contracts relating to the Metro, given plans for its replacement by the DTA.
The RPA’s opposition to the DTA comes as another setback to Mr Cullen as the head of the advisory group, Professor Margaret O’Mahony, declined to accept the position of interim chairperson of the DTA.
It is believed that Prof O’Mahony was surprised that one of her group’s recommendations about the powers to be given to the DTA on the issue of land use had been rejected by Mr Cullen. However, she has indicated that the issue was not the reason for her decision to turn down the interim chair of the DTA.
Meanwhile CIÉ has declined to comment on the proposed new body.
Under the minister’s proposals, the DTA will assume major financial powers over the operations in the greater Dublin area of the group’s three main transport companies — Dublin Bus, Iarnród Éireann and Bus Éireann.
Click here for irishexaminer.com stories before this date
Derek Wheeler
11-11-2006, 19:59
Its not the RPAs fault, but it should've been done that way from the start. They are victims of poor Governance. As for the other bunch...
Meanwhile CIÉ has declined to comment on the proposed new body.
50 years of hardened, dogmatic resistance to change, so why would this news bother them.
In my opinion, the current Governments poor record in transport is coming back to haunt them via the proposed DTA. It should've been the first thing they did upon gaining power. It made sense then and it makes sense now, but a lot of water has been forced under the bridge since.
This issue will turn into a charade.
Thomas J Stamp
11-11-2006, 23:12
Now the RPA is a little bit annoyed that they are to be merged (abolished really) and this will set them back a good few years.
Which may be just what the minister ordered.
I don't understand why the RPA needs abolishing because of the DTA though. Surely the DTA should be the 'GOD' authority. They don't need to actually procure the infrastructure, just make sure that the agencies work together in integration etc. The RPA afterall has responsibility for the whole country, not just Dublin.
Derek Wheeler
12-11-2006, 19:23
The RPA afterall has responsibility for the whole country, not just Dublin.
In reality they don't. All of their projects over the next decade are Dublin based. The confusion started when the Gov portrayed them as a type of RPA clone. That was a bad move. Best way forward now is as you say. Let them get on with it, but answer directly to the RPA.
Surely the solution is to simply rename the RPA to the DTA infrastructure procurement division
Nigel Fitzgricer
12-11-2006, 23:49
The most interesting issue in all this is that CIE having to get permission off the new authority if they want to sell land. To me personally this represents enough reason for the authority to be given all the power it needs. I can only imagine how they reacted in the CIE board room when that bit of news came in.
The most interesting issue in all this is that CIE having to get permission off the new authority if they want to sell land. To me personally this represents enough reason for the authority to be given all the power it needs. I can only imagine how they reacted in the CIE board room when that bit of news came in.
Yeah I was highy amused reading that bit too.
I just wish this had of been done years ago before Treasury holdings got their hands on Spencer Dock.
Will Platform 11 be making a submission about the DTA before Friday's deadline and if so will members get to see it?
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