[Article] Getting Irish People onto Public Transport

[Mark Hennessy]

Another good article in the Irish Times about public transport in general in this country:

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...251382260.html

It would be very convenient if these public transport refuseniks could be characterised as wily old executives who are a little stuck in their ways. But it’s not like that. Most of the people who refuse to use public transport are healthy, fairly youthful types who are distinguishable from the rest of us only in so far as their cars are pretty clean. This is a bitter pill for the anti-car lobby to swallow, but it is true, nevertheless. There are people who will never be beaten, or even induced, out of their cars. This might be a question of national identity; it is certainly a national characteristic. The Republic has never been a great place for public transport – train and tram tracks ripped up with gay abandon, whole transport networks destroyed in the newly independent Ireland, which was then and still is in thrall to the car.