[Article] Cullen to announce details of Dublin Transport Authority

[Navan Junction]

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/bre...breaking13.htm

[PaulM]

Originally Posted by Breakingnews.ie

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]

Originally Posted by ireland.com

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???

[markpb]

Originally Posted by Paul Mulcahy

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.

[Mark]

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]

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

[Mark]

interesting stuff alright

[PaulM]

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]

Originally Posted by Paul Mulcahy

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]

Initial planning for the Interconnector is expected to commence in 2006,

They'd better hurry up, shouldnt they?

[Mark Gleeson]

Remember the tender issued in June, that was it

[Donal Quinn]

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]

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]

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.

[TomB]

A 51-page report, and the word "passengers" is mentioned...
...twice.

Harrumph.

[Derek Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Thomas Bibby

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.

[Dave]

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

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]

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....!!!

[Mark Gleeson]

Originally Posted by Irish Independent

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_independe...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]

Being head of the DTA would be a thankless job I feel, she made the correct choice.