We've done enough talking': Cork city councillor says it's time to deliver long-promised park and rides

A CORK city councillor says it is finally time to deliver park and rides as a form of integrated transport in Cork city that would allow private transport users park their vehicles and travel into the city centre using public transport.

Labour Party councillor John Maher put forward a motion at this week’s meeting of Cork City Council calling for the local authority to make contact with relevant departments, the National Transport Authority (NTA), and other stakeholders necessary to ensure a park and ride is delivered for the northside of the city.

Speaking to The Echo, he said: “We’ve had too much talk about park and rides and now we need to deliver them, to give people options and allow them to use public transport and cut our carbon emissions.”

“Cork and, in particular, the northside needs balanced development, including these proposed new park and rides.”

In response to Mr Maher’s motion, Cork City Council director of infrastructure Gerry O’Beirne said the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy identifies six indicative locations for such park and ride facilities, including Blarney/Stoneview, Dunkettle, Carr’s Hill, Bandon Road, and Ballincollig, which he said will be the subject of further investigation.

'SIGNIFICANT WORK'

Mr O’Beirne said the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy, which details the infrastructure required to support the development of Cork up to 2040, envisages the development of a network of strategic park and rides at designated public transport interchanges and other key destinations via high-frequency public transport, walking, or cycling.

“In the majority of cases, the park and rides are related to the delivery of the new BusConnects network with the necessary bus corridor upgrades to be delivered in advance of the opening of new park and ride facilities,” said Mr O’Beirne.

“This is because park and ride facilities are not attractive to potential users if the related bus service is hampered by general traffic congestion,” he said.

“Significant work has been undertaken by NTA in relation to the Bus Network Review and more recently in relation to the proposed strategic corridor upgrades.

“Progress on the other elements of the BusConnects programme will similarly be advanced in the period ahead and these include park and rides, ticketing, cashless payment systems, bus fleet/zero emissions, new fare structures, and new stops/shelters.”

However, Mr Maher said that he does not understand why park and ride facilities are related to the delivery of the new BusConnects network in the majority of cases.