Cork councillor reiterates need for meeting to discuss public transport issues

A Cork city councillor has stressed the need for an urgent meeting with the National Transport Authority (NTA) to discuss bus issues and other public transport matters.

Labour councillor for the city’s North East ward John Maher tabled a motion at the last full council meeting before the summer break proposing that the council would “ask the CEO of the NTA to come to Cork and engage with Cork City Council on plans for BusConnects Cork, the maintenance and expansion of the shared bike scheme, the management of current bus service, and an update on plans for transport in Cork”.

Meeting

Speaking this week, Mr Maher reiterated the need for such a meeting.

“People are constantly telling me that they are done with the bus, particularly the 214 and 207 routes,” he said.

“We need the new CEO or senior management to come to Cork city and address the current management of bus service and plans for public transport in the future.

“While we are progressing these long-term plans, the NTA and Bus Éireann must come up with easy wins and offer a reliable service for all routes in Cork. It’s the least we deserve.”

A spokesperson for the NTA told The Echo that the authority “would be happy to attend a meeting to brief councillors on transport matters”.

“We received a letter from Cork City Council on July 29 notifying us of the motion by Cllr Maher that was adopted at the council meeting of July 8,” the spokesperson stated.

“We responded August 2 saying: ‘We note the contents of your correspondence and can confirm that the CEO would be happy to attend a meeting of Cork City Council at a date that suits all parties. Please note that we would be happy to meet at a city council meeting or to attend a special meeting of the council which might allow a longer meeting period and a more extensive briefing for the councillors, particularly for the new councillors elected in June. We look forward to hearing from you with some suggested dates.’”