NTA says free bus travel on some Cork routes would cost €3.2m

The head of Cork City Council’s transport strategic policy committee has called for pilot programmes in which city bus routes are made cheaper or free, but the National Transport Authority (NTA) say it would cost at least €1m.

Labour councillor Peter Horgan asked the NTA what the cost of removing fares on certain bus routes would be, in addition to the estimated cost of the introduction of a €9 monthly ticket for use on routes 202, 212, 216, 220, and 220.

NTA interim chief executive, Hugh Creegan, explained: “These assessments are exceedingly difficult to undertake with certainty. There are a large number of variables involved, exacerbated by the hybrid working patterns of many commuters, together with many unknown factors.

“For instance, a large amount of work would be required to evaluate the likely transfers from other modes of transport, due to the lower or free cost of the bus services, which, in turn creates uncertainty about the level of additional capacity (buses and drivers) that would be needed,” said Mr Creegan.

“Without undertaking a substantial amount of additional work, for which we don’t have available resources, we are not in a position to provide definitive estimates in response to this queries.”

Mr Creegan said that in the case of free transport for the five routes mentioned: “The directly lost revenue, assuming no change in passengers on these five bus routes (which is an unrealistic assumption), is estimated to be in the range of €2.9m to €3.2m.

“But the actual cost would be substantially higher, with a high likelihood of additional buses, drivers, and other personnel needing to be deployed in the event of free travel on these routes.”

On the estimated cost of the introduction of a €9 monthly ticket for use on routes 202, 212, 216, 220 and 220, Mr Creegan said: “For all of the reasons stated above, this is very difficult to accurately evaluate. 

"However, if we assume no change in passengers on these five bus routes, which is in itself an unrealistic assumption, a preliminary assessment suggests a cost in the range of €1 to €3m. 

"But, again, if additional resources are required to be deployed, this cost will increase.”

Mr Horgan told The Echo that the initiative should be rolled out on a trial basis: “The NTA has effectively acknowledged that a €9 climate ticket for Cork is within the realm of possibility. We now need political and policy momentum to move this forward.

“This is about modal shift and climate action. We already know that fare reduction increases public transport usage. The €9 ticket is not about free rides — it’s about affordable, reliable access that gets cars off roads, reduces emissions, and makes Cork more liveable.

“What we need now is a trial in Cork — not endless theoretical modelling. Let’s pilot the €9 climate ticket for six months on these five key routes and gather real-world data. That’s the only way to know how transformative this could be for Cork.”