The National Transport Authority (NTA) has published its annual report and financial statements for 2022.
It was a significant year for the NTA with passenger numbers on public transport returning to and exceeding the record highs achieved, pre-Covid, in 2019.
During 2022 a number of key strategic planning milestones were achieved. The NTA completed and published the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (LSMATS) and the Waterford Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy (WMATS). The Draft Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042 was completed.
Planning for three major capital projects continued in 2022 – BusConnects, MetroLink and DART+. A Railway Order application for Dart+ West was submitted to An Bord Pleanála for consideration in July with planning continuing on other elements of the DART+ Projects. The Railway Order application for Metrolink was submitted to An Bord Pleanála in September. The non-statutory public consultation for the Luas Finglas preferred route was also completed.
In Dublin, bus services for commuters were improved with the introduction of two phases of the BusConnects network redesign. During the year the NTA submitted six of the 12 core bus corridor applications to An Bord Pleanála.
In Cork, the first round of public consultation was held for the Sustainable Transport Corridors (STCs) which is part of BusConnects Cork. Over 3,000 submissions were received.
The NTA and bus operators worked together during 2022 to resolve issues around driver recruitment, but traffic congestion, due to the recovery in the economy, was also challenging for public transport throughout the year.
The NTA delivered important changes to fares and ticketing, with the introduction of the Young Adult and Student Leap Card for people aged 18 to 24, with a reduction of 50% in fares, while fares for everyone else were reduced by 20%. These measures, along with the development of new routes and services made a significant contribution in encouraging people back to using public transport.
The implementation of Connecting Ireland got underway in 2022 with the introduction of 38 new or enhanced routes in rural Ireland, as part of the five year Rural Mobility Plan.
In addition to these developments 165 battery electric single and double desk buses were ordered for use on urban services. The NTA also ordered an additional 90 new DART carriages, bringing to 185, the number that are now in production for delivery from next year.
During the year, the first orders were also made for the battery electric single deck and double deck buses, some of which are due to come into service in 2023.
In 2022, the NTA commenced the procurement process on two other significant projects: Next Generation AVL (Automatic Vehicle Locator) and Next Generation Ticketing (NGT).
It was also a successful year for our Active Travel projects with €310m invested in hundreds of projects in every city and county nationwide.
The NTA also introduced amended regulations in 2022 for the Small Public Service Vehicles (SPSV) sector to try and retain as many SPSVs in the industry as possible.
For more, visit: NTA Annual Report and Financial Statements 2022
Source: National Transport Authority
