Car sharing and car clubs are again being mooted as solutions to a lack of transport access in Clare’s rural areas.
It’s after a new report suggested services outside urban settings need to be improved urgently as a result of the cost of living crisis.
A new report from advocacy group Social Justice Ireland suggests that’s a sound that’s not being heard enough in rural parts of Clare and elsewhere.
They sat rural families are being hit hardest by rising fuel costs, and that the current public transport service in those areas isn’t up to scratch.
It’s led to fresh concerns being raised about both the cost of buses and trains in rural Ireland, and the availability of services when users need it.
The Clare branch president of the SVP says significant investment in infrastructure is needed to help those outside of towns and cities have adequate access to public transport.
Denis Carty says a number of the people in this county who are approaching them for help are doing so because of transport costs.
There are suggestions that car clubs could work in some rural communities in Clare.
The initiative, which is in place in some villages in the UK, sees a group of people pooling their vehicles and having them available to share.
Theresa O’ Donohoe, who’s a climate activist based in Lisdoonvarna, claims rural areas in particular need to remove the ‘stigma’ of every household having its own car.
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