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Clare Green Senator Seeking Better Coordinated Bus And Train Times To Boost Public Transport Numbers

It’s been argued Clare’s bus and train times must be better coordinated to make public transport more accessible.

It follows the finding that this county has the second-lowest percentage of people who avail of the bus for their daily commute.

Despite more bus routes consistently coming on stream throughout the county, just 6% of Clare residents said they commuted to work or education by bus in the most recent Census.

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Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of commuters said they travel by car with over 35% admitting to driving on a daily basis and a further 25% saying they are a passenger in a car.

Ireland’s car dependency is well-documented with a recent survey finding that four fifths of households believe a car to be essential for family transport.

Of these, 30% said they use their cars multiple times over the course of a day and just 3% of the total number surveyed said that having a car isn’t essential.

Looking at the reasons for this, Killaloe Fianna Fáil Tony O’Brien, who works closely with the National Bus and Rail Union, says buses aren’t a realistic option for many families due to commitments outside of work.

Census 2022 also revealed that Clare has the joint-third-lowest proportion of train users in the country with less than 1% regularly availing of rail services.

Inagh Green Party Senator Roisin Garvey believes more joined-up thinking is required to make it easier for people use multiple forms of public transport in succession to get to their destination.

You can listen to the full interview below.

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