[Press Release: April 30th, 2002]

DE BURCA CALLS FOR URBAN TRANSPORTATION SERVICE FOR WICKLOW TOWNS

Wicklow Green Party councillor and election candidate Deirdre de Burca has called for an urban transportation service for the main towns of county Wicklow. "As Arklow, Wicklow, Blessington and Bray expand there are more and more large housing estates surrounding these towns, often a mile or more from the town centre.", said de Burca. "In order to reach the shops, services and other facilities in the town centre, residents of these estates must use their cars, which has environmental consequences and also contributes to the traffic congestion of our major towns". Residents without cars have no option but to rely on others for lifts or to walk into town and many older people are effectively isolated from the life of the town centre", she added.

According to de Burca, an effective urban transportation service does not need to be a complicated or expensive undertaking. "One mini-bus or 'nipper' bus with a route serving all of the main estates in a town could easily provide a badly-needed service to residents", she said. "As the route would be a relatively small one it would not even be necessary to have a scheduled service. An ongoing service along a specified circuit would be quite adaquate".

"A local urban transportation service could quite possibly fund itself and could be tendered out to existing local transportation operators", said de Burca. "Since the service would help to bring people into the town centre local trading and business associations might even help subsidise it", she said, adding that, if the Minister of the Environment was doing his job, local transportation services would be subsidised.

"For too long public transportation services in Wicklow and in Ireland have been ignored", said councillor de Burca. "The Green Party and myself are committed to providing quality, quick and effective transportation for everybody - transportation that works and meets people's real needs". "There is an alternative to the pollution, gridlock and isolation that comes from excessive relience on private car use".

For further information please contact Deirdre de Burca on 086 8061450 or email deburca@wicklowgreens.org.