Fianna Fáil TD for Kildare-North, James Lawless, has welcomed the commitment given by the NTA to establish a park and ride development office and said it must happen without delay.
Deputy Lawless said a dedicated development office will be able to identify the best locations for the carparks and streamline the process of getting them opened.
He was commenting as the NTA confirmed in a Parliamentary Response to him that a park and ride development office would be established in 2020.
He said, “We need to get people out of their cars and onto public transport. Not only will it mean reduced congestion, but it will also mean a reduction in carbon emissions. Study after study has shown how sitting in traffic every day is having a negative effect on people’s mental health and only adding to the stresses of everyday life.
“Park and ride facilities offer a practical solution. They encourage commuters to leave their cars outside the city and take trains and trams. A development office could also look to establishing park and ride facilities which could link up with busses to get into the city centre.
“Any person who tries to get parking at one of the jam-packed stations along the commuter line in Kildare or any of the commuter counties knows how difficult it is. People are getting trains much earlier than their actual working day starts just so that they can get parking in the station. It’s not sustainable and it’s not conducive to good to a healthy work life,” he concluded.
