Calls to make bus travel ‘free for students’ and to improve services in Limerick
TRAVEL on buses across Limerick should be free for all third-level students.
And services from rural parts of the county should be made more regular and reliable to encourage the next generation to consider public transport as their first choice.
That’s the view of Fianna Fail councillor Bridie Collins, who lives in Adare and who has called for the local authority to lead the way in delivering the reforms needed.
“We as a local authority should be doing all we can to provide the infrastructure so public transport is easily accessible. It should be the first port of call for all students, be they living in Cappamore, Cappawhite, Kilmallock, Adare, or wherever they live,” said Cllr Collins, who chairs the economic and planning committee.
She believes in turn, communities across Limerick could become “feeder towns” to University of Limerick, with many students unable to live close by due to a shortage of housing.
“We are in a housing crisis, and this would make the outskirts - the Pallaskenrys, the Foyneses, the Newcastle Wests - feeder towns for the university,” she explained.
“As a local authority we should be looking at providing the infrastructure to support the universities who have provided us with huge population growth,” she added.
The Fianna Fail councillor did acknowledge, however, that it is a tough challenge to change the mindset of people living rurally, many of whom consider using their car as the first and only option.
“If you knew within an hour, there will be a bus from wherever you are in Limerick that will bring you into the city - you might have to change buses at an outside location - these are things we should be looking at as a local authority. How do we put in the infrastructure to make sure the buses run on time? Do we need a park-and-ride on the edge of the city,” asked Cllr Collins.
While her own village of Adare has a daytime service of two buses an hour to the city on a corridor covering Newcastle West, other parts of the county are not so lucky.
Kilmallock has nine return services a day - a vast improvement on recent times - the Askeaton service also enjoys a similar frequency.
“If we are moving towards sustainability and carbon neutrality by 2050, this cohort of students will be the employers and innovators going forward, we should get them used to using public transport,” she concluded.