Charles Ward says older people in Donegal are being left standing at the roadside as packed buses pass because they haven’t booked tickets online.

Derry Journal

Transcript

00:00Developing transport in rural Ireland is very important as many transport services in rural

00:05parts of the country are poorly developed and unreliable.

00:09This is an issue that comes up time and time again for my constituents in Donegal where

00:13people are unable to rely on public transport and get to where they need to go when they

00:18need to go there.

00:20We also have issues in Donegal with having no rail network, meaning that we have no alternative

00:25to buses.

00:27Most of the people therefore are forced to rely on cars, which has negative impacts

00:31on the environment, which contributes to chronic traffic issues that we have currently in parts

00:37of Donegal.

00:38I have said it before and I will say it again, Letterkenny is a disaster.

00:42The Polestar roundabout is often gridlocked, emergency services constantly struggling to

00:47reach Letterkenny Hospital.

00:48What used to be a five minute journey now takes 45 minutes and it is putting lives at risk.

00:53This weekend traffic will be even heavier on the Donegal international rallies coming to

00:59Donegal.

01:00It will take place.

01:01There is expected to be over 70,000 people.

01:03I would like to take this opportunity to wish the participants in the Donegal international

01:08rally the best of luck.

01:10I urge all those attending on the roads to look out for each other and be safe.

01:16There is always a higher risk of accidents when more cars are on the roads and so relying

01:22on cars as the only mode of transport what we do in Donegal is very dangerous.

01:26It also creates a higher risk of drink driving as people in rural areas often don't have access

01:31to alternative modes of transport home.

01:34This is severely affecting the nighttime economy in Donegal.

01:38Across Donegal, pubs, clubs and hotels are closing down because people are unable to travel

01:42to and from them in a safe manner.

01:45Rural pubs are often used as community gathering spaces and their decline has an effect on people's

01:52ability to socialise and connect with each other.

01:55We need to extend the nighttime link services to generate more business for the local nighttime

02:01economies, the pubs, the clubs, the hotels.

02:04We need to develop frequent, reliable, accessible transport that will ensure that people in rural

02:09Ireland wouldn't have to be so heavily reliant on cars.

02:14The bus errand service between Donegal town and Dublin to Letterkenny is a service I use myself.

02:21These routes are often not reliable, with the bus sometimes not turning up because it's broken down.

02:27These routes can often be overcrowded too, particularly in the summer months with people using it as a mode to get to the airport.

02:34Particularly older people can be left stranded at the side of the road because they have booked tickets.

02:39They've gone into the bus station, booked the ticket, but because they haven't done it online,

02:44they can't get access to the bus and they're left stranded at the side of the road.

02:48We need people to focus on providing more transport infrastructure, such as bus shelters in Donegal.

02:53We have very few.

02:54You could probably count them 20 or 30 throughout the county.

02:57People are standing at signs with, say, bus.

03:00The rain's coming down them.

03:01They have no shelter.

03:02It's like something from the 1970s.

03:04We need to upgrade our infrastructure to facilitate those who use public transport the most.

03:09Young people, older people and people with disabilities.

03:12From talking to members of the Irish Wheelchair Association recently and my own constituents,

03:17it's clear that people with disabilities find public transport inaccessible and unreliable in Donegal.

03:23Our transport services do not cater for those with disabilities, despite the fact those people rely so heavily on public transport.

03:29It's a disgrace that in this day and age these people are being left behind.

03:34Many wheelchair users in Donegal are shamefully isolated and left in their own homes due to lack of accessible transport.

03:41We need public transport system that works for everyone and leaves no one behind.

03:46And this is what the government should be focused on.

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