One of the great success stories of local life around Portlaoise in recent years has been the addition of a dedicated bus service around the town.
In operation now for a year, the figures using it have exceeded expectations and there have been regular calls from elected representatives for it to be expanded in terms of additional stops and routes.
Speaking on a recent episode of the LoveLaois Podcast, Michael Rainey, CEO of Laois County Council, said he would be in full support of the service increasing but it’s not without its challenges for the NTA (National Transport Authority).
“I’m probably not surprised (by its success) because we would have seen the bus service come into Carlow when I was there,” he said.
“It was a huge success in Carlow as well, but obviously you had the university, so you’re kind of thinking when it’s coming to Portlaoise, would it have the same appetite from people to use it?
“So in that way, I am surprised. I always knew it was going to be a success, but the level of use is really, really satisfying.
“It’s really satisfying because there’s a lot of work that goes into this, and obviously it’s not just Laois County Council, the NTA are the drivers, literally, of the bus in this regard.
“But there would have been an awful lot of work from a local authority perspective in terms of the bus shelters and the routes and the engagement with the political body, etc.
“So I think one of the most encouraging pieces is that the elected members were behind us from the get-go, and if anything, they were demanding us to do it sooner, do it quicker, drive it on.
“All we hear from them now is they want more bus routes.”
And can there be more routes?
“The better you are at doing something, the more people want.
“One of the challenges that the NTA has to be recognised is that there are a lot of towns out there without a bus service.
“So do they expand the service that we have in lieu of bringing a service to other towns?
“They’re in that balancing act of trying to bring services to other towns as well.
“But we, as a local authority, we’re certainly very keen to see the bus routes expanded, and I think the fact that it’s so heavily used and it’s such a success in the county makes its own case.”
Mr Rainey also spoke about the council’s stated aim of getting more people out cycling. There have been a number of new cycle lanes in Portlaoise in recent years, as well as the addition of electric bikes, but there are no metrics on how many people are actually regularly cycling.
“To my knowledge, we don’t have those specific metrics,” he said when asked about the number of active cyclists around the town.
“The thing with cycling, we’re coming from such a low base as a country in terms of having cycle lanes that you kind of have to build out the network at a time, even when there’s limited use.
“(We’ve) to keep building a network so that we get to where some of our European counterparts are, that it’s the norm.
“It’s a cultural norm to get on the bike and it’s a reasonable and safe way to get to work or to school.
“I wouldn’t be so tied up on how many people are currently using it. I think our focus has to be on delivering as much active travel opportunities for people.
“And there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing children, and you see it quite often now, cycling to school and cycling safely to school.
“Myself and many others cycled to school. But there’s been a period of time then where, as a society, we felt it was unsafe for children to cycle to school. And I think it’s beginning to turn around.
“And we are (now) creating these active travel routes. And there’s Simon Walton (Director of Services in Laois County Council) and the roads team and the active travel team, they’re doing really good work in that space of trying to develop really safe, active routes within the county. But it isn’t easy work.
“Overall, there’s been a very welcome approach from citizens to active travelling.
“There’s nearly a demand now from the public that we provide a cycle route. If we’re putting in a new road, there is a cycle route on it, which is different from what was there in the past.”
You can listen to the episode in full below – or on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
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