The National Transport Authority (the Authority) has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public transport services as outlined in the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008. The Act gives the Authority responsibility for setting public transport fares on contracted services. This fares determination sets out the fares for all the main Public Service Obligation (PSO) services namely bus, rail, Luas light rail, as well as bus services operated by Go Ahead Ireland in Dublin & Kildare; Waterford city services operated by Bus Éireann and all other tendered PSO bus services operated under contract to the Authority. Where reference is made to Dublin city bus or Bus Éireann in this document, it also includes Go Ahead Ireland.
In its response to a sharp increase in price inflation across the economy, the government announced a package of measures on 10th February 2022 to mitigate the impacts of increasing cost of living expenses. Part of this package is to introduce a temporary reduction in fares on all PSO public transport services by an average of 20% until the end of 2022. The 20% reduction in fares will apply in addition to the previously announced introduction of Young Adult fares as part of Budget 2022, which will provide young people with an average 50% discount of equivalent adult fares. A timely and simultaneous implementation of both schemes across all PSO services entails significant complexity in relation to fares adjustments for both the Authority and Operators alike. For this reason the Authority intends for this to form the main focus of this year’s fares determination, with other structural changes being deferred to future determinations.
It has, however, been possible to bring forward a number of other changes to fares structures for the benefit of passengers, including the introduction of Mallow to the commuter fares zone in Cork; a new flat bus fare for all children in regional cities in line with that introduced in Dublin; and proposals for Taxsaver products to incentivise a return to public transport for commuters in the year ahead.
For more information, please see the document below.