The Service Planning team has identified a number of large towns in Ireland where regular commuting within the boundaries of the town takes place each day for the full range of reasons – travel to work, education, shops, hospital/healthcare facilities and for visiting friends and family. Many of these trips are made by car, either because there is no alternative bus service, or the alternative bus service that exists may not run at times or to places to suit people’s needs. As a result, there is often traffic congestion at the heart of town centres, with consequential damage to the town’s economy and environment. The Service Planning team has carried out studies in some of these towns and is designing local town bus networks of services to provide an alternative to the unsustainable use of the car. Following supportive investment through the Public Service Obligation (PSO), a network of 2 cross-city bus routes were introduced to Kilkenny City in December 2019, Routes N1 and N2 were introduced in Navan in December 2020, and Drogheda’s network of routes and services was expanded to include Routes D4 and D5. Towns currently in the planning process include Carlow Town, Portlaoise and Mullingar.
