DUBLIN
The State’s total subvention to Dublin Bus is close to €100 million, the National Transport Authority (NTA) has said.
But trade unions have argued the exchequer subvention to the State-owned transport company has been reduced over recent years by 24 per cent – from more than €85 million to about €57 million last year.
However, this relates only to the State’s subsidy for current operations by Dublin Bus. In essence, this money represents payment to the company, technically known as public service obligations, for running socially necessary but commercially unviable bus services.
Most Dublin Bus journeys cost between €1.50 and €2.60 if passengers use a Leap card; they range from €2 to €3.30 if cash is used. There is a city centre fare of 75 cent (60 cent with a Leap card).
BELFAST
Public transport operator Translink provides bus and rail services for the North’s population of 1.8 million. In 2015/2016 Translink received £108.4 million (€128 million) from the department for infrastructure.
Capital grants totalled £39.8 million, revenue grants totalled £21.5 million and in both cases the majority of this was spent on the railway.In terms of buses, Metro serves the Belfast area, and Ulsterbus serves the main towns and villages.
Metro services in Belfast are split into the Inner Zone, City Zone and the Extended Zone
A single fare costs £1.50, £2 or £2.30 for adults but savings can be made with multijourney Smartlink cards.
LONDON
London’s buses are run by Transport for London, a public body also responsible for underground and rail services. A single bus journey costs £1.50 but this week London mayor Sadiq Khan announced a new “hopper” fare, allowing passengers to make any number of trips within an hour for a single fare.
Fare income covers almost 60 per cent of the cost of running London’s buses, with the rest coming from public subsidy and commercial activities.
After a number of years of rising passenger numbers, London’s buses have become less popular in recent years, chiefly because traffic congestion is making journeys slower.
ROME
By European standards, Rome public transport is cheap. The basic Rome ticket, the “BIT” (Biglietto Integrato a Tempo), costs €1.50. With this ticket, a passenger can travel around Rome by metro, bus or tram for 100 minutes from the moment it is validated.
The “BIT” covers a wide zone, well beyond the GRA ringroad (Rome’s M50), up to 30km from the city centre. For some dormitory-town commuters, this means they get a 30km suburban train ride, plus travel on the metro/bus/tram system, to get to work, all for €1.50.
Under its constitution, Rome’s transport authority ATAC is 65 per cent publicly and 35 per cent privately funded.
PARIS
The cost of a single bus ticket in Paris is €1.90, or €14.50 for a carnet of 10. There are 25,000km of bus routes in the Paris region, and 1,450 bus lines. In 2013, 3.5 million people took buses daily.
Paris buses are operated by the Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens (RATP), under the authority of the Syndicat des Transports d’Île-de-France (STIF). Other public transportation companies operate suburban lines, also under STIF.
STIF is a public company. The state has relinquished its role on the board to the regional council.
The STIF took in €2,747 million for metro and bus tickets in 2014, which equals 29.7 per cent of the €9,242 million regional transport budget.
BRUSSELS
With a population of just over 1.1 million, Brussels is similar in size and scale to Dublin. Unlike the Irish capital, it has an underground, tram and bus system, offering travellers the possibility of using one ticket to travel on all modes of public transport within one hour.
A study from 2010 showed 48 per cent of public transport revenues for the Brussels transport system were funded by public subventions.
As befits a highly federalised country, virtually all the state subvention for the public transport system comes from the regional administrations rather than central government.