School buses may be used by public

School buses could be used during the day as part of a realignment of rural transport services.

Minister of State for Public Transport Alan Kelly said it did not make sense to have school buses parked up for six hours every day.

Speaking at the launch of a review of the rural transport services which costs the State €200 million a year, Mr Kelly stated there needed to be a “better and smarter use of the vehicles that are there” and any reconfiguration must ensure that there is not a loss of services.

Six pilot schemes will be set up to examine how the rural transport programme, school transport and HSE non-acute transport can be integrated.

Mr Kelly said there was too much duplication and not enough multiple-use in rural transport programmes. He added that a Donegal transport programme had managed a 25 per cent reduction in the cost of a hospital service by working with a rural transport group.

“It seems very strange that you can see scenarios where different types of services, school transport, voluntary services, are feeding the same town and travelling the same roads. There are definitely economies that can be created there,” he said. “Does it make sense to be parked up for six hours a day? I don’t think so.”

A review of the rural transport programme, which was launched by the previous Government in February 2007, has found that value for money was not achieved.

Between 2007 and 2009 wages and salaries increased without a similar increase in journeys and there was little or no reporting of any income through fares by rural transport programmes.

Mr Kelly said it was clear from the review that the State was not getting “bang for its buck”.

Administration costs of the rural transport programme were 22 per cent of their overall costs in 2009 as opposed 13 per cent for Bus Éireann under the school transport programme.

A new high-level committee involving representatives from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the National Transport Authority, the Department of Education, the Department of Health, Bus Éireann, the HSE, local authorities and rural transportation groups will all oversee the pilots and the future integration of the services.