People Before Profit Galway have produced a document putting forward their vision for the future of transport in Galway, to be launched in the city tomorrow. The party will hold a launch of the document on Friday 24th March, at 2pm downstairs in Áras na nGael, Dominick Street.
Speaking at the launch will be People Before Profit TD Gino Kenny, and the party’s three candidates for the 2024 local elections in Galway city – Adrian Curran (City Central ), Maisie McMaster (City West ) and Denman Rooke (City East ).
Speaking ahead of the event, Adrian Curran said that as the document points out, Galway is the most congested city of its size in Europe.
“The negative consequences of this are felt by us all, in terms of time wasted sitting in traffic, fuel expenses, air pollution and more.
“The document is intended to provoke a conversation and debate about the future of transport in Galway.
“In sections on bus, rail and active travel, we put forward a vision that could improve quality of life, reduce congestion and save people money.”
Denman Rooke said that despite the rhetoric of the Green Party and others, Ireland is utterly failing to take the actions necessary to reduce emissions.
“Last year we had the highest increase in greenhouse gas emissions of any EU country, at 17%. Transport is one of the most significant contributors to those emissions.
“It is vital we rapidly move to end the current reliance on private cars. This can be done through urgently improving the alternatives – bus, rail, cycling and walking. These must be enhanced to become attractive alternatives to the car for the journeys people make.”
Maisie McMaster said that each year, People Before Profit produces a fully costed alternative budget.
“Using figures supplied by the State, we show how fare-free public transport with an increased capacity is perfectly possible.
“In order to achieve this and the other types of changes called for in the Galway Transport Vision document, we need to break from the dependence on the private market and the for-profit model in the provision of public services,” she concluded.
