Minister of State for Tourism and Sport Michael Ring has stated that County Mayo will see the creation of a new transport co-ordination unit (TCU ) for the provision of rural transport services in the county. The news comes as part of the continued overhaul of the Rural Transport Programme.
Rural transport services are provided in Mayo by the Mayo North East LEADER Partnership which as the only company in the county is to become the TCU as confirmed to Minister Ring by the National Transport Authority. It will work with Mayo County Council to develop an annual plan for transport in rural Mayo which will then be serviced by the TCU.
Minister Ring continued: "Now Mayo will have a ‘go to’ point for rural communities to address their transport needs. The new TCU will be allocated new roles such as maintaining databases of people in rural areas with specific transport needs and assisting co-ordinating voluntary efforts to address these. They will also have a role in assessing the needs of isolated areas when it comes to the granting of a new category of hackney licence – the ‘Local Area Hackney Licence’ by the NTA.” He concluded by saying: "Access to transport is a major quality of life issue – especially for elderly people. This will give a lifeline to many communities in tackling the very serious problem of rural isolation, and this represents a major overhaul of the Rural Transport Programme but one that will lead to major improvements.”
