The road to sustainable transport? Rural transport programmes and policies in Ireland

Abstract

Today many rural dwellers in the Republic of Ireland depend on the private car to access services, employment, education, healthcare and recreation and thus shoulder a disproportionate share of the burden of insufficient public transport. But car dependency does not only affect rural Ireland: those who live in Irish cities, towns and their sub-urbanised hinterlands also experience accessibility problems and reduced 'walkability' resulting from sprawl and a lack of transport alternatives. Recent census figures illustrate the geographical and demographic expansion of urban centres such as Dublin, Cork and Galway which are now extending well into their (semi-) rural hinterlands where public transport is often unavailable. Car dependency thus represents a key challenge for national transport policy in general, and rural public transport provision in particular.