At Risk of Delay

National Sustainable Mobility Policy | Year One Progress Report

Figure from page 8

A number of delays reflect alignment issues with other policies and strategies, where actions with shared objectives are replicated in the SMP. For example, five Road Safety Strategy-related actions were delayed at end April – namely actions 7, 64, 65, 66, and 91. While it is anticipated that these actions will be completed in Q3, the department, in conjunction with the Road Safety Authority, commenced a process in early 2023 to consolidate and modify all actions under Phase One of the Road Safety Strategy, and it is intended that any recalibration of actions as part of this process, when concluded, will be reflected in any future updates of the SMP.

Transport for Ireland (TFI) Live App

The new TFI Live App was rolled out in February 2023 and combined the previously available Real Time Ireland and Journey Planner apps.8 The new app fulfils SMP Action 84, and brings together real-time information for Bus Éireann, Go Ahead Ireland, Dublin Bus, Luas, and Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail services, as well as providing other tools for planning and managing transport journeys.

Of the 13 actions that were delayed at end April, two have since been completed. Action 89 relating to the introduction of PPTs was completed with the passing of new Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023 and Action 73 (as above) was completed with the publication of the Transport Appraisal Framework. Accordingly, by the end of June, the number of delayed actions had fallen to 12%.

At Risk of Delay

A number of actions have been identified as being at risk of delay despite progress being made. In some cases, this is due to delays arising in dependent actions – for example, Action 90 relates to usage and safety regulations for PPTs which must be submitted to the European Commission for consideration for a minimum 12 weeks. This piece of work was dependent on the successful enactment of the Road Traffic and Roads Act 2023 which occurred in late June. Thus, while the action is now likely to be complete by end 2023, the earlier delay in enacting the relevant legislation has created a minor risk of late delivery for Action 90.

Delayed

While 14% of actions were delayed by the end of the first year, it is anticipated that most of these actions will be completed shortly - during Q3 or Q4 of 2023. In many cases, the delays were reasonable (to achieve the best outcomes) or unavoidable.

For example, Action 68 called for the development and implementation of a public engagement strategy to promote the benefits of sustainable mobility and raise public awareness of sustainable transport options. However, far from failing to advance, this action has now been integrated into a more wide-ranging CAP23 action to produce a Climate Action and Sustainable Mobility Communications Strategy which is due for delivery early in Q3 2023.

In other cases, the ‘At Risk’ status reflects minor delays to some elements of larger programmes which are otherwise progressing on schedule. For example, Action 12 relates to work being undertaken to deliver DART+. While this is progressing well, with DART+ West and Dart + South-West railway order applications successfully submitted, some elements of the programme’s public consultation have required additional time and are ongoing. The action will therefore continue to be proactively monitored by the SMP Leadership Group to ensure overall progress remains on track, while recognising the importance of affording sufficient time to the public consultation process.

An unavoidable delay arose in relation to Action 73. In this case, it was prudent to await the publication of a related Government Circular before moving to publish the revised Transport Appraisal Framework.

8 https://www.transportforireland.ie/news/new-tfi-live-app-is-available-now/