Transport:The road to reform
Friday, July 9th, 2010agendaNi unpacks the plans for a new public transport agency to oversee the province’s sector. Chief among the new recommendations for reform is that a new public transport agency should be set up, reporting to the DRD. Consultation took place between November 2009 and February this year and a Bill was introduced into the Assembly on 21 June to legally provide for the new proposals. The new agency will be charged with forming the overall strategy and will also act as a watchdog by regulating the system through public transport contracts. According to the DRD, the agency is essential...[full story]
North/South:Journey times cut
Friday, July 9th, 2010Travelling throughout Ireland is becoming much easier thanks to modern roads that cut journey times drastically and make previously unconsidered trips more realistic. Gone are the days of police check-points which were symbolic of the Troubles. Ireland’s roads are now a sign of the island’s integration, not division. The 80km M1 Newry to Dublin motorway helped cut the travel time between Belfast and Dublin from around three hours to one and a half. It was opened in August 2007 and cost approximately €1 billion. More recently, in May, the M7 and M8 motorways from Dublin to Cork...[full story]
Infrastructure:Update
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010Two years into ISNI2, Northern Ireland’s residents are seeing the first fruits of its most extensive infrastructure programme, whether on the drive along the Westlink, waiting for treatment in the Downe Hospital or being taught in the redeveloped Grosvenor Grammar School, in east Belfast. While most projects in the three key areas we have selected have been completed or are on target, delays have also crept up e.g. at the Gransha mental health centre outside Derry or the Ballee Road East dual carriageway outside Ballymena. Fiscally, the Executive’s spending plans for 2010-2011 do...[full story]
2010 manifestos:Transport directions
Friday, May 14th, 2010Fuel duty and infrastructure top parties’ priorities. Greener travel is lower down the list. Transport policy can be neatly directed into two routes. Roads, railways and ports are devolved to Northern Ireland, while air and sea travel go to Westminster, which also sets the prices at the pumps. DUP The DUP praises community transport for how it helps older people in isolated rural areas and calls for more investment. Programmes to keep up the skills and confidence of older drivers are promoted. Its manifesto also calls for the Treasury to be flexible on fuel duty when costs are particularly...[full story]
Transport:Towards sustainable transport
Friday, May 14th, 2010Reversing spending on roads and making a determined focus on the alternatives is the way to green the province’s transport, John Barry suggests. With the impact of the Icelandic volcanic ash grounding most flights in Europe likely to live long in our collective memories, it is perhaps appropriate to focus our attention on transportation and mobility within Northern Ireland. The Executive estimated that the disruption cost Northern Ireland around 120,000 passengers and cost the local tourist industry around £1 million a day. To state the obvious, transportation and mobility are therefore...[full story]
Transport:Pumps, prices & projections
Friday, May 14th, 2010‘Black gold’, the most sought after commodity on the planet, has long been the subject of controversy and conflict. Meadhbh Monahan examines the worldwide and national factors affecting the price of fuel at our pumps. Crude oil was pumped from the ground in China over 2,000 years ago, used by native Indians as medicine and war paint, and first extracted from under the sea with drilling apparatus in 1955. Since then, the production and consumption of oil has risen to such a level that the main oil producing countries, governments, energy watchdogs and scientists are locked in a debate...[full story]
Transport:Time to change direction
Friday, May 14th, 2010Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy puts forward his priorities for transport and outlines the main steps being taken to make the system more sustainable. As minister responsible for transport, my focus is on ensuring the delivery of high quality transport and travel infrastructure and services which effectively support the economy of the region and help promote social inclusion in all areas, whether urban or rural. I have on a number of occasions outlined my commitment to set out a new direction for transport and travel. Most recently, I had an opportunity in March to host a...[full story]
Transport:Driving for safety
Friday, May 14th, 2010‘Driver error causes most crashes’ is the message as the province’s road safety strategy is updated. “It is fundamentally important that people get the message that driver error is the cause of most accidents,” said Environment Minister Edwin Poots as he announced a consultation on the new road safety strategy. The draft 2010-2020 strategy includes 170 proposed action measures which cover: continuing to reduce the number of road deaths and serious injuries (specifically focusing on improving safety on rural roads); working to protect young drivers and motorcyclists; and reducing...[full story]
North West:Co-operation across the border
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010How the North West region benefits from North/South Co-operation. Health Co-operation and Working Together (CAWT) is the main health co-operation body in the region, taking in the border counties of the South’s Health Service Executive and the Southern and Western Health and Social Care Trusts here. The body’s main purpose is to improve the health and well-being of population “with a particular emphasis on the border”. In February the body established a project to target obesity in the region. Funded through Interreg IVA programme to the tune of £788,000 the aim is to tackle...[full story]
North West:Bridge over troubled water
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010“An embrace in the centre of the river” is how the Peace Bridge has been described by its designers. agendaNi takes a look at the impact the structure is expected to have on the maiden city. With the potential it has to unite the Cityside and Waterside communities on either side of the River Foyle, the Peace Bridge will be an ‘S’ shape made from two identical curved suspension structures connected to opposing banks and overlapping in the middle. Ilex Urban Regeneration Company managed the project and construction on the £13.5 million project began in January. The contract awarded...[full story]
