Stormont and Translink have knocked back a request by Belfast City Council to introduce a pilot of free transport for young people across the city.
At last month’s full council meeting every party but the DUP supported a motion from Green Party Councillor Brian Smyth to the pilot.
However, at the council’s City Growth and Regeneration Committee meeting this week (February 9), elected representatives learnt both the Minister for Infrastructure Nichola Mallon and Translink had given the idea a thumbs down, both for financial reasons.
The original council statement states: “Extending and improving uptake of sustainable transport is key to our city playing its part in averting climate breakdown.
“In order to create a societal shift in how people access public transport, this council therefore calls upon the Minister for Infrastructure and Translink to introduce a pilot of free public transport for young people in Belfast which will also include the West Belfast taxi association and the Shankill taxis.”
In reply to the council request, the private secretary to Minister Mallon wrote: “Minister Mallon has recently announced her intention to extend free travel across Northern Ireland for people with disabilities who currently pay half fare and to widen the range of services facilitating concessionary travel by extending the scheme to new operators (including some in Belfast) who have already indicated or expressed an interest in joining.
“This is in the context of the current budget consultation and the proposal for the associated ring funding of such a move. As you will be aware, the current public transport network faces financial challenges each year. Given that Translink operates one of the widest public transport networks within these islands, there is a significant cost to running these important services as fare revenue is not sufficient to cover them.
“In that regard, the Department for Infrastructure provides a subsidy to Translink to offset the remaining cost of the network with a contractual obligation to maintain the organisation’s going concern status.
“However, as the Department has faced significant budgetary constraints since 2014/15, this has meant that opening baselines for the public transport network are below what is required to operate it. This has meant that in many years Translink has delivered the public transport network at significant losses.
“This challenge remains as we look forward to future years. Minister Mallon would be very keen to offer young people free travel however it would require a significant increase in funding from the Executive to the Department.”
Translink replied: “Translink would be broadly supportive of such a policy on the public transport network in Northern Ireland. We believe that such a step would help to tackle climate change, air pollution and congestion both in the short and long-term and play a role in forming life-long sustainable travel habits for a Net Zero Northern Ireland, in keeping with the Executive PfG and Belfast City Council’s Belfast Agenda.
“It would also have a key role in enhancing social inclusion, as well as making access to education, apprenticeships and employment much easier for many young people in Northern Ireland.
“However, we wish to emphasise that such a policy, as well as the details associated with a pilot, is ultimately a matter for the Department for Infrastructure. This would include consideration of the affordability of this policy given the pressures that continue to reside on the Department’s budget.”
At the council committee meeting, Green Councillor Mal O’Hara said: “I am disappointed by the response, but I expected it would be the response. I would love to respond to the Executive, but we don’t currently have one.”
He suggested the council write to Finance Minister Conor Murphy instead, to ask for a greater allocation of funding towards public transport infrastructure.
Chair of the City Growth and Regeneration Committee, Councillor Ryan Murphy, a Sinn Fein colleague of the Finance Minister, said: “I would suggest it is not for the Department of Finance and the minister of it to decide how the Department for Infrastructure spends its money.”
Despite this the committee agreed for the council to write to the Finance Minister.
