This article is from page 19 of the 2011-10-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 19 JPG
CLARE has been held up as a model for how the nationwide Rural Transport Programme can be a lifeblood to a community.
The success story of the Clare Accessible Transport (CAT) initiative that is operated in east Clare was hailed by the junior minister for transport Alan Kelly during a visit to its Feakle base on Wednesday.
“It was a great opportunity to show Minister Kelly the integrated transport model that has been developed in Clare since 2003 as part of the Rural Transport Programme,” a spokesperson for CAT revealed.
“The Minister saw one of CAT’s low floor buses which are essential to the delivery of a fully integrated service. The vehicle design maximises resources, particularly for rural areas by enabling everyone from the same locality to board the bus easily, avoiding the need for different types of buses to serve the same areas.
“CAT’s collaborative approach to investment in the service was emphasised as a means of providing excellent value for money while meeting the transport needs of people living in isolated parts of the county,” the spokesperson added.
The CAT schedule offers responsive and flexibly-routed public transport that is open to everyone. The number of people registering with the service since the first bus went out in 2003 is approaching 4,000, with passengers making up to 4,000 trips per month.
“The dispatchers who operate the travel centre are noticing an increase in bookings to connect with national transport services to Limerick, Cork, Dublin and Galway as well as calls for shopping, work and training. More and more people are calling in to find out about their local bus service and the annual Driver CPC training that CAT provides,” the spokesperson added.