Latest fare increases are a tax on working people

Earlier this year I embarked on an experiment to see if we could do without one of our family cars. In this era of austerity, the notion of a two-car household felt a bit Celtic Tigerish.

The cost of keeping two cars on the road has become increasingly prohibitive when you factor in fuel, road tax, insurance, toll charges and servicing. We worked out that getting rid of one car would easily fund a family holiday abroad or – more sensibly – could be put aside for our eldest daughter’s imminent college fees.

Naturally, my car would be getting the bullet. I’d have to bus it to my office in the suburbs or make do with the train if I needed to go into the city. How hard could it possibly be? There’s even free Wi-Fi on the buses these days.

•Public transport needs proper Government funding. FILE PHOTO

I’m not living near the DART line but there is a reasonably regular commuter train service during peak times. The problem is that the station is a two-mile trek from my house so I’d either need to catch a bus to catch a train or park and ride (leaving my wife without a car for the school runs).

On the occasions when I took this option, I was faced with a ridiculous daily rate of €4 to park at the station, followed by a return fare in excess of €10 – and that was before this month’s increase! The train journey into the city was uncomfortably crowded, with standing room only.

The bus option didn’t work out much better. For the privilege of making a return journey to my office (which wasn’t even as far as town), I was charged an extortionate €8.40. This was pretty much on a par with the petrol costs of taking the same trip by car. So after a month of standing in the cold and rain and being forced to listen to commuters loudly babble into their mobile phones, I was back stuck in traffic in the comfort of my car.

Of course, I could have done it slightly cheaper by getting a Leap Card (which is a great initiative) or monthly ticket. But at the end of the day, the saving wasn’t enough to justify getting rid of the car.

The reduction in Government subventions to public transport companies has been directly blamed for the most recent hike in fares. In effect, the increases simply feel like another form of taxation on working people. If our politicians are serious about reducing our carbon footprint and getting people out of their cars, transport needs to be adequately funded by the Exchequer in the public interest.

I suspect that commuters’ tolerance for fare increases is getting close to tipping point.