All Aboard – Public transport must be accessible to all
Published: Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Most of our trips in Ireland are taken by car, but 68% of all trips are for distances of less than 10km. (National Household Travel Survey (2023)
Providing active and public transport is key to tackling the climate emergency but to achieve this, significant change across our transport system is needed. The current transport system is not adapted to the transport patterns and needs of women and marginalised communities who rely heavily on car transport due to caring responsibilities, increased safety concerns and lack of access to alternative modes of transportation.
This was one of the key messages highlighted at today’s webinar All Aboard! Public & Active Transport for All organised by Feminist Communities for Climate Justice (FCCJ), a joint project between the National Women’s Council (NWC) and Community Work Ireland (CWI).
The webinar emphasised how people are locked into car-dependency because our public transport, despite record investment, still does not reach all of our communities sufficiently. There are many accessibility issues for disabled people deterring them from using bus and train services. Women often avoid using public transport due to concerns around safety and the lack of reliability which is needed for journeys for carrying out caring responsibilities. Access to walking and cycling infrastructure is also an issue in rural areas, limiting the use of active transport and further locking these communities into car-dependency.
What is needed is a new approach that ensures reliable, safe, regular public transport outside of work-commute times and that provides realistic, alternative modes of active transport for all. Expanding walking and cycling infrastructure would not only reduce our carbon footprint in transport but would also bring health benefits and reduce the need for car ownership, especially for shorter journeys.
Vanessa Conroy, Project Officer for Feminist Communities for Climate Justice said:
“Transport is a big part of our green transition, but if it’s not working for everybody, then it’s not working properly. Over 1 in 5 people claim that the choice to travel by car is based on the need to carry out family and child related activities. The current transport system is not adapted to the transport patterns and needs of women and marginalised communities who rely heavily on car transport due to caring responsibilities, increased safety concerns including fear of harassment, and lack of access to alternative modes of transportation.”
Rachel Doyle, National Director of Community Work Ireland, said:
“Tackling climate emergency means designing transport for everyone, now. Ireland needs truly accessible, community-centred transport—frequent, reliable, affordable and designed for everyone, urban and rural. Public and active transport needs to cater for prams and wheelchairs and include widespread cycle highways, pedestrian-friendly streets, and fewer hours stuck in traffic.”
James Casey, Disability Inclusive Climate Justice Lead at CBM Ireland (Christian Blind Mission), said:
“Solutions to climate Justice are solutions to social justice - more public transport systems that are affordable and easy to access, better homes and stronger communities. But we have to include everyone and recognise their voice and needs. Sometimes the big things can seem massive and scary - and they are - but by doing the little things, and by making people feel part of the solutions, we can achieve the systemic change we need.”
FCCJ is calling on Government to take action to expand and improve Ireland’s public transport system by broadening existing schemes so that affordable travel is more widely available; to actively promote a zero tolerance approach to anti-social and gender-based harassment on public transport; and develop transport timetables that cater to a variety of needs beyond the typical work-home commute.
Speakers at the webinar also included Chloe Ní Mháille, Former Manager/Bainisteoir of Comhar Caomhán Teo (Inis Oírr Community Development Cooperative) and Caoimhe Clarke, Executive Committee board member at Irish Cycling Campaign.
Ends/
For more information, please contact Silke Paasche, Head of Communications, NWC, Tel. 0858589104.
Notes:
What: Webinar: “All Aboard – Public & Active Transport For All” from Feminist Communities for Climate Justice, a joint project between NWC and Community Work Ireland
When: 1-2pm, Wednesday 19th February
Where: Online, register here: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/all-aboard-public-active-transport-for-all-tickets-1202943579629?aff=oddtdtcreator
Feminist Communities for Climate Justice
Feminist Communities for Climate Justice is a campaign for climate justice that reflects feminist and community work values. The project is developing a feminist and community work analysis of climate justice. This partnership between the National Women’s Council and Community Work Ireland amplifies the voices of women and marginalised communities that are most impacted by climate breakdown, building momentum in communities to engage, understand and influence climate policies
About NWC
The National Women’s Council is the leading national representative organisation for women and women’s groups in Ireland, founded in 1973. We have almost 200 member groups and a large and growing community of individual supporters.
The ambition of the National Women’s Council is an Ireland where every woman enjoys true equality and no woman is left behind. This ambition shapes and informs our work, and, with our living values, how we work. We are a movement-building organisation rooted in our membership, working on the whole island of Ireland. We are also part of the international movement to protect and advance women’s and girls’ rights. Our purpose is to lead action for the achievement of women’s and girls’ equality through mobilising, influencing, and building solidarity. Find out more on www.nwci.ie
About CWI
Community Work Ireland (CWI) is the leading national organisation that promotes and supports community work and development as a means of addressing poverty, social exclusion and inequality and promoting human rights. CWI is a membership organisation of over 800 individuals and organisations who support community work and development and work in the most disadvantaged communities throughout Ireland. Since 2012, CWI has been working on climate justice with a series of publications and seminars on the topic and through their Climate Justice Working Group.