Independent Cllr Kieran McCarthy has welcomed the most recent update on the Bus Connects project by Cork City Council’s Roads and Transportation Directorate. The improvement and expansion of Cork bus services has been a long- standing objective for the City. The availability of frequent, reliable and cost effective bus based transport is a critical enabler for the planned growth in Cork over the period to 2040. Bus Connects is a key component of the Cork Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy and it is supported by the National Development Plan.

Cllr McCarthy noted: “The National Transport Authority (NTA) is now progressing the necessary measures for planning and delivering Bus Connects in Cork. Additional staff have also been recruited by the City Council with National Transport Authority assistance to support the development and roll out of the programme. A number of separate design teams have been appointed to develop concept designs for the core bus corridors. These corridor improvements will be necessary for the efficient running of an expanded bus service and will include provision for bus priority as well as cycle and pedestrian facilities”.

 Cllr McCarthy continued: “The issues to be addressed in the network review were presented for public consultation in July 2021 and submissions received have been fed into the design process. It is expected that the emerging draft network proposals will be subject to further consultation in November 2021 and that the revised network layout will be published in quarter one of 2022”.