The Republic of Ireland has introduced free travel for all under-fives on subsidised public transport services.
As part of the fares determination published recently, the National Transport Authority (NTA) announced that all under-fives get to travel free on all subsidised public transport, including services provided by Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann, Luas, Dart and Dublin Bus.
The NTA said it recognised that the cost of travel for a young family can be expensive, and the move marked another step towards making sustainable transport a more affordable option for more families.
Anne Graham, NTA Chief Executive Officer, said: “Today’s development will be good news for families, particularly around this time of year.
“NTA has been taking steps to reduce the cost to families of using public transport since 2014. These include extending child fare eligibility to a person’s 19th birthday, and introducing ‘Kids Go Free’ Leap promotions during the Summer. This is something that we will continue to work on in the years ahead.”
Among other fare changes was the expansion of city bus zones in regional cities, which means that passengers on about three million journeys on Bus Éireann will be paying lower fares in 2018 than in 2017.
Following an analysis of the fare zones in the cities of Cork, Limerick and Galway, an extended city fare zone has been put in place. As a result, significant savings will be made by the commuters travelling from one of the new areas which are now included in the city fare zone.
