Minister Ryan launches transformative Pathfinder Projects in Tipperary
Pathfinder Programme to bring more public transport, walking and cycling options to our villages, towns, and cities by 2025
- 35 projects
- 19 counties
- 19 walking and cycling projects
- Reaching 500 schools
- 5 cities
- 6 ’10 minute’ neighbourhoods
- 5 transformative public transport projects
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan T.D. today launched the Pathfinder Programme of 35 exemplar transport projects to be delivered by local authorities and agencies around the country within the next three years.
The projects are those selected following Minister Ryan’s call to local authorities throughout the country over the summer to submit their most innovative, transformative plans for public transport, walking and cycling in their areas – the projects that could make the greatest difference to people living in their counties.
In Tipperary, the ‘Clonmel 10 Minute Town’ project was selected under the Pathfinder Programme and aims to reduce the dominance of the car within the town centre. It will include pedestrian access to town centre streets, reduce on-street parking availability and implement a one-way system on the main street.
The project will also connect existing and proposed new walking and cycling infrastructure such as the Suir Blueway, proposed Suir Island pedestrian and cycling bridge, the proposed Cahir to Clonmel Greenway and the Safe Routes to Schools projects.
The Pathfinder Programme is focused on reducing carbon emissions in the transport sector, by enabling the shift to cleaner transport choices. The Pathfinder Programme will bring increased momentum to the delivery of projects at a local level, providing templates for replication and scaling up elsewhere and with a strong emphasis on experimental and innovative approaches.
Speaking at the launch, Minister Ryan said: “I was delighted with the response to my call to local authorities to participate in the Pathfinder Programme. This first selected list shows clearly that there is a real appetite for change across the country. Shortlisted projects, while all unique, have three key things in common. They are innovative. They are ambitious. And critically, they will be delivered at speed. The Leadership Group through this Pathfinder Programme will continue to engage with all local authorities to ensure momentum and that the lessons and experience of the shortlisted projects are shared for everyone’s benefit.”
“Decarbonising transport presents an enormous challenge, one which requires a fundamental change in how we travel including a shift in our mindset and choices. By 2025 the selected pathfinder projects will be in action, improving the communities in which they will be implemented, and demonstrating to other localities how our system can be transformed. By delivering quickly, and by striking out on a path which others will follow, they will help to drive implementation of the Government’s Sustainable Mobility Policy.”
The Pathfinder Programme forms a key part of the implementation of the National Sustainable Mobility Policy (SMP), which sets out the Government’s plan to meet Ireland’s requirement to achieve a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 in the transport sector.
- The Pathfinder Programme is not a new funding stream. It is an initiative aimed at ensuring the projects selected are provided the impetus to deliver quickly and demonstrate what can be achieved with the right level of ambition and innovation.
- The Sustainable Mobility Policy, which was published in April 2022, commits the Government to deliver at least 500,000 additional daily active travel and public transport journeys and a 10% reduction in kilometres driven by fossil fuelled cars by 2030.
- The objectives of the Pathfinder Programme is fully aligned with the recommendations of the OECD report on Transport in Ireland [”Redesigning transport: Towards Irish transport systems that work for people and the planet”] which was published last week. In their report, the OECD recognised that the Sustainable Mobility Policy has “medium to high potential” to bring about transformative change to the structure of Ireland’s transport system, and strongly recommended that implementation of the SMP be further prioritised and scaled up.
- All local authorities will be invited to participate in “Smart and Sustainable Mobility Training Workshops” over the next three years. These workshops, which are themselves a pathfinder project, are being developed through the Regional Assemblies to build capacity in the sustainable mobility space.
