THE Council were urged to write to Transport Minister Eamon Ryan to ask that the decision to no longer accept individual third level student ID cards for travel discounts be reversed or at least done on a phased basis.
In a motion before the local authority at this month’s full meeting of Limerick City and County Council, Fine Gael councillor Sarah Kiely also called for correspondence to be sent to Transport for Ireland (TFI) and Iarnród Éireann.
“This motion comes because of students and parents and guardians coming to me,” she told the council executive.
“As we all know, the private car is the main polluter and huge resources are being put into trying to get people out of their cars and onto public transport where possible. With the reduction of fares for students, this was a progressive move.
“The situation now is that, since September 3, only the TFI student Leap Card is accepted as a valid form of ID on all Iarnród Éireann intercity and Dart services or commuter services. Individual student third-level cards are no longer accepted.”
Cllr Kiely took the view that this move does nothing to encourage people to use public transport, deeming it an attack on students.
“It means students who may not need a Leap Card have to buy one to avail of a student fare. It is a way of getting already stretched students to pay out again.
“The student ID from third level institutions should be sufficient to get a student ticket.
“No reason was given as to why this is happening or why it is necessary, we need answers on this,” she insisted.
The City East representative also maintained that if this move was done on a phased basis it would be a little more palatable and would give people a chance to get used to it.
“I was recently on a train and the inspector gave a student a really hard time for not having the TFI Leap Card. He threatened to fine her for not having it and then stormed away. It was very unnecessary.
“It is a flawed exercise in greenwashing for the sake of inflating figures. Totally unnecessary, unacceptable, and wrong,” she concluded.
