Galway City Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland haven’t “done their homework” on the impact of school travel on city traffic patterns.

That’s according to the Cosáin campaign group, which has made the claim based on information gathered through Freedom of Information requests.

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As schools reopen this week, Cosáin says the predictable return of heavier morning traffic underscores a long neglected issue.

And that is transport planning authorities allegedly never seeking evidence-based solutions to reduce reliance on cars for school travel.

It says that documents gained through FOI show that neither Galway City Council or TII have conducted any studies on the impact of school travel on overall traffic.

It points to the notable decrease during holidays, particularly on the west side which has a heavy concentration of schools, and says the “obvious” connection has largely been ignored.

Some credit is given to the National Transport Authority for “some attempts” to address school travel through certain initiatives and inclusion of school travel in some city plans.

But even then, Cosáin says these efforts are limited and fail to address the broader reliance on cars that “plagues” the city.

The group says Galway’s traffic woes are are a direct result of a decades long failure to address our dependency on cars – as well as an over reliance on the Ring Road as the only viable solution.

It further claims that transport policy just accepts a high level of car use as normal, and misinterprets it as demand for driving when it’s actually due to a chronic lack of alternatives.

Cosáin says that traffic cannot improve until car dependence is tackled seriously – and a city-wide school bus service, as well as safe walking and cycling routes to schools, are badly needed first steps.

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