It is ‘ridiculous’ to ask Ireland to wait another four years for contactless payments on public transport, a Dublin Councillor has warned.
Fine Gael Councillor Aoibhinn Tormey said the rollout of contactless payments on buses, trains and trams needs to be prioritised and completed in a much shorter timeframe.
A recent report said it will take between three to four years for the new system to be rolled out across Dublin transport services.
It comes as Northern Ireland's Translink completed the roll-out of contactless payments across its entire network earlier this week.
It means customers there can use contactless payments on all bus and train journeys.
Earlier this year the National Transport Authority (NTA) issued a contract to Spanish firm Indra to provide the service and implement "a multi-modal backend system to facilitate the integration of multiple transport operators."
The head of the NTA has said it will likely be into 2025 or 2026 before the system is in place.
Cllr Tormey told Newstalk Breakfast it is 'ridiculous' to ask commuters to wait so long.
"London has had contactless payments on their buses since 2012," she said.
"In March of this year the NTA awarded a contract to Indra and they're saying it'll take potentially three to four years to roll that out.
"So in Ireland we're looking at 2027 to 2028.
"We need this to happen, it needs to be fast-tracked and I want to make sure that this happens as soon as possible.
"Unfortunately, things sometimes do have a tendency to drag on".
Composite image shows a Dublin Bus on College Green in Dublin city, and commuters on the Luas in Dublin. Picture by:Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ieCllr Tormey said public transport has to be accessible for people who want to switch from the car.
"One of the benefits of contactless would be the wallet on your phone or your watch could also be used to pay," she said.
"We need to be moving with the times, it needs to be prioritised.
"We're looking to try and get people out of their cars in order to achieve climate targets and it needs to be easy for people," she added.
Public transport
Figures show public transport use hit a record high in Ireland last year.
People made around 308 million journeys on Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann, Luas and other local services in 2023.
The figure is 24% higher than it was in 2022 and 5% higher than in 2019 - which previously held the record.
Nearly half of all public transport journeys were taken on Dublin Bus.
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