ELON Musk will have colonised Mars before contactless payments for Dublin’s public transport system is rolled out, a TD has claimed.
Fine Gael Deputy Grace Boland also said Manchester United will have built their new 100,00 seater stadium before vital technology is introduced.
She said a report from the National Transport Authority saying it could be 2028 before contactless payments are available on Dublin Bus and rail services shows a complete disregard for public transport users.
The Dublin Fingal West TD fumed: “It is absolutely ridiculous that in 2025 commuters are still waiting for this to happen. We are being left behind our European counterparts who have had this technology for years.
“London has had contactless payments on their buses since 2012, Milan has had it since 2018, and the Netherlands became the first country to launch a fully contactless public transport payments system nationwide in 2023.
“At the snails pace we are going at, Elon Musk will have colonised Mars and Manchester United will have built a new 100,000 capacity stadium before people in this country get contactless payments for public transport.
“On routes operated by Dublin Bus, passengers can only pay by coins if they don’t have a Leap card and no change is given onboard. Almost everyone is using a smartphone so there absolutely should be an option to pay using contactless technology.”
Deputy Boland told how there have been calls for a new payments system for over 10 years but still nothing has happened.
She added: “If we can’t get contactless payments then we need to see some innovation from the NTA with alternative options put forward. Why not introduce an app where public transport users can buy and display their tickets? Or introduce digital Leap cards?
“Our capital city is continuing to grow with more people arriving to the city to live, work and socialise and so we need to be doing everything we can to make life easier for commuters and visitors to our city.
“The NTA are showing no respect for commuters and tourists by continuously delaying this. We cannot continue to see Ireland as an outlier compared to our European counterparts in not being able to facilitate contactless payments on public transport.
“I’m calling on the NTA and Minister Darragh O’Brien to prioritise getting this infrastructure in place before 2028. We cannot ask commuters to wait any longer for this essential service.”
