[Article] Hundreds of new buses needed in Dublin

Victor

http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0327/bus.html

Hundreds of new buses in Dublin needed
27 March 2006 07:25

A new report has called on the Minister for Transport to authorise hundreds of new buses for the Dublin Bus fleet over the next five years.

The report, which was commissioned by Dublin Bus, says that congestion in the city is a major obstacle to promoting bus use and calls for radical changes to the way the bus network operates.

This report will be seen by Dublin Bus as adding weight to its call for additional vehicles.

Congestion in the city centre means that, even in bus corridors, average speeds as low as 7.2km/h have been recorded.

The report predicts that the changes envisaged under the Government's Transport 21 strategy will have had little effect on this by 2010, so bus travel will have to be made more attractive.

It calls for around 400 additional buses to come on stream by the end of 2010.

Some of these would be based in new bus depots outside the M50, as there will be no room for them in the city.

Bus routes will be made more efficient with fewer terminating in the city centre new routes around the city will also be looked at.

The plan recommends better fares and ticketing, but other road users may be less impressed by calls for further quality bus corridors and more restrictions on cars in the city centre.

Victor

http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/7726665?view=Eircomnet

More Dublin buses needed, review warns
From:ireland.com
Monday, 27th March, 2006


A major review of bus services in Dublin has warned that there is a "severe lack of capacity" in the current network and says thousands of commuters in the city will be left without adequate public transport unless there is a large increase in the bus fleet.

It states that a significant number of suburbs are under-served by public transport at present and that traffic congestion has seen average bus speeds in Dublin city-centre drop to as low as 8.4kph on some routes.

The network review for Dublin Bus also states that the Government's ambitious €35 billion Transport 21 plan will not begin to deliver significant new capacity on the rail or Luas system for another five years. It also says that the bus funding element of the plan is the only way of increasing the capacity of public transport in the short term.

It advises that the capital will need 425 extra buses to cater for this demand and that there should be a series of new bus corridors, along with a reorganisation of city-centre traffic flows, to improve journey times.

The cost of the additional buses would be in the region of €150 million.

The report, prepared by consultants MVA for Dublin Bus, has been submitted to the Department of Transport.

Dublin Bus has also applied for €70 million in funding for an additional 200 buses for this year and next year to cater for the increased demand.

According to the network review, the Dublin Bus catchment area will see approximately 57,000 new houses being built over the next five years, "mainly in areas not currently served well by buses".

It estimates that 205 buses will be needed to service these new houses in areas such as Adamstown and other parts of the suburbs.

This, the report says, would provide capacity for an additional 12.5 million bus passengers a year and would reduce the number of car journeys by 5.6 million annually.

A further 220 buses would then be needed between 2008 and 2011 to provide other new services.

The report identifies the lack of bus corridors and dedicated bus lanes in the city-centre as having a major impact on increasing bus journey times, with the average speed of buses declining from 14.6kph to 13.5kph.

The average speeds on some routes, such as those from Blanchardstown, is as low as 8.29kph, which is equivalent to a low running pace for an adult male.

The report notes that the average bus speeds in other major European cities are closer to 20kph.

Minister for Transport Martin Cullen is currently in discussion with Dublin Bus, trade unions and private bus operators on a major reform of Dublin's bus services.

Mr Cullen is considering a package which would see up to 15 per cent of new routes being given to private bus operators, but which would leave existing bus routes under the operation of Dublin Bus.

He would also provide funding for at least 100 additional buses for Dublin Bus in the short term. After 15 per cent of routes are set aside for private operators any additional routes would be open to tenders from both private operators and Dublin Bus.

The plan may face opposition from the Progressive Democrats, who say that they want to see up to 25 per cent of existing routes privatised.

The Coach Transport and Tourism Council, which represents private bus operators, has complained to the European Commission that the subsidies being paid to Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann are illegal under competition law and provide those companies with an unfair advantage.

Victor

http://www.dublinbus.ie/news_centre/press_releases.asp?action=view&news_id=552

DUBLIN BUS NETWORK REVIEW

Monday 27th March 2006, Dublin – Dublin Bus today published its Network Review prepared by MVA international transport consultants. This comprehensive review has included extensive consultation with stakeholders (DTO, RPA, County councils, DCBA, and business associations) and taken into account the Government Transport21 commitment of doubling the size of the Quality Bus network and the expansion of rail and Luas networks.

Speaking about the publication of the review Mr. Joe Meagher, Dublin Bus Managing Director said, “the findings of this review provide a clear, accurate picture of the environment Dublin Bus operates within, it details the important role that the bus currently plays in the city and provides a blueprint for the future of the bus as a means to improving the lot of the public transport user. This is of course based on the assumption that hundreds of additional buses are introduced into the network.”

He said that, “the report identifies improvements that we as a company have to make and which we will” and added “Dublin Bus is a solutions provider and this review has assisted us in developing a realistic, deliverable plan to increase our passenger numbers by 15 million per annum within 3 years, expand the network to new areas, reduce journey times and increase frequency ”.

MVA carried out an extensive study process of the internal operations of Dublin Bus such as fleet, trend data, customer studies and the external surroundings of the city, congestion, traffic management and the impact of major developments.

The review has identified a number of key issues, which help to contextualise operating circumstances for Dublin Bus and which will need to be addressed if the expectations of the public, the government and the company’s of further improving the bus services are to be met.



· The key message from all strands of the analysis is that there is a severe lack of capacity on many parts of the bus network. There is also insufficient capacity on the public transport network as a whole.

· That due to extended journey times – that is the spread of the city, people living longer distances from the city and the associated congestion which reduces operating speeds means that there is a loss of efficiency and therefore unexploited potential in the bus network. (e.g. Camden St. to Westmoreland St. distance of 2.4km takes over 17mins)

· There is limited city centre terminal space, there are currently new areas being developed with 57,000 new house units planned over the next 5 years, satellite towns such as Blanchardstown, Swords have a growing demand for local services.

· The bus network will handle most of the patronage growth in the short term, given the Transport21 timeline.

After significant study and analysis the authors of the Network Review MVA set out a redefined network concept and provide a staged plan for enhancing the bus network. Three clear stages are considered, covering the next five years:



· Stage 1: (2006/2007) Introduce an excess of 200 additional buses to cater for demand of new developments, which need to be served prior to any rail investment. Significantly enhance the existing QBC’s and support the development of the expanded QBC’s plans.

· Stage 2: (2006 to 2009) Commence the progressive reshaping of the bus network:

o Substantial increase in cross city services

o Development of AVL – automatic vehicle location

o Limited stop/express services from outside the M50

o Self contained networks in some of the larger towns

o A number of high frequency orbital services

o Further buses are required to cater for growing demand for the period 2008 – 2011. Current estimates suggest almost 225 additional buses (over and above the 200 required in Stage 1).

It is important to highlight the opinion of MVA that the network change “can only take place if there are some radical additional traffic management measures in the city centre to allow reliable cross linking of services and if the problem of congestion outside the QBC corridors is tackled. Without such complementary measures there is little point in making the bus network changes”.



· Stage 3: (2006 – 2010) throughout this time there will be a steady evolution of the whole bus “package” encompassing:

o Improved timetables and schedules, information and marketing and with Smartcards to give more attractive fare packages.

Dublin Bus has provided both the Department of Transport and the Minister for Transport Martin Cullen with this review.



The Summary of the Network Review is available to view or download at www.dublinbus.ie



The full report is available by contacting Dublin Bus

Contact Details:
Grainne Mackin
Communications & Media Manager
Dublin Bus
087 6216100
01 7033193

grainne.mackin@dublinbus.ie

Dublin Bus Network Review - Summary The Purpose of the Review

This comprehensive network review was commissioned by Dublin Bus in the summer of 2005. The project has included extensive consultation with stakeholders, and has taken into account the Transport21 commitment, which was announced towards the end of the review period. The latter is important in two critical respects:


It sets a timetable for the expansion of the rail and Luas networks; and


It commits to doubling the size of the Quality Bus Network
A summary of the review may be downloaded below while hard or disc copies are available from customer service desk tel :01 873 4222


Click here to download summary in pdf format

Slice

What are the odds any improvements to the bus network will get bogged down when the PDs insist on opening it up to competition.

I'm completely unconvinced by arguements for introducing competition to the bus network and yet I'm sure whenever the government take a look at these recommendations that's where it'll all fall down due to some ideological desire to see competition happen even where it's not necessarily to benefit consumers.

John R

That's why the network has stagnated for the last few years. Ministers, particularly that fool Brennan were pushing a competition by any means agenda. The unions were pushing back and to put them in their place the DoT refused any improvements or upgrades to CIE fleets and services.

Benefiting the bus using public has been an inconsequence to all levels of government for as long as I can remember.

Red Alert

They need to remove this foolish restriction on the number of buses. All the arrival of the new AX and VT buses is doing is providing good quality cut-price buses (the RH's and soon the RA's) to various outfits in the UK and ireland (like Dualway). The government's dogged insistence on the disability access has meant that the newer buses are poorer value for money, are much more mechanically complex, have poorer ride quality (both real and perceived) and the interior finish is not up to the standard of the non-low-floor Volvos. Stack one of the new ones against an RV from 1999 and there's no contest. CIE should be allowed choose what mix of buses meets its needs - the Volvo Olympian in its RA and RV incarnations was the one of the best buses we ever had.

I am totally against wholesale moving of the bus network to private operators. What I say is let them compete on routes similar to CIE's. They need to realise that the users will choose whether the state company or the privates meet their needs - the private operators should stop trying to make their cronies in the PD's and Seamusín Brennan kowtow to them.

shltter

Red Alert wrote:

They need to remove this foolish restriction on the number of buses. All the arrival of the new AX and VT buses is doing is providing good quality cut-price buses (the RH's and soon the RA's) to various outfits in the UK and ireland (like Dualway)..

Ok I agree with you to here

Red Alert wrote:

The government's dogged insistence on the disability access has meant that the newer buses are poorer value for money, are much more mechanically complex, have poorer ride quality (both real and perceived) and the interior finish is not up to the standard of the non-low-floor Volvos. Stack one of the new ones against an RV from 1999 and there's no contest. CIE should be allowed choose what mix of buses meets its needs - the Volvo Olympian in its RA and RV incarnations was the one of the best buses we ever had..

But this is BS disability access is vital there is no way anyone should be allowed to bring in new buses that are not low floor wheelchair accessible.

The ride quality on the AVs is much better than the RA/RVs the walkway is wider everything about them is better.

And there is no way we should go back to the embarrassment of people in wheelchairs crawling up the steps of a bus so they can get anywhere.

Red Alert wrote:

I am totally against wholesale moving of the bus network to private operators. What I say is let them compete on routes similar to CIE's. They need to realise that the users will choose whether the state company or the privates meet their needs - the private operators should stop trying to make their cronies in the PD's and Seamusín Brennan kowtow to them.

Direct head to head competition does not work

John R

The full report is available here: http://www.dublinbus.ie/images/upload/news/DublinBusNetworkReview.pdf

it is overall a good plan, the emphasis on it only being possible with "aggreessive bus priority measures" is probably the most important single part.

Even in 15 years with all of the T21 rail measures in place there will still be far more people in Dublin and surrounding areas reliant on Bus as the only form of public transport.

This plan being implemented properly is in many ways far more important for the future of the city than Metro, interconnector and Luas.

I fear however that the easy parts; a small increase in the DB fleet and a few services thrown to the more connected privates will happen.

However the more controversial aspects; severe car use restriction, proper single and multi-modal interchange, on-street facilities, fare structure simplification and complete ticket/service integration including all privates will quietly be ignored leaving the bus service as the last alternative for those that cannot use train. metro, tram or car.

The financial cost of transforming bus travel is a pittance in comparison with rail and road-building projects but it requires a real political commitment in the face of loud car lobby and NIMBY objections, it also requires a complete 180 from local authorities, particularly DCC and DunLaoghaire-Rathdown who treat buses as an annoyance that they do not want to have on their streets at all.

markpb

I've only skimmed the report so far but I could probably safely assume that a lot of it was in the Scott Wilson report six years ago. Buses just aint cool, bus priority measures aren't as popular as a new rail line and new buses don't look as swish as a new Metro - they're not vote winners and FF so far have shown that they have almost no interest in anything that won't win them votes.

I live in hope that at least some of this report will happen, but I'm not holding my breath.