Luas Cross City (Line BX/D) [now open]

https://www.thejournal.ie/luas-green-line-4-3788173-Jan2018/

Jamie2k9

cisk wrote: »

https://www.thejournal.ie/luas-green-line-4-3788173-Jan2018/

Lol a full platform and an almost empty tram, I mean would you ever see the likes of it!!!

LeinsterDub

roadmaster wrote: »

A former colleague of mine who was the most anti public transport person you could meet would always drive from Cabra to Stephens green for work. One morning during Christmas he was still over the limit after a night out so he decided to get the luas in to work. He has got it every day since , it shows if people that drive in can be shown good public transport works they will use it.

Jesus you'd walk Cabra to SSG quicker than driving it on peak

Middle Man

LeinsterDub wrote: »

Jesus you'd walk Cabra to SSG quicker than driving it on peak

...and there's surely plenty of buses within easy walking distance in Cabra - once in the city centre, SSG is no distance. Now that the LCC is operating, there's IMO certainly no excuse now.

Sierra Oscar

Carnage on College Green and surrounding areas this morning. 30 minutes to get from Ormond Quay to Nassau Street. College Green clogged up with taxis and plenty of delivery vans cluttering up D'Olier Street and surrounding areas.

Also saw a Luas get stuck behind a bus on O'Connell Street blocking traffic on Aston Quay. That was just when I was passing through.

Sierra Oscar

I'm listening to Owen Keegan on Today with Sean O'Rourke saying that car traffic is simply not a problem at College Green and surrounding areas as there are no cars using it. He says buses have to be banned as it's the only solution. Lol, what? I see plenty of Taxi's using the area day in day out.

wakka12

Luas has been a bit better recently , anyone else? Ive only gotten it at rush hour in evening time recently and not morning, but I haven't had to wait for several trams in a row anymore to get a space to stand. And it wasn't that crowded..I was there around 5.45 ..feels more like pre-cross city service again

I even got a seat..getting on at charlemont toward sandyford on a monday evening at 5.45..I wouldn't ever expect that !

CramCycle

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

I'm listening to Owen Keegan on Today with Sean O'Rourke saying that car traffic is simply not a problem at College Green and surrounding areas as there are no cars using it. He says buses have to be banned as it's the only solution. Lol, what? I see plenty of Taxi's using the area day in day out.

He's lost his mind or has Yes Men around him. Taxis need to be banned off the line and certain areas immediately. This won't happen now as the Taxi Unions will kick up a fuss and it will either be overturned by DCC or be dragged out in discussion for 3 months.

Private cars, bar those people with legitimate mobility issues, also need ot be banned from the city centre completely.

wakka12 wrote: »

Luas has been a bit better recently , anyone else? Ive only gotten it at rush hour in evening time recently and not morning, but I haven't had to wait for several trams in a row anymore to get a space to stand. And it wasn't that crowded..I was there around 5.45 ..feels more like pre-cross city service again

I don't think it is close to that yet, just not as bas as it was when it opened up in December.
Alot of people I talk to in Sandyford have started to hotfoot it down to get buses or have started driving again and leaving at ridiculous o'clock. After the fourth tram goes by they say it's time to pack it in.
This all probably gives the impression it has improved when in fact it has gotten worse, just in fashion they are not measuring.

Sierra Oscar

CramCycle wrote: »

He's lost his mind or has Yes Men around him. Taxis need to be banned off the line and certain areas immediately. This won't happen now as the Taxi Unions will kick up a fuss and it will either be overturned by DCC or be dragged out in discussion for 3 months.

Private cars, bar those people with legitimate mobility issues, also need ot be banned from the city centre completely.

He got very cagey when he was asked if restrictions would be introduced on Taxi's and the impact this will have on hotels in the city centre.

Reading between the lines it seems the business groups have made it clear to him that the entire plaza plan will be torpedoed if there is any attempt to restrict taxis using College Green or surrounding areas.

IngazZagni

wakka12 wrote: »

Luas has been a bit better recently , anyone else? Ive only gotten it at rush hour in evening time recently and not morning, but I haven't had to wait for several trams in a row anymore to get a space to stand. And it wasn't that crowded..I was there around 5.45 ..feels more like pre-cross city service again

Perhaps less people are using it now due to the issues? Indeed I know someone that always used the luas but yesterday we met by using cars as the luas is now less frequent and overcrowded. His words.

Do we have a concrete reason why the new luas trams weren't delivered BEFORE the opening of LCC? Without one it just seems like incompetence to me.

AngryLips

CramCycle wrote: »

Alot of people I talk to in Sandyford have started to hotfoot it down to get buses or have started driving again and leaving at ridiculous o'clock. After the fourth tram goes by they say it's time to pack it in.
This all probably gives the impression it has improved when in fact it has gotten worse, just in fashion they are not measuring.

This is definitely being measured in terms of passenger numbers, it will show up in the figures

CramCycle

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

He got very cagey when he was asked if restrictions would be introduced on Taxi's and the impact this will have on hotels in the city centre.

Reading between the lines it seems the business groups have made it clear to him that the entire plaza plan will be torpedoed if there is any attempt to restrict taxis using College Green or surrounding areas.

Which is disgraceful, are they declared lobby groups? The irony being that many businesses would probably do better with the suggested changes, as has been shown in other cities.

cgcsb

CramCycle wrote: »

He's lost his mind or has Yes Men around him. Taxis need to be banned off the line and certain areas immediately. This won't happen now as the Taxi Unions will kick up a fuss and it will either be overturned by DCC or be dragged out in discussion for 3 months.

Private cars, bar those people with legitimate mobility issues, also need ot be banned from the city centre completely.

Why should people with mobility issues get to drive down bus lanes? what was the point of making the entire luas network and bus fleet disabled friendly?

wakka12

cgcsb wrote: »

Why should people with mobility issues get to drive down bus lanes? what was the point of making the entire luas network and bus fleet disabled friendly?

Well personally Id say disabled users are few enough that it won't have a large impact on the dynamics of the system and I believe we need to make exceptions for those with physical disablilties as the city is very hard for them to get around in as the city isn't designed or maintained with them in mind at all really. Which is fair enough, they're a small minority..but because of that I think we need to make exceptions for them

MJohnston

wakka12 wrote: »

Well personally Id say disabled users are few enough that it won't have a large impact not he dynamics of the system and I believe we need to make exceptions for those with physical disablilties as the city is very hard for them to get around in as the city isn't designed or maintained with them in mind at all really. Which is fair enough, they're a small minority..but because of that I think we need to make exceptions for them

It's nearly impossible to do this in a practically enforceable way though - vehicles with disabled badges are not visibly identifiable from anything other than point blank range. Which means it's impossible for the guards to identify cars in bus lanes legitimately without stopping every single one. Which they won't do (and if they did would be a disaster for public transport). So it'll become very lightly enforced if at all. And drivers stuck in congestion will look at these other regular looking cars and take the risk far more often.

The only way it could possibly work is in concert with the introduction of ANPR cameras for bus lane enforcement.

Jamie2k9

People need to email the clown chiefexecutive@dublincity.ie

tom1ie

The only way it could possibly work is in concert with the introduction of ANPR cameras for bus lane enforcement.[/QUOTE]

Is there any plans for this to be introduced in Ireland? In my opinion it really needs to be.

cgcsb

wakka12 wrote: »

Well personally Id say disabled users are few enough that it won't have a large impact on the dynamics of the system and I believe we need to make exceptions for those with physical disablilties as the city is very hard for them to get around in as the city isn't designed or maintained with them in mind at all really. Which is fair enough, they're a small minority..but because of that I think we need to make exceptions for them

No way to enforce that and besides a lot of money has been spent making public transport accessible.

yer man!

tom1ie wrote: »

The only way it could possibly work is in concert with the introduction of ANPR cameras for bus lane enforcement.

I'm waiting for a reply back from the DCC on this. Was up in Belfast last week and they have them on loads of bus lanes there. Nobody was driving in them during operating hours, worked perfectly.

Jamie2k9

wakka12 wrote: »

Luas has been a bit better recently , anyone else? Ive only gotten it at rush hour in evening time recently and not morning, but I haven't had to wait for several trams in a row anymore to get a space to stand. And it wasn't that crowded..I was there around 5.45 ..feels more like pre-cross city service again

I even got a seat..getting on at charlemont toward sandyford on a monday evening at 5.45..I wouldn't ever expect that !

Students will be back next week and the following week so enjoy while it lasts.

monument

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

He got very cagey when he was asked if restrictions would be introduced on Taxi's and the impact this will have on hotels in the city centre.

Reading between the lines it seems the business groups have made it clear to him that the entire plaza plan will be torpedoed if there is any attempt to restrict taxis using College Green or surrounding areas.

Err... I happened to get the podcast in my feed this evening... and I have to say...

I didn’t think he was very cagey when he was asked if restrictions would be introduced on taxis — if anything he was clear it wouldn’t happen straight away but might happen in the future. Unclear about when this might be reviewed, but that hardly amounts to being very cagey — or fine if it does in your books.

One thing that I thought he was cristal clear on is that access would be maintained, but that to some hotels it might go from three access routes now to one after changes happen[/quote]

wakka12

Jamie2k9 wrote: »

Students will be back next week and the following week so enjoy while it lasts.

I spoke too soon, waited for 4 luas trams this evening at 5.40 or so
One lady rang the SOS emergency button to give out **** about how bad the service was lol..she had a point she said this could be an emergency for some people, she had little children with her and was complaining to him about how theres just no space for little kids and disabled people at all

MJohnston

monument wrote: »

Err... I happened to get the podcast in my feed this evening... and I have to say...

I didn’t think he was very cagey when he was asked if restrictions would be introduced on taxis — if anything he was clear it wouldn’t happen straight away but might happen in the future. Unclear about when this might be reviewed, but that hardly amounts to being very cagey — or fine if it does in your books.

One thing that I thought he was cristal clear on is that access would be maintained, but that to some hotels it might go from three access routes now to one after changes happen

[/quote]

What hotels are we talking about here anyway? The Westin for definite, but I can't think of any others that are directly affected. Even with The Westin, banning taxis from College Green would only block access from Dame Street anyway, and surely most taxis to there would be coming from the airport, so D'Olier Street.

AngryLips

wakka12 wrote: »

I spoke too soon, waited for 4 luas trams this evening at 5.40 or so
One lady rang the SOS emergency button to give out **** about how bad the service was lol..she had a point she said this could be an emergency for some people, she had little children with her and was complaining to him about how theres just no space for little kids and disabled people at all

That's still a total abuse of that SOS facility

hmmm

monument wrote: »

I didn’t think he was very cagey when he was asked if restrictions would be introduced on taxis — if anything he was clear it wouldn’t happen straight away but might happen in the future.

Just so I understand - the intention is to ban the most used public transport mechanism (Dublin Bus) from a key route, while allowing Taxis continue to use it?

Why would you not start with banning Taxis and seeing if this makes enough difference, before disrupting the existing commutes of thousands of people?

I've answered my own question I think - rates from City Centre businesses, and who cares about commuters coming in from outside the city.

Bray Head

In fairness there is no doubt legal advice lurking in the background that blocking all vehicular access to hotels and car parks would be in breach of the property rights of the owners.

We might not like that but it is a fact.

The last thing any local authority needs is a Supreme Court judgement confirming this or the need for CPOs costing tens of millions.

hmmm

Bray Head wrote: »

In fairness there is no doubt legal advice lurking in the background that blocking all vehicular access to hotels and car parks would be in breach of the property rights of the owners.

In fairness, banning taxis from College Green is not going to prevent them getting to their destination - no different to the buses.

MJohnston

Bray Head wrote: »

In fairness there is no doubt legal advice lurking in the background that blocking all vehicular access to hotels and car parks would be in breach of the property rights of the owners.

We might not like that but it is a fact.

The last thing any local authority needs is a Supreme Court judgement confirming this or the need for CPOs costing tens of millions.

Seriously there are no car parks or hotels on College Green.

BowSideChamp

MJohnston wrote: »

Seriously there are no car parks or hotels on College Green.

BOI uses the front of the old Parliament Building as a car park.

MJohnston

BowSideChamp wrote: »

BOI uses the front of the old Parliament Building as a car park.

Do they really though? I can't remember ever seeing cars there, though I'm mostly only in the city at weekends.

Either way, they don't need it, and they don't need access for it.