College Green bus gate- whats the story for bikes

RATM

Just wondering about the bus gate that runs thru Collge Green Mon-Fri, 4-7pm and in the mornings too. The signage on it says buses and taxis only but are bikes included in this ? I ask because I used it last Friday at 5pm from Pearse Street and when I got around the front of Trinity a traffic corps cop had a line of 7 cars he had pulled in and was issuing tickets. He saw me and another biker but didn't pull us. I guess the fact he was a biker himself might have helped

But just wondering does anyone know the line the Gardai usually take with the bus gate and bikers ? In fairness we are not creating traffic jams and that is why the bus gate was implemented, to prevent them happening, so its a no-brainer that bikes should be allowed to use it. But the signage says otherwise.

Has anyone ever been done by the Gardai for using it while on a bike ?

DaveD

I use it every morning and have never been stopped. Those big electric signs only say no cars on them - so that's my excuse if i'm stopped

RATM

DaveD wrote: »

I use it every morning and have never been stopped. Those big electric signs only say no cars on them - so that's my excuse if i'm stopped

haha I've got that excuse ready myself But I think there is a sign somewhere that says buses taxis only.

Have you ever gone thru it when a Garda is issuing tickets ? And did they see you and ignore you or just not pull you in before you'd passed them ? They do a blitz every now and again and can easily issue a thousand quids worth of tickets in less than 30 minutes, loads of cars take the chance. When I saw them doing the blitz last Friday one single Garda had a queue of 7 cars in front of him lining up to get issued tickets, there was so many that he had to let other offenders through or it would have caused a traffic jam !

miller50841

I have never seen a bike pulled but you could be the unlucky one.

They also use it for tax and insurance and have seen a few cars towed away.

gipi

Bikes aren't allowed to use that bus "gateway" - when it first opened, the cops made bikers get off and walk their bikes through! They also turned bikers round who approached it from the Dame St side rather than the D'Olier St side.

The signs don't specifically mention that bikes can go through, unlike the signs at the top of O'Connell St which states that buses, taxis and motorbikes can go from Parnell Sq onto O'Connell St while other vehicles must turn left or right.

Muahahaha

The Gardai seem to be policing the College Green bus gate a lot lately now that the Luas works are underway. But interestingly I rode up Dame St onto College Green on Friday. Just before the pedestrian lights was a traffic corps Garda waving all private cars to turn right to u turn and go back up Dame Street, I was expecting him to wave me back too but instead he waved me through the bus gate and I saw him do the same for another biker behind me.

Perhaps a common sense realisation by the Gardai that bikes don't cause traffic jams so inconveniencing them like cars is counter productive ? What have others experienced, was I just lucky or are they letting bikes through there all the time?

Cienciano

Muahahaha wrote: »

The Gardai seem to be policing the College Green bus gate a lot lately now that the Luas works are underway. But interestingly I rode up Dame St onto College Green on Friday. Just before the pedestrian lights was a traffic corps Garda waving all private cars to turn right to u turn and go back up Dame Street, I was expecting him to wave me back too but instead he waved me through the bus gate and I saw him do the same for another biker behind me.

Perhaps a common sense realisation by the Gardai that bikes don't cause traffic jams so inconveniencing them like cars is counter productive ? What have others experienced, was I just lucky or are they letting bikes through there all the time?

Exactly the same thing happened to me about 3 weeks ago.

Skill Magill

Go through it both ways every day, when the guards were stationed there a few months back, I asked, they said bikes are fine

Cienciano

Skill Magill wrote: »

Go through it both ways every day, when the guards were stationed there a few months back, I asked, they said bikes are fine

Nice. I was worried I'd be stopped cos my tax was 3 years out of date :pac:

dunner515

Go through it all the time on the bike, never had any issues

Muahahaha

Good to hear people are using it without problems, it's a common sense approach.