NTA Bus Route Revision Contacts

squonk

Anyone had any look getting to talk to anybody in the NTA regarding any of the new revised bus services that seem to be getting rolled out around he country over the past year or so?

After a change to the bus service in Clare which are less than ideal I complained to Bus Eireann who pointed out that the changes were instigated by the NTA and to get in touch with them.

I dully did that but after several attempts nobody I spoke to seemed to know anything about BE bus route revisions. At only one point did I get put forward to anyone who rang me back. Unfortunately he was also unable to help but said he would try to find somebody to talk to me and ask them to ring me. I'm still waiting for a call.

While they seem to be doing a fair bit of good work, they're also taking it upon themselves to revise bus services in some bean-counter style fashion with people who have no clue of local geography or needs making decisions tat seriously impact commuters and, seemingly without any danger of being accountable to commuters. It's crazy and stupid. Thanks to their meddling, our local bus service is now unreliable, slow and generally unfit for purpose.

Al I want to is to register my views with the group or persons responsible so that they are aware of the issues at ground level. Why should this be so hard? Hopefully somebody here has contact information they could share?

LXFlyer

Get in touch with the regional manager in Bus Eireann in the first instance.

Then get the details from him/her of who to contact in the NTA.

Mrs OBumble

Unless things have changed, I don't think there's any official requirement for the NTA to consult local communities oer commuters about bus-route changes.

When the major Galway city changes were being planned, the NTA chose to have some discussions with the City Council - but what was implemented was not what the council is would have wanted, and it's not clear if any of the council input was applied to the plans. (What the council wanted would have been a disaster, so this is a good thing in this case.)

If you have widespread support for the idea that the changes in Co Clare are a disaster (and it is odd that there's not direct bus to Limerick), maybe you should be lobbying your TDs.

end of the road

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Unless things have changed, I don't think there's any official requirement for the NTA to consult local communities oer commuters about bus-route changes.

i don't know, but if it is the case there is no official requirement to consult the users of public transport then there should be. the fact that there isn't means in my opinion there is no point in a national transport authority. their existance should be about public transport with the communities served by it at the very heart. this means they should be accountable to the communities where public transport operates both public and private.

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

If you have widespread support for the idea that the changes in Co Clare are a disaster (and it is odd that there's not direct bus to Limerick), maybe you should be lobbying your TDs.

for all the good it would probably do?

LXFlyer

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Unless things have changed, I don't think there's any official requirement for the NTA to consult local communities oer commuters about bus-route changes.

When the major Galway city changes were being planned, the NTA chose to have some discussions with the City Council - but what was implemented was not what the council is would have wanted, and it's not clear if any of the council input was applied to the plans. (What the council wanted would have been a disaster, so this is a good thing in this case.)

If you have widespread support for the idea that the changes in Co Clare are a disaster (and it is odd that there's not direct bus to Limerick), maybe you should be lobbying your TDs.

Well interestingly they are consulting in Mayo.

http://www.nationaltransport.ie/consultations/review-of-public-transport-services-in-mayo/

The National Transport Authority is carrying out a comprehensive review of bus and rail services in Mayo, both local and regional. Our objectives are to increase public transport usage in the region by:
• Providing a more effective and efficient public transport network.
• Developing more opportunities for onward travel by improving connections between transport services and co-ordinating timetables at interchange points.
• Providing more direct access to significant workplaces, tourist & visitor destinations, health service centres, shops and educational establishments.
• Improving the quality and reliability of services and the clarity of information describing them.

The review commenced with a 6 week period of institutional stakeholder consultation during May and June 2014 following which the Authority received 31 submissions from a diverse group of stakeholders including local government, community groups, business and tourism related organisations, transport operators and other interested parties.

We are now carefully considering the issues highlighted by these organisations and we are drafting a number of public transport service improvements. These proposals are due to go out on public consultation from October 20th 2014 . The proposals will be available on this website, with a specified timeframe highlighted within which any individual or organisation may make a submission. Notices will also be placed in the local press advising of locations in Mayo where hard copies of the proposals may be accessed.

The Authority will then consider any submissions received before finalising service plans and preparing an implementation plan to be in place by the end of December 2014. The introduction of revised services is planned for the early part of 2015.

end of the road

lxflyer wrote: »

Well interestingly they are consulting in Mayo.

http://www.nationaltransport.ie/consultations/review-of-public-transport-services-in-mayo/

the words "revised services" and "improvements" in the same sentence for somewhere outside dublin? thats nice. any improvements for wexford or are we left to our own devices as per?

Urethra Franklin

Would be nice if the Waterford corridor was looked at too, from Kilkenny at the very least JJKav seems to match BÉ and IR departure times when they could be spread out, and all buses are omnibuses.

Victor

end of the road wrote: »

the words "revised services" and "improvements" in the same sentence for somewhere outside dublin? thats nice. any improvements for wexford or are we left to our own devices as per?

Are you seriously suggesting that, say, Galway city has had a dis-improvement in services? Or that express services on the motorways are bad?

Sean9015

Victor wrote: »

Are you seriously suggesting that, say, Galway city has had a dis-improvement in services? Or that express services on the motorways are bad?

Express services on motorways are bad if large intermediate towns are missed. Try getting south from Portlaoise in the Cork direction by road public transport..... you can't. You are forced on to the more expensive train. All so BÉ can compete with itself as GoBÉ, and with Aircoach.

LXFlyer

Sean9015 wrote: »

Express services on motorways are bad if large intermediate towns are missed. Try getting south from Portlaoise in the Cork direction by road public transport..... you can't. You are forced on to the more expensive train. All so BÉ can compete with itself as GoBÉ, and with Aircoach.

But those coach services are not subsidised. You cannot tell operators what to do in that situation.


Incidentally you are wrong about not being able to get from Portlaoise to Cork by road. You can take M & A Coaches route 828X service from Portlaoise to Cashel where you can connect with Bus Eireann X8. Through tickets are available.


Timetable (with connections) is here: http://mandacoaches.com/timetables/
Fare information is here: http://mandacoaches.com/fares/#linker

LXFlyer

Victor wrote: »

Are you seriously suggesting that, say, Galway city has had a dis-improvement in services? Or that express services on the motorways are bad?

I find it difficult to see how Wexford bus services have disimproved either.


South Wexford has already seen PSO bus routes redesigned, with increased services or better times on Bus Eireann routes 370, 371, 372, 373, 374 and 375.


Wexford Town has two new town services that operate all day by Wexford Bus, and all Wexford Bus services offer discounted fares with LEAP.


Bus Eireann have introduced a faster X2 between Dublin and Wexford, and there is an express coach service all day between Dublin and Wexford from Bus Eireann and Wexford Bus.

Clearly none of this actually counts.