Bus Eireann - seriously poor

namloc1980

Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »

The average person waiting for a bus, whether it be after work or college, may not have known. If such a serious amount of traffic was causing disruptions to the majority of city routes for a number of hours, one would reasonably expect them to update the Realtime displays and post it on social media/website... It's customer service 123.

NTA operate the real time displays not bus eireann.

pwurple

Someone who has knowledge, please explain to me how the real time displays are supposed to work.

I have the app, I can see the displays at the bus stop. Are they 'real time' in name only?
3 ghost buses in a row the last time I took the kids into town, so we walked back home and took the car instead. Fine if there's an unexpected delay, but what's the app for?

zilog_jones

pwurple wrote: »

Someone who has knowledge, please explain to me how the real time displays are supposed to work.

They don't.

Dbu

A 216 disappeared this morning and its just done the same again. app also not working
what a crap outfit

namloc1980

Dbu wrote: »

A 216 disappeared this morning and its just done the same again. app also not working
what a crap outfit

Realtime is extremely hit and miss. Doesn't seem like the NTA have put any improvements into it since it went live a few years ago

Mardyke

Dbu wrote: »

A 216 disappeared this morning and its just done the same again. app also not working
what a crap outfit

Did you contact Bus Éireann? Start charging them for taxis....

SleetAndSnow

Only saw this thread now! Read through it and saw nothing reported on the 214 bus service, another dreadful one at times. Recently voted one of the worst for punctuality aswell.

Have to get this bus every morning, some times it just doesn't come but more often then not it's just 10-20 mins late, a lot. Surprisingly, it was 5 minutes early the other day while I was walking to it, had to run for it and bus driver wasn't happy that I was 'late' and 'delaying everybody'.. ironic..

Same goes for when your getting it from patrick street. Oftentimes it is 20 minutes late, those screen schedules are more often then not wrong and probably based on the timetable and not the actual place of the bus.

Not sure why the 214 is mostly single decker aswell, it sometimes has one but rarely. It serves high population density areas from bishopstown, wilton, togher, the lough etc. During the morning rush it is more often then not full and it often drives past the stop by my college while im on the way home because its full from town. Should be double decker during the rush hours at least.

Had to get the 219 at one point from wilton to Mahon Point. Bus driver refused to drop us the entire way because 'his shift was finished' so dropped us off at an unoffical stop in an estate we didnt know and drove off. This was during the summer and at the time didn't know about the contact emails, otherwise a full complaint would have been made about that.

pwurple

zilog_jones wrote: »

They don't.

I know they don’t, but surely they are SUPPOSED to have some function? Why are they called real time, are there devices in the busses tracking them?

Or is it just how it seems, pure fiction to frustrate, alienate and drive away customers?

Worztron

I emailed BE regarding the appalling 221 morning service. They gave an automatic reply, saying they'd get in touch (quote: "Please rest assured we will be in contact with you soon.") but never bothered in the end. What a joke of a company.

Knifey Spoony

Anyone else's bus route gone to shit lately? Two no shows of the 214 in the passed three days, one at 8.10pm on Thursday and the other today at 3.40pm - not exactly busy times for traffic around the city. Both showed up on the app as being ten minutes away at which time they disappeared.

hans aus dtschl

Knifey Spoony wrote: »

Anyone else's bus route gone to shit lately? Two no shows of the 214 in the passed three days, one at 8.10pm on Thursday and the other today at 3.40pm - not exactly busy times for traffic around the city. Both showed up on the app as being ten minutes away at which time they disappeared.

And simultaneously people are driving down pana in their droves again... coincidence?

pwurple

I gave up as well with the kids trying to get a bus home and jumped into a taxi.

It bothers me that this is the education about public buses that my children are getting from a young age. That whole generation is simply learning how unreliable it is. That will all need to be unlearned if it ever improves. They already complain like crazy about waiting in the rain when I suggest getting a bus.

messinkiapina

207 bus is brutal. They'll often cancel 2 consecutive services (at peak times) so people are left waiting for up to an hour and a half.

The most frustrating part of all is that they won't use the electronic signage to let people know that they'll be waiting up to 90 minutes, which would allow them to make other arrangements at least.

Acosta

hans aus dtschl wrote: »

And simultaneously people are driving down pana in their droves again... coincidence?

Before the restrictions I've never had bad experiences of being held up on a bus on Patricks Street. It's always at other points on the bus route at narrow junctions that are not suitable for both buses and other vehicles together.

Perhaps it would have made more sense to make certain parts of Cork at particular pinch points bus only instead of Patricks Street.

Also, if a good chunk of the traffic that would have gone down Patricks Street is now going down the South Mall and onto Parnell Place, where most buses in Cork also head down is not not just going to be rammed with traffic down there instead and the buses will be held up anyway?

The thing with bus eireann is buses randomly don't turn up at anytime. It's usually not peak time in my experience. It's an awful service and always has been.
Bike only routes from the suburbs into town is the way forward.

cc

I love bashing BE as much as the next person, but car is king in Cork and that heavily contributes towards the terrible service.

TheChizler

I used to spend up to an hour every Friday sitting on a bus trying to get through Patrick St, delays are nothing new.

pwurple

cc wrote: »

I love bashing BE as much as the next person, but car is king in Cork and that heavily contributes towards the terrible service.

That, and the set in stone lunches. We have to remember the main requirement for our routes. Not customers. Tea breaks are critical. It all stops for the tea, this is why almost every bus route goes through the city center. It is a vicious circle. Stand in the rain for an hour while three ghost buses pass, and you get in the car if it is there. Next time, you won’t waste your time.


I still can’t understand why we cannot produce a printed bus map. I have literally nothing to give a visiting student or my kids to show them where the bus goes. I have lived on the 202 bus route for 40 years and I still have no clue where the 202X and 202A go.

end of the road

pwurple wrote: »

That, and the set in stone lunches. We have to remember the main requirement for our routes. Not customers. Tea breaks are critical. It all stops for the tea, this is why almost every bus route goes through the city center. It is a vicious circle. Stand in the rain for an hour while three ghost buses pass, and you get in the car if it is there. Next time, you won’t waste your time.


I still can’t understand why we cannot produce a printed bus map. I have literally nothing to give a visiting student or my kids to show them where the bus goes. I have lived on the 202 bus route for 40 years and I still have no clue where the 202X and 202A go.

that's the law, called the working time directive.
drivers are required to take breaks after a certain amount of driving, and then there are legal limits for which they can drive per day, if this is not abided by there will be serious trouble.
its non-negotiable i'm afraid.

the beer revolu

end of the road wrote: »

that's the law, called the working time directive.
drivers are required to take breaks after a certain amount of driving, and then there are legal limits for which they can drive per day, if this is not abided by there will be serious trouble.
its non-negotiable i'm afraid.

Yes, but they don't have to be, 100% of the time in their canteen to take a break.
That's drivers and their unions being inflexible.

end of the road

the beer revolu wrote: »

Yes, but they don't have to be, 100% of the time in their canteen to take a break.
That's drivers and their unions being inflexible.

it's actually them being very flexible.
when a driver is nearer the main base, that is where they go, if they are not near the main base, but are nearer an outpost, then that is where they go.
either way, the break must be taken, the law is the law.

blindsider

I know all about the Working time Act, so let's not re-hash that one.

Ho do Expressway/longer distance drivers cope for breaks and lunch?

As Pwurple asks, does a break have to be in a canteen? Can lunch and breaks not be staggered so that service is not disrupted?

Why are there no printed maps and why is the bus service in Cork so unbelievably awful?

E.g. Bus timetabled to go to Bishopstown terminates in town - no reason given.

Waiting for bus X one evening and bus Y pulled up - explained to the driver that I was waiting for Bux X. He said the last one was gone for the evening. Got on his bus to go to town...5 mins later my bus pulled up behind us. When I said it to the driver he shrugged his shoulders.

(Both of these are in the last month!)

Timetables are at best a general statement of what should happen - the reality is far different.

Awful, awful service!

Cork Trucker

You can work upto a maximum of 6 consecutive hours without a break or 4.5 of consecutive driving time. Although Bus Eireann drivers on set routes are tachograph exempt it is recommended they use them to ensure they can monitor their driving hours. I used to drive the Aircoach from Cork to Dublin one time. From picking up the coach at the depot to landing in Dublin and what went on that n between took about 4.5 hours of work, Not all physical driving. The Dublin coach service is one that would be dangerous from a legality point of view. Cork to Dublin via Waterford & Kilkenny is a long trip.

end of the road

[/QUOTE]Ho do Expressway/longer distance drivers cope for breaks and lunch?

As Pwurple asks, does a break have to be in a canteen? Can lunch and breaks not be staggered so that service is not disrupted?[/QUOTE]

i already answered that in the post before yours.

blindsider wrote: »

Why are there no printed maps and why is the bus service in Cork so unbelievably awful?

ask that to the NTA, they are the people in charge of dealing with bus services in ireland.
as for why there seems to be a specific issue in cork, crappy area management by the looks of it.

blindsider wrote: »

E.g. Bus timetabled to go to Bishopstown terminates in town - no reason given.

that could be a control issue, delays may have been expected on the second leg of the route so it was decided to turn the bus short, or perhapse a bus behind failed and there were no other vehicles available at short notice, bus could have been delayed on the first part of the route, many other possibilities i'm sure.

blindsider wrote: »

Waiting for bus X one evening and bus Y pulled up - explained to the driver that I was waiting for Bux X. He said the last one was gone for the evening. Got on his bus to go to town...5 mins later my bus pulled up behind us. When I said it to the driver he shrugged his shoulders.

perhapse the driver for whatever reason may have assumed that particular bus service was finished up for the evening. that's just a guess though.
as for the bus itself, it could have been severely delayed.

blindsider

I'm glad that you seem happy with a bus service that is unreliable, infrequent and poorly run. Try any other second city in Europe to see what I mean....in fact try *any* city in Europe.

You can make all the excuses you like- the bus service in Cork is shockingly poor and we deserve better!

end of the road

blindsider wrote: »

I'm glad that you seem happy with a bus service that is unreliable, infrequent and poorly run. Try any other second city in Europe to see what I mean....in fact try *any* city in Europe.

You can make all the excuses you like- the bus service in Cork is shockingly poor and we deserve better!

i haven't made any excuses.
i have simply given you some reasons as to why some practices exist, and why they are necessary from time to time.
ultimately it's not my problem if you aren't willing to listen.
yes there does seem to be specific problems unique to cork and i would suggest that is down to bad area management.
but that asside, certain practices exist across nearly all bus operators, such as turning buses short from time to time, or a bus having to return to it's depot without taking passengers.

namloc1980

blindsider wrote: »

I'm glad that you seem happy with a bus service that is unreliable, infrequent and poorly run. Try any other second city in Europe to see what I mean....in fact try *any* city in Europe.

You can make all the excuses you like- the bus service in Cork is shockingly poor and we deserve better!

A lot of the issues are actually down to the NTA. Not saying BE are great, they are not, but an awful lot of stuff like lack of maps, disjointed timetables and inaccurate real time displays are 100% the NTA. If people directed their anger at the right place it would be more productive.

EnzoScifo

There is a map available on the bus eireann website btw

The_Kew_Tour

Had get Buses for few months (as missus needs the car)there mainly the 215 and 215A. What a disaster. The amount of times it did not show up and even few times it broke down and no one gave a ****.

It’s hard for me to get annoyed at services but this took the biscuit. Never again.

pwurple

EnzoScifo wrote: »

There is a map available on the bus eireann website btw

Can you link it, because all I have seen is a schematic. A coloured line drawing with no roads marked. No printable map of routes exists that I have know of.

pwurple

end of the road wrote: »

it's actually them being very flexible.
when a driver is nearer the main base, that is where they go, if they are not near the main base, but are nearer an outpost, then that is where they go.
either way, the break must be taken, the law is the law.

The problem is, the routes are designed around breaks. Not around where the customers need to go.

I have hired plenty of private bus drivers in my working life, and am well aware of the working directives and tachographs. Private drivers invariably take their breaks either in a cafe, hotel or public spot on the route, or on the bus itself. They do not turn the bus around, dump the passengers on the road, to go take a tea break.

It is unions writing the routes instead of business need.