‘Luas on Wheels’ bus service for Galway

serfboard

From Galway Bay FM:

Galway Bay FM wrote:

Leo Varadkar has outlined plans for a new environmentally friendly bus service for Galway – which he’s describing as a ‘Luas on Wheels.’
...
Speaking about Galway’s traffic woes, the Taoiseach says the government has a number of initiatives up its sleeve which will help to alleviate the problem.

He says one such solution is an environmentally friendly ‘Bus Connex’ service.

A bit of sense - and hopefully an end to this "Gluas" nonsense.

By this I mean, if we were ever going to provide a Tram in Galway we would need pathways for it. Let's provide a BRT/QBC first, without the expense of installing tram lines and overhead power cables.

Or, we could just:

• provide more bus services and have them go where people want (like for example, Knocknacarra->Ballybrit)
• have certain streets bus-only (like what's happening in Dublin and Cork).
• provide more Bus Lanes (me, I'd take take two lanes of the bridge and Bothar Na dTreabh)
• provide more Park N' Rides on the city's outskirts (Knocknacarra, Doughiska, Tuam Road - either before Claregalway or at the Parkmore Turnoff, Headford Road at Ballindooley) etc.
• increase the number of cycle lanes.

Not expensive stuff, but would require resolve.

Which I think is sadly lacking.

xckjoo

serfboard wrote: »

From Galway Bay FM:
A bit of sense - and hopefully an end to this "Gluas" nonsense.

By this I mean, if we were ever going to provide a Tram in Galway we would need pathways for it. Let's provide a BRT/QBC first, without the expense of installing tram lines and overhead power cables.

Or, we could just:

• provide more bus services and have them go where people want (like for example, Knocknacarra->Ballybrit)
• have certain streets bus-only (like what's happening in Dublin and Cork).
• provide more Bus Lanes (me, I'd take take two lanes of the bridge and Bothar Na dTreabh)
• provide more Park N' Rides on the city's outskirts (Knocknacarra, Doughiska, Tuam Road - either before Claregalway or at the Parkmore Turnoff, Headford Road at Ballindooley) etc.
• increase the number of cycle lanes.

Not expensive stuff, but would require resolve.

Which I think is sadly lacking.

People will moan if they try and take road space for bus lanes but they moan anyway so at least it'll change the topic (slightly)

Red_Wake

Should allow people to use bus lanes if 3 or more people in the car to encourage carpooling.

Red_Wake

Red_Wake wrote: »

Should allow people to use bus lanes if 3 or more people in the car to encourage carpooling.

The whole point of the bus lanes is they enable a predictable travel time because the lanes are only for buses, taxis and cyclists. Add anything else to that and the predictability disappears

That's not to say carpooling shouldn't still be done. Even 50 cars with 4 commuters would take 150 cars off the road

gctest50

Monorail be grand,

EdgeCase

Not to be pedantic, but the existing Luas runs on wheels. They're just metal and not rubber.

I'm not aware of any use of magnetic levitation in Ireland.

dok_golf

you are being pedantic :-)

Express buses would help hugely. That it can take over an hour for the bus to get from Eyre Square to Parkmore and vice versa is ridiculous. My wife works in Limerick, the far side of the city and drives down for work. We decided to test who could get to work quicker, I took the she left at 7:40 and I took the 404 bus from Newcastle at the same time. I then got the 409 and it all together it took 88 minutes, 75 of them in the 409 to get to Parkmore. She was sitting in her office having a coffee well before me. In the evenings its luck of the draw if the 409 or 403 show up anywhere close to being on time. Been days when no bus has came for an hour and then one does but goes down the Tuam road. If I drove it's 20 minutes in the morning and about the same in the evening.

xckjoo

Deleted User wrote: »

Express buses would help hugely. That it can take over an hour for the bus to get from Eyre Square to Parkmore and vice versa is ridiculous. My wife works in Limerick, the far side of the city and drives down for work. We decided to test who could get to work quicker, I took the she left at 7:40 and I took the 404 bus from Newcastle at the same time. I then got the 409 and it all together it took 88 minutes, 75 of them in the 409 to get to Parkmore. She was sitting in her office having a coffee well before me. In the evenings its luck of the draw if the 409 or 403 show up anywhere close to being on time. Been days when no bus has came for an hour and then one does but goes down the Tuam road. If I drove it's 20 minutes in the morning and about the same in the evening.

Jesus you'd nearly be as fast walking it. Is the bulk of the delay getting through the city centre or out by Parkmore?

biko

We need a subway

gctest50

Nah

Nice modern monorail, tip along nicely and see the city, no danger of hitting cars and pedestrians or cyclists

polarbearhead

But is there a chance the track might bend?

awedf

Galway needs this, if it really works...

https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a26782/china-built-a-self-driving-something/

Would require a lot less  construction than a tram system but with more capacity than buses.

Robbo

EdgeCase wrote: »

Not to be pedantic, but the existing Luas runs on wheels. They're just metal and not rubber.

I'm not aware of any use of magnetic levitation in Ireland.

Catherine Murphy of the Soc Dems used to suggest that maglev trains could be employed in her constituency. It makes Lowry's Casino seem like a sensible parish pump boondoggle.

what_traffic

xckjoo wrote: »

Jesus you'd nearly be as fast walking it. Is the bulk of the delay getting through the city centre or out by Parkmore?

Sometimes you would beat the bus. Have walked from Parkmore East to Rahoon a couple times over the years during the summer months. Bus to work and walk home in the evening. It takes about 1h30mins via City Centre which is just under 11km. If ya went over Bother na dTreabh its above 1km shorter but not very pleasant with the Dual Carraigeway.

dok_golf

awedf wrote: »

Galway needs this, if it really works...

https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a26782/china-built-a-self-driving-something/

Would require a lot less  construction than a tram system but with more capacity than buses.

Can't see the Bus eireann unions allowing that any time soon

gctest50

polarbearhead wrote: »

But is there a chance the track might bend?

Indeed it will my Arctic friend

supports not much bigger than a large motorway sign :

Mrs OBumble

xckjoo wrote: »

Jesus you'd nearly be as fast walking it. Is the bulk of the delay getting through the city centre or out by Parkmore?

It varies a lot. Sometimes college rd is a nightmare. Sometimes Doughiska rd or Parkmore rd is. The other day I got the 403 and the Monivea rd was the problem while the others were quick-enough moving.

dok_golf

gctest50 wrote: »

Indeed it will my Arctic friend

supports not much bigger than a large motorway sign :

They have something similar at birmingham airport

gctest50

gctest50 wrote: »

Nah

Nice modern monorail, tip along nicely and see the city, no danger of hitting cars and pedestrians or cyclists

There's a multitude of reasons so few of these have been built around the world. Not my list, but pretty much covers it

1. They cost far too much money given the level of service they provide

2. They don’t (really) go anywhere (i.e., where they are needed in a many-to-many world)

3. Good transportation is supposed to be as close to seamless as we can make it – and they are anything but, cut off from the rest as they are by definition

4. Limited capacity (per buck spent)

5. They are a visual intrusion (scar) on the city scape

6. The ignore, they actually degrade the street in many ways – the street which is the very heart of the city

7. They are — to a pylon, to a track, to a car, to a station, to a switch, to a shadow — ugly as sin (my old grandmother’s expression).

8. If they need switches, the space requirement becomes complicated.

9. Emergencies are very messy.

10. They saddle the city with debt.

11. To be “cost effective” (ho ho), they cannot provide affordable service for the majority

12. They are often the project of industrial-financial-political interest alliances and even, if one digs deep, corruption. (As so often is the case with big-ticket transport and other public investments.)

13. They are not sustainable by any measure.

xckjoo

xckjoo wrote: »

Jesus you'd nearly be as fast walking it. Is the bulk of the delay getting through the city centre or out by Parkmore?

It's a combination of everything, Doughiska and the Briarhill turn are generally the worst, can often take 30-40 minutes to get out of there. It's not uncommon to see people waiting over an hour for a 403 or 409 and then 6 of them show up at once. One evening 4 buses came at once after a 50 minute wait and we were all directed to the front bus by the drivers. Bus wedged full we watch as the three buses behind us pull off, no worries we think as it'll mean less stops. But no, we spend 45 minutes sat on a stuffy, over crowded bus and when I asked the driver he said "if you wanted to go in then you should have got the others."

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

There's a multitude of reasons so few of these have been built around the world. Not my list, but pretty much covers it

1. They cost far too much money given the level of service they provide

2. They don’t (really) go anywhere (i.e., where they are needed in a many-to-many world)

3. Good transportation is supposed to be as close to seamless as we can make it – and they are anything but, cut off from the rest as they are by definition

4. Limited capacity (per buck spent)

5. They are a visual intrusion (scar) on the city scape

6. The ignore, they actually degrade the street in many ways – the street which is the very heart of the city

7. They are — to a pylon, to a track, to a car, to a station, to a switch, to a shadow — ugly as sin (my old grandmother’s expression).

8. If they need switches, the space requirement becomes complicated.

9. Emergencies are very messy.

10. They saddle the city with debt.

11. To be “cost effective” (ho ho), they cannot provide affordable service for the majority

12. They are often the project of industrial-financial-political interest alliances and even, if one digs deep, corruption. (As so often is the case with big-ticket transport and other public investments.)

13. They are not sustainable by any measure.

I don't understand why a Monorail has to be doomed. Points 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 apply to any poorly designed project.
Do they actually cost that much more per km/passenger capacity than other methods and if so, why?

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I don't understand why a Monorail has to be doomed. Points 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 apply to any poorly designed project.
Do they actually cost that much more per km/passenger capacity than other methods and if so, why?

Would you like a cup of coffee with that research you'd like me to do for you?

biko

Please keep it civil folks if you want to continue the discussion.

what_traffic

Deleted User wrote: »

It's a combination of everything, Doughiska and the Briarhill turn are generally the worst, can often take 30-40 minutes to get out of there. It's not uncommon to see people waiting over an hour for a 403 or 409 and then 6 of them show up at once. One evening 4 buses came at once after a 50 minute wait and we were all directed to the front bus by the drivers. Bus wedged full we watch as the three buses behind us pull off, no worries we think as it'll mean less stops. But no, we spend 45 minutes sat on a stuffy, over crowded bus and when I asked the driver he said "if you wanted to go in then you should have got the others."

Ya agree Briarhill junction is very problematic. That is the main reason Council changed the priority of the road behind Dunnes Stores at Briarhill as it was having such an impact on the 409. I thought that the Doughiska Rd was to get priority over the Old Monivea Road as well when they were doing these works?

The 3 buses turn up at the same time phenomena (two 409 and 1 403) see
this on numerous occasions at Parkmore when I pass by on the bike in the evenings. If they had a bit of flexibility (not allowed by NTA to do it though) they could make one of the 409 a direct express to Eyre Sq, imagine it could help them get buses back running to the timetable?

While that would be great if coming from the square, it would defeat the purpose of having stops along the route. Imagine waiting for the bus only to see it fly past when not full. It would possibly have the opposite effect and decrease usage

Pinn Hedde

The bus system seems like a good idea to me ?

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote:

While that would be great if coming from the square, it would defeat the purpose of having stops along the route. Imagine waiting for the bus only to see it fly past when not full. It would possibly have the opposite effect and decrease usage

You can have both, buses that stop and express ones. Plus an express bus would not follow the same path as to non express buses

what_traffic

Deleted User wrote: »

You can have both, buses that stop and express ones. Plus an express bus would not follow the same path as to non express buses

Was thinking along that line, that one of these 409 "EXPRESS" would deviate and go direct into Eyre Sq when this happens but cannot deviate from the "NTA" route. Bbest thing might be to add another 2 buses on the 403 bus to increase frequency?

paconnors

biko wrote: »

We need a subway

Here you go

KevR

serfboard wrote: »

• provide more Bus Lanes (me, I'd take take two lanes of the bridge and Bothar Na dTreabh)

Take the double foot/cycle path on each side and convert these to bus lanes. Then build offline pedestrian and cycle facilities. It can be parallel / elevated as needed.