Galway traffic

xckjoo

cooperguy wrote: »

Induced demand may decrease cycling as a percentage but will not reduce the amount of cycling (though it would make the city area a safer cycling location).

Saying it does nothing for public transport is wrong however. They cant execute the public transport plans without the addition of the river crossing that the new road brings.

They can't execute the plan they came up that's completely based on building the ring road. They can come up with a better plan easier, cheaper and faster than forcing this ring road which they freely admit won't help things

Zzippy

cooperguy wrote: »

Saying it does nothing for public transport is wrong however. They cant execute the public transport plans without the addition of the river crossing that the new road brings.

They keep saying this, but it would be easier to take seriously if they had bothered to produce any sort of plans for a public transport strategy for when the road is built; instead they just concentrated on the road and pushed any consideration of PT down the road, so to speak. Or if they had even considered assigning existing road space to PT and starting a cross-city bus service that both reduced space for cars and high frequency buses would increase demand and usage rapidly, but no, all the talk from Arup, BBC etc has been purely lip service, and the only thing they are interested in is building the road.

what_traffic

cooperguy wrote: »

Induced demand may decrease cycling as a percentage but will not reduce the amount of cycling (though it would make the city area a safer cycling location).

Saying it does nothing for public transport is wrong however. They cant execute the public transport plans without the addition of the river crossing that the new road brings.

Alot of contradictions in that statement. Why would more car traffic make cycling safer?

Will ya read the documents - check the modal share for the public transport and come back to us after that.

dinneenp

?Cee?view wrote: »

I can never understand why they're aren't more motorbikes and scooters in use in Galway. An obvious measure to reduce congestion would be to open the bus lanes that do exist to them thereby encouraging their use more.

I think it's a cultural thing- in Ireland motorbikes are not common so people by default don't consider them.
Whereas in Italy (or elsewhere) they're common, almost a right of passage owning one.

John_Rambo

timmyntc wrote: »

Who claimed that these initiatives would not have worked?

People like you.

timmyntc wrote: »

I don't recall any arguments about the effectiveness of them, just different flavours of NIMBYism.

Nonsense, people from all over the country were picking faults with the LUAS (check back on past posts here from 2004), the DART, the Tunnel. As for the Dublin and Galway bikes? Everyone had the projects dead and buried before they took off due to vandalism and theft. Look at the schemes now!!

Ashleigh1986

It's simples ...
To get people out of their cars and onto buses to get them to and from work ...
(1) proper bus service
(2) all bus stops must have shelters
(3) bus lanes going from knocknacarra to Boston sientific / parkmore and return
(4) a weekly low point fee
(5) real time information at all bus stops of when next bus is due
(6) mannerly drivers
For some people it can be a long walk from their house to a bus stop ... So in an ideal galway you would have car parks and buses running from those parks .
One on east side and one on west side of galway .
People will get out of their cars if you could get from knocknacarra to Boston sientific / parkmore in 20 mins by bus at a low cost .

Mrs OBumble

On the cost point:

A weekly Bus Eireann city ticket costs€24. A monthly one is €74.50 - or as little as €45 on Taxsaver. A daily one is €4.80.

But if you live in the north end of Knocknacarra, BE is no use.

What we really need is integrated ticketing with cross company caps.

Ashleigh1986

Lads it ain't rocket science .
People want to use buses to get from where they live to where they work .
They want a direct line .
No jump on / jump off .
Quality buses / quality drivers / quality service / quick routes at a low price .
It's been proven by go bus / citylink that with the right service people will flock to use you .
However can bus eireann provide that professional service ???
I seriously doubt it .
A public and a private bus service are miles apart .

serfboard

xckjoo wrote: »

My only issue with something like a light rail system is that I can't see how it wouldn't be faster and cheaper to improve the existing bus infrastructure. The rail would need lines put down, the bus would use existing roads and I think both would require similar levels of traffic re-routing.

It's a nonsense idea. If we have the money, give us a proper BRT system - no need to rip up any roads, and can be delivered relatively quickly.

Anyway, if the next government is FF/FG, BRT (BusConnects Galway) will be the only system offered. People campaigning for "Gluas" are simply wasting their time.

Mrs OBumble

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

A public and a private bus service are miles apart .

Except in Knocknacarra.

ChewyLouie

serfboard wrote: »

Anyway, if the next government is FF/FG, BRT (BusConnects Galway) will be the only system offered. People campaigning for "Gluas" are simply wasting their time.

"completion date 2027"

Why does everything take forever in this country! The public transport system could be transformed in a week if the will was there!

cooperguy

Zzippy wrote: »

They keep saying this, but it would be easier to take seriously if they had bothered to produce any sort of plans for a public transport strategy for when the road is built; instead they just concentrated on the road and pushed any consideration of PT down the road, so to speak. Or if they had even considered assigning existing road space to PT and starting a cross-city bus service that both reduced space for cars and high frequency buses would increase demand and usage rapidly, but no, all the talk from Arup, BBC etc has been purely lip service, and the only thing they are interested in is building the road.

They cant assign existing space because there is no room. There is not enough river crossings. They do have plans for a public transport strategy, for example they want to remove all non essential traffic from Eglington street, Francis Street and Williamsgate street.

what_traffic wrote: »

Alot of contradictions in that statement. Why would more car traffic make cycling safer?

Will ya read the documents - check the modal share for the public transport and come back to us after that.

There are no contradictions. The bikes wont be on the ring road, they will be on the internal city roads, which will have less traffic as the cars will be on the ring road (and there will be more road space given over to them).

"Commuting will be reduced from 65% to 45% of journeys... car commuters will be accommodated via other modes such as walking, cycling, public transport and car sharing"

Snow Garden

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/boston-scientific-and-nuig-withdraw-objections-to-galway-ring-road-1.4177394

Boston Scientific and NUIG withdraw objections to Galway ring road

An Bord Pleanála hearing told traffic is ‘crippling and stifling’ life in the city

A positive outcome so far, here’s hoping for this to continue and a swift granting of permission for the road to go ahead.

ChunkyLover54

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

It's simples ...
To get people out of their cars and onto buses to get them to and from work ...
(1) proper bus service
(2) all bus stops must have shelters
(3) bus lanes going from knocknacarra to Boston scientific / parkmore and return
(4) a weekly low point fee
(5) real time information at all bus stops of when next bus is due
(6) mannerly drivers
For some people it can be a long walk from their house to a bus stop ... So in an ideal galway you would have car parks and buses running from those parks .
One on east side and one on west side of galway .
People will get out of their cars if you could get from knocknacarra to Boston scientific / parkmore in 20 mins by bus at a low cost .

The major problem with the bus service is the likelihood one's bus will be late when most needed (i.e. morning or evening commute). The reason why the bus may be late (or not show at all) is because it is caught in traffic. And traffic is caused by routes being congested mainly by private motorists. It's a vicious cycle.

Ashleigh1986

That's why chunky ....the only way possible for any bus company to provide a quality service is a complete bus lane going from A to B .
The bus lanes in galway are just a token gesture .
A high proportion of bus journeys are done on ordinary roads with other traffic to deal with .
For people to leave their cars and get buses a major change with the quality of service in galway is required.

what_traffic

Jazmin Harsh Gold wrote: »

A positive outcome so far, here’s hoping for this to continue and a swift granting of permission for the road to go ahead.

Hmm that's debatable. Never looks good if plans are been retro fitted at such a late late stage. Why was this not done years earlier?
Can see new plans here for link road to the east of HP/Boston: http://www.n6galwaycityringroad.ie/

what_traffic

Snow Garden wrote: »

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/boston-scientific-and-nuig-withdraw-objections-to-galway-ring-road-1.4177394

"
NUI Galway also withdrew its objection to the proposed ring road, which will have an impact on its sports complex in Dangan. In a brief letter to An Bord Pleanála, the university did not indicate a reason for this decision.
"

Anybody in the know here understand NUI Galway current position?

fergiesfolly

Have Boston Scientific withdrawn the objection because of changes made to the proposed link road?

?Cee?view

Snow Garden wrote: »

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/boston-scientific-and-nuig-withdraw-objections-to-galway-ring-road-1.4177394

:):):):)

Wonderful news and proud of my alma mater!

?Cee?view

what_traffic wrote: »

"
NUI Galway also withdrew its objection to the proposed ring road, which will have an impact on its sports complex in Dangan. In a brief letter to An Bord Pleanála, the university did not indicate a reason for this decision.
"

Anybody in the know here understand NUI Galway current position?

In general terms, NUI Galway has a very new positive leadership who consider the University to be part of the City and don't consider the University's concerns in isolation to Galway's concerns.

xckjoo

what_traffic wrote: »

"
NUI Galway also withdrew its objection to the proposed ring road, which will have an impact on its sports complex in Dangan. In a brief letter to An Bord Pleanála, the university did not indicate a reason for this decision.
"

Anybody in the know here understand NUI Galway current position?

Lets be honest it was probably financial :pac:
They have researchers that see the problem with the road, but a university is a business now so it's led by the balance book

Fitz*

Ashleigh1986 wrote: »

It's simples ...
To get people out of their cars and onto buses to get them to and from work ...
(1) proper bus service
(2) all bus stops must have shelters
(3) bus lanes going from knocknacarra to Boston sientific / parkmore and return
(4) a weekly low point fee
(5) real time information at all bus stops of when next bus is due
(6) mannerly drivers
For some people it can be a long walk from their house to a bus stop ... So in an ideal galway you would have car parks and buses running from those parks .
One on east side and one on west side of galway .
People will get out of their cars if you could get from knocknacarra to Boston sientific / parkmore in 20 mins by bus at a low cost .

On the 10th of February, Maria Byrne of Bus Eireann e-mailed me and told me that there was a request in place for a real time information sign to be placed at the terminus stop at HP on the 405 line. Which sounds good, except that bus stop has been in place for about 5 years now which no real time information and the previous terminus stop also had no real time information. The stop is off the road so it's difficult to know when buses are actually coming or not. This is also the same stop that services Boston Scientific.

The only thing is she also emailed me on 26th February 2018, almost 2 years earlier, she had requested a real time information sign for the terminus at HP for the 405 service "as a priority". That has never been followed through on yet.

Wompa1

fergiesfolly wrote: »

Have Boston Scientific withdrawn the objection because of changes made to the proposed link road?

That's what has been suggested and now others are not happy with the proposed changes but it sounds like those concerns will get disregarded.

Having reviewed the charts they shared yesterday, it seems more clear than ever that this is not going to remove some of the chokepoints. People will just be sitting in traffic on a newer road.

xckjoo

?Cee?view wrote: »

In general terms, NUI Galway has a very new positive leadership who consider the University to be part of the City and don't consider the University's concerns in isolation to Galway's concerns.

Bit naive IMO. The same concern they're showing by increasing the cost of student accommodation once again? Despite record numbers of students now having to commute long distances (by car) because they can't afford to rent.
It's a business. Students are the consumers and funding proposals and rankings are the commodities.

Zzippy

cooperguy wrote: »

They cant assign existing space because there is no room. There is not enough river crossings. They do have plans for a public transport strategy, for example they want to remove all non essential traffic from Eglington street, Francis Street and Williamsgate street.

No room? The road from Taylor's Hill (top) to Parkmore is a 4 lane carriageway all the way. Lanes were already assigned for buses on Seamus Quirke Road when it was redeveloped. Would be a simple matter to convert 2 lanes on QB, Bother na dTreabh and N6 DC to bus lanes. Put in a direct bus service with high frequency at peak hours would be a massive step.

?Cee?view

xckjoo wrote: »

Lets be honest it was probably financial :pac:
They have researchers that see the problem with the road, but a university is a business now so it's led by the balance book

I'd say it's guided rather than led by the balance sheet.

There really is a genuine effort in there now to consider the place of the University in a wider Galway. It's very gratifying to see.

?Cee?view

xckjoo wrote: »

It's a business. Students are the consumers and funding proposals and rankings are the commodities.

And you've some insider knowledge that allows you to say this?

ceatharloch

timmyntc wrote: »

Who claimed that these initiatives would not have worked? I don't recall any arguments about the effectiveness of them, just different flavours of NIMBYism.

I mean, you can't seriously look at that proposed tramline and think its a good idea that will solve our problems?
A long slow meandering journey from Barna, up through Knocknacarra, Westside then back down into Salthill - then through the city center towards Headford then through Liosban & Mervue before getting near Ballybrit/Parkmore.

Even if all roads were clear and lights were green and you were driving like a madman you would barely make that trip in an hour. How is a slow moving tram which will have multiple stops & traffic crossings supposed to do that journey in any kind of reasonable time?

The proposed line would have (about) 20 stops. The average time between stops would be about 90 seconds (standard on other such systems). That means you could go from Bearna to Oranmore in about 30 minutes on such a line. Or, put differently, you could go from either Bearna or Oranmore to the city center in about 15 minutes.

xckjoo

?Cee?view wrote: »

And you've some insider knowledge that allows you to say this?

Ya. More than enough. You can also just talk to the staff on their rolling temporary contracts and keep an eye on the papers for stuff like the accommodation hikes.