Dublin Bus tables conditional pay offer of 12%

Burt Renaults

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118238572#Comment_118238572

Ironically, some of those drivers will take their redundancy, pay off the mortgage, go on a few holidays, buy a new car... and then head to Go Ahead (or whatever private operators are around in 2024) to do the same job as before, albeit for only slightly less money. The ex-DB and BE drivers at GAI (and there are quite a lot of them) always seemed like the happiest and most content members of staff. They know the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

They've been sending supervisors (and controllers, inspectors and even members of senior management) out to drive buses since day-one. There's very much an all-hands-on-deck approach at GAI, which seems to get them through tough times (so far, at least...).

end of the road

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118240271#Comment_118240271

i am in no doubt over all db will be able to compete as wages across all operators tendering will have to be similar to what currently exists to get staff.

this isn't pre-brexit UK where low wages could be paid because there were lots of workers around because it's a large population, only a very small amount here in ireland have any interest in transport work and the hgv situation will be focusing minds, automation being a longer way off then is claimed realistically.

Burt Renaults

The whole automation argument is largely bollocks. It's a very long way off - and it'll probably happen in the rail industry long before they start sending driver-less buses out. I don't think current bus drivers have anything to worry about.

dublinman1990

Yeah with the automation argument being discussed at the moment. The technology that is required for it really needs to be supplied at a widespread level before it can become mainstream in the global marketplace once stable levels of supply will be made available to every bus or hgv OEM.

If there are companies out there willing to invest their hard earned money & make supplies available then it will become more mainstream. But that type of investment required to carry out that job will be several years away even after the DB tender run out in 2024.

Another problem here is that we don't have this technology available from mainstream car manufacturers in Ireland to sell to regular car owners at the moment either. It will take a very long time for this technology to be more commonplace on Irish roads.

DB/GAI or the NTA probably will have nothing to worry about regarding this issue at this time if any of the current bus manufacturers in the private sector don't have that sort of technology available in their factories yet so they can supply it to the NTA.

But that is not to say that this issue of self driving buses will become a distant memory. The advancements in the technology will still be talked about in years to come. However the NTA could be talking years away to even purchase new buses with that sort of technology becoming available here.

Cookie_Monster

I dunno, I think automation is a lot further away than that tbh. Realworld conditions remain far to complicated for programming for now.

A better option* would be remotely operated vehicles. That way drivers could be based in cheaper locations and potentially run more than 1 vehicle at a time, if 1 is highway cruising and one is in a town, the highway cruiser can be mostly automated with minimal oversight.

*for operators, maybe not for general public.