BusConnects Dublin - Bus Network Changes Discussion

Letter we got by email

One thing I've noticed this week with the 39As on the street RTPI signs is that the bus once it hits due, if it doesn't appear within a minute it goes back to around 10-15 minutes .

2 minutes later, the bus shows but even when the bus leaves it stays on the board and then disappears after a few minutes.

A few occasions I've seen this happen .

Taken from upstairs on the 60 this morning. Exactly what we told the nta would happen if there was a wedding funeral christening communion or confirmation in the church.

Reminds of the 40E and 120 going through estates in Cabra with cars and whatnot either side.

Don't think the 79 ever went through Claddagh Green or Blackditch Drive though. If anything, it makes the 60 more dissimilar.

If the 60 continued straight and rejoined the G2 on Clifden Road instead of turning left onto Claddagh Green, it wouldn't face this severe lack of space

Only other one I can think of is dodsboro, but that was only 2 buses (and probably not as relavent now with the C2 rerouted to pass by Shackleton)

Every time that I hear that the G1/G2 & the 60 are suffering with huge problems with timekeeping on their routes; I would fear that these problems will spread over to the drivers who operate the S Routes from February onwards.

There needs to be some big miracle coming out from the 2 operators and from the NTA in how they can make the routes work in a functional manner.

The amount of new duties that are reportedly going to be in place for operating the S Routes are going to be very substantial for the next phase.

I would say that the next phase of BC will be a huge litmus test into how the project will fare out from 2023 onwards.

The N4 & N6 have been an exception to the rule in becoming a success. The S routes really need to become same. They cannot afford to be seen to fail from the 1st day of operation from the NTA's pov.

If people are not going like the prospect of say having to get 2 buses from Stillorgan to Tallaght while having to deal with all of the current delays and driver shortages that were built in from the previous phases of the project. They would lose their confidence in using them straight away. It might be regarded as a huge failure when you see all of the other phases being launched in future.

The passengers who would try to make valid attempts to use the new routes would probably find them to be a logistical nightmare as they are not going to be relied upon for trying to turn up at their bus stops on time.

DB & GAI would need to do the following to get their routes operating as they normally did before Covid asap. Employ the new drivers as they are at the moment to allow them operate the new routes. They also need to get their existing drivers to come back to do their duties to make their driver numbers more sustainable in future.

If they cannot make that substantial effort later on; running new BC phases will become a huge slog in 2023/24. And it won't get easier for either party once that happens.

I don't know this person's circumstances (do they have a disability etc.) so I don't like passing judgement but assuming they mean town as in Dublin city centre the vast majority of places in Dublin city centre north and south and be easily walked from any other point in the city centre. The city centre is not that big.

Townsend Street to Stephen's Green/Baggot St. is not a million miles although admittedly might not be the best walk for a lone woman after dark hence why I said I don't like judging people's personal circumstances.

Being too lazy or too stuck in one's ways is not really a good excuse to be against bus connects.

I have many gripes with bus connects myself but for example in my own area the 145 is being replaced by the E1 and will no longer serve the quays or Hueston Station which is a bit more inconvient for me I occasionally have to go to Smithfield but I realise the changes make more sense for the masses which what public transport is all about.

Think it was mentioned somewhere on Busconnects website that they'll launch in Feb 2023

Of little relevance to BusConnects directly, but merely worth mentioning given the last few posts and to highlight how the transport industry is affected everywhere near Ireland, Nederlandse Spoorwegen have to cut their timetables from the European December rail timetable change in order to be able to run within available... guard (conductor) numbers - oddly enoough - as OPO passenger operations are not possible in the Netherlands at the moment. To a similar tune, there were problems with covering full school term schedules in a number of Polish cities, and I can't go a week without train drivers in the Cracow area saying "we need more drivers, and don't bother applying for conductors, go for driving", regardless of company (it shows with the amount of 160 km/h-routed trains operating at 130 km/h, since current regulations require either ERTMS/ETCS or a second driver in the cab to exceed 130 - there just aren't enough drivers to provide the second one on all trains). In Germany, Karlsruhe's VBK (the city operator, not the tram-train) had some issues with duty covering during the summer, but I wouldn't know if the problems have disappeared or not (update: I asked, they haven't, services have been cut).

In other words, what good is importing staff from abroad going to do, when it's a good bet there aren't any available abroad either?

Got 16.30 60 from burgh Quay today and arrived spiddal Park at 17.51. Can see the journey time worsening due to bad weather getting dark earlier and Christmas traffic. The 60 has come into its own in the past week with a big increase in passenger numbers including off peak. Despite the journey time people prefer it over the g spine. A local Councillor submitted complaints on behalf of residents and brid Smith raised the issues on the g spine in the Dail including the doubling of journey times. Let's see how nta respond.

See link below

https://fb.watch/gpcectSd3S/