The Irish Times [subs required] reports:

A man has secured €143,000 damages from the High Court after he had to have five toes amputated when a bus drove over his foot.

The action by Sean Horan (58), unemployed, McClean’s Court, The Coombe, Dublin, was against Dublin Bus arising out of the incident at Usher’s Quay, Dublin, on December 18th, 2003 as he was attempting to board a double decker bus.

Dublin Bus had denied negligence and also pleaded that Mr Horan had failed to remain in the designated bus queue.

Today, Mr Justice John Quirke ruled Dublin Bus was 65 per cent liable for the incident and Mr Horan was 35 per cent liable In light of those findings, he reduced the damages from €220,000 to €143,000.

Mr Horan had denied he was drunk at the time of the incident and said he had drank three cans of beer that day. He told the court he was with a number of people in the queue when he saw the door of the bus open and close.

He claimed that, when the bus moved off, he had attempted to wave it down with his hand and, when the bus driver did not see him, he had stepped out onto the roadway where the accident occurred.

Mr Justice Quirke said he was satisfied that the consumption of alcohol was not a primary cause of the accident and that the bus driver was in breach of duty to the plaintiff in failing to keep a proper look out.

The court was told Mr Horan is likely to be left with a limp and permanent stiffness of the shoulder.

The RPA have published a report explaining why a line it is proposing would cost lots of money, require the purchase of 10 buildings and 150 gardens and wouldn’t make enough money to justify itself (their criteria, not mine). To make matter worse, it would mean the removal of the Rathfarnham Quality Bus Corridor.

It’s bad enough that we have a situation whereby there are two state transport companies who do not get on with each other, and have to run to the minister every time one wants to play with the other’s toys. In addition to this, the fact that the RPA are bleeding money away with report after report on Luas lines that simply have no chance at all of ever being built is ridiculous. Forget the fact that everyone seems to think it is a bad thing that a particular mode of public transport wouldn’t make any money (public transport is not there to make money!), how about we use the money spent on these reports to build some proper QBCs instead of proposing to remove them.

If these routes justify a Luas, surely a far cheaper alternative is a segregated or part-segregated bus lane (i.e. expanding and augmenting the already existing QBC), with Luas style frequency of service. It would be a damn sight cheaper and could be up and running in no time.

Fiona Gartland of The Irish Times [subs required] writes:

A STUDY on a proposed new Luas line from Dundrum to Dublin city centre via Rathfarnham has found that delivery of its most feasible route would have “considerable adverse impacts” and would fall short of covering its operating costs by €2 million a year.

The Rathfarnham “E line” would also require the purchase of 150 private gardens and 10 buildings along the route.

The feasibility study, produced by the Railway Procurement Agency for the Minister for Transport, was presented to local representatives at a meeting yesterday. The 8.4 kilometre route “most likely to be feasible” begins at Christchurch and travels down Patrick Street and Clanbrassil Street before crossing the Grand Canal into Harold’s Cross.

The line includes a single track loop between Harold’s Cross and Terenure; the outbound track would travel down Brighton Square and on to Brighton Road and the inbound track would follow Terenure Road North, linking in with the outbound track at Rathfarnham Road. It would then travel on to Grange Road and Churchtown Road, terminating at The Oaks in Dundrum, where an interchange with the Luas Green would be built.

A section of the route which would have carried the line from Christchurch over O’Donovan Rossa Bridge to Constitution Hill at Broadstone on the north side of the city, was assessed as not feasible. The study found that there were too many engineering difficulties, including the vertical clearance for a tram at Christchurch Arch, the unsuitability of the bridge and the steep decline at Winetavern Street.

The “E line” would have considerable negative impact on traffic, the study found, and would require the removal of the Rathfarnham Quality Bus Corridor.

It also found that, based on current and projected population figures, passenger demand would not cover the running costs of the line and there would be a shortfall of €2 million a year.

Substantial property acquisition would be required: 150 private gardens would need to be purchased including some on Clanbrassil Street, Harold’s Cross Road and at the Terenure Cross and Brighton Square junction. Some 112 gardens along the Rathfarnham to Dundrum section would be affected, including 50 on Grange Road and Nutgrove Avenue. Some 10 buildings would also have to be purchased.

As part of the study, an archaeological desktop report found that any route section located within the city’s medieval town walls, “may have direct and indirect impact on a number of protected structures and national monuments, with an additional potential for impact on previously undiscovered archaeological remains”.

Fianna Fáil TD Chris Andrews welcomed the report, but said a lot more detail and consultation would be required before a final decision on the line could be made.

Fine Gael spokeswoman on transport Olivia Mitchell said she was “bitterly disappointed” that the study looked at only one route.

“The plan is to build a Luas network in Dublin, and expanding areas including Rathfarnham, Templeogue and Knocklyon should be serviced as part of the overall network,” she said.

While appearing to make all the right noises to the media, there is something of the same old story when you actually take a look at the kind of things Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, is saying in relation to bus provision in Dublin, and public transport in general.

Speak with a member of the travelling masses and they will agree that it’s great that Dublin Bus are after getting some newer buses recently, but Seamus Public will also be keen to point out that he is still uncomfortably crammed onto the shiny new bus, staring at someones armpit the whole way to work. This, after probably waiting quite a bit too. And that’s assuming he can even get on a bus that isn’t completely rammed in the first place.

The reason for this is that these new buses cruising around our city streets at an average speed of 15 km/h are actually, in the main, replacements for vehicles which are coming to the end of their useful life.

For instance, take a look at the Transport21’s commitments for buses in Dublin. Although there is a provision for 300 buses, in actual fact this is only a net gain of 100, since 200 were earmarked as replacements for smoke spewing old models which generally get sold off to poor unfortunates in provincial England.

Meanwhile, the stated policy of this government is for more people to get out of their cars and onto the buses (since Luas and DART are at full capacity at rush hour). Take a look at the transport minister’s own document “20/20 Vision - Sustainable Travel and Transport” - it agrees that we need more priority lanes for buses, we need more buses operating in Dublin and that the 1100 currently in use by Dublin Bus is insufficient to meet demand. The minister himself has said in the past that we will get an extra 350 in the next two years.

So, are we all agreed that Dublin needs more buses and the government will stump up the cash to pay for them?

Apparently Minister Dempsey doesn’t see things that way, notwithstanding what it says in documents produced by his own department. Appearing before the Oireachtas Transport Committee last month the minister made a few astonishing comments. Firstly, in response to the Chairman lauding the promise to deliver 350 extra buses:

“The Chairman mentioned the introduction of extra buses over the next couple of years. The first stage in the process is to ensure that we are getting full value for the buses we have at the moment, although I am not sure that we are. I do not know but I remain to be convinced.

We have initiated a study on the capacity and use of existing buses. If that shows we need an extra 350 buses then that is the direction in which we will go, but I am not yet convinced of that.”

So after announcing the provision of 350 new buses he pulls the rug out, because he isn’t sure and needs someone to convince him. We’re happy to save him the money he’ll waste on yet another study by funding a monthly bus ticket for him. Noel can then see for himself if the buses are being used to their “full capacity” and providing “value for money”.

What about the money being lost to the economy by having the workforce of the land stuck in traffic rather than at their place of employment? He needs to have a chat with the finance minister and explain why he is not sorting the situation out right now - public transport is the oxygen of our economy, don’t provide it and you are suffocating our competitiveness.

He didn’t stop there though.

“…that there is no point in having 1450 Buses parked in streets around the place instead of 1100″

Parked around the place? Perhaps the minister caught a glimpse of a bus terminus from the back seat of his limo and briefly got confused. Or maybe he was simply watching our fair city’s traffic moving at it’s normal pace, which after all bears a striking resemblance to a car park.

So, if he thinks they are all parked up, why does he think that is the case?

“In acknowledging the difficulties that arise when there are two peak transport periods between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., and in order to cope with these, there will be a need for flexibility in respect of work practices which does not exist at present.”

Oh dear, with talk like that he won’t win any popularity contest with the unions. Enter the NBRU, in an open letter to the minister:

It would appear from your comments that it’s your understanding that a lack of flexibility on behalf of the Drivers is somehow responsible for the fact that all Buses are not in service in the off peak periods.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Whilst we are continually lobbying for better frequency during the off peak, however due to lack of adequate funding by your Department, Management are unwilling to accede to our persistent requests for the enhancement of the off peak services.

As regards the obvious demand for an extra 350 Buses… fudging making a decision by initiating a further study on the capacity of the existing buses will only exacerbate the frustration of the travelling public.

Indeed.

We worry that this is all part of a privatisation masterplan, a doomsday scenario of the wholescale deregulation of the bus system in Dublin, with the DTA taking on a “Transport for London” type role, and the bus companies tendering for routes. It’s clear that the 350 extra buses will come via private operators and not Dublin Bus, and they will be given control of some plum routes keep them sweet.

Dublin Bus itself might be run down or, more likely, split up into separate companies on a garage-by-garage basis. The continuous talk of the need to reform Irish transport legislation all points towards this. If this is what happens it will be a bad day for Dublin.

Some people say what a good job this minister is doing in comparison to Seamus “unlicensed driver” Brennan and Martin “what’s going on?” Cullen. To be honest we’re not sure, don’t know and remain to be convinced.

Ian Kehoe of the Sunday Business Post writes:

The government plans to hire external consultants to speed up its long-delayed €50 million integrated ticketing system for public transport. The project is running four years late and €20 million over its original budget.

Consultants will be appointed to assist the Integrated Ticketing Project Board, a high-level body that was established by the Department of Transport in 2006. They will report directly to the independent chairman of the board, David O’Callaghan, who is a former secretary general of the Department of Defence.

The consultants will provide O’Callaghan with information and advice, and will also be required to review all board papers, according to a draft copy of the tender document seen by this newspaper. They will also assess any proposed modifications to the project, as well as providing technical reports and papers to O’Callaghan.

Plans for the integrated ticketing system originally commenced in 2002 with a €30 million budget, but the project was abandoned in 2005 by the Railway Procurement Agency. The Department of Transport subsequently set up the new board.

The board has since agreed that the system will be launched within the greater Dublin area in September 2009 on Dublin Bus, the Luas and Morton’s Coaches, a private transport operator. It will then be extended to Dart and commuter rail services within the following year.

It is expected that the full roll-out of the scheme within the greater Dublin area will be completed by the end of 2010. Earlier this year, the secretary general of the Department of Transport, Julie O’Neill, told a Dáil committee that the project would be completed on time and on budget.

‘‘I can honestly say that, of all of the projects in my portfolio, this is the one to which I have probably given the most personal time,’’ O’Neill said.

And while we’re at it, if some routes will be run by Dublin Bus and some by private operators then the introduction by Dublin Bus of smartcards means absolutely nothing, since only Dublin Bus and one private operator are equipped to take the tickets. As usual, the newspaper article below doesn’t mention this, merely reprinting whatever press release passed the newsdesk.

Nicola Cooke of the Sunday Business Post writes:

Parts of Dublin city centre could be closed to traffic within 12 months, under a radical plan to tackle the capital’s congestion problem.

Under the new bus strategy, from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, a ‘‘bus gate’’ would be created at College Green by April 2009. This would lead to private traffic being banned from O’Connell Street , Dame Street, College Green and Westmoreland Street.

Two temporary steel bridges would be erected at Macken Street and Hawkins Street or Marlborough Street, to ensure a traffic flow. Dublin City Council has told the committee that such bridges could be lifted into place within three months, with bus priority lanes created.

The Sunday Business Post also understands that 350 new buses would be subcontracted from the private sector. And some routes currently serviced by both Dublin Bus and the private sector would be given exclusively to the private sector.

The bus strategy, which was passed by the 15-member committee last Thursday, will be finalised next week, before it is presented to transport minister Noel Dempsey. Other proposals in the report include:

• increasing cash fares to encourage use of a smartcard, which Dublin Bus said it could introduce by December
• extending Railway Order legislation to include Quality Bus Corridors (QBCs)
• allowing buses and taxis to use the port tunnel at a reduced rate
• converting some motorway hard shoulders to QBCs.

The aim of the bus strategy is to increase, from 20 per cent to 80 per cent, the number of commuters who travel to the city by bus.

A major marketing campaign of bus transport would be required to reverse the current trend, according to the draft strategy, and increase passengers from 148 million to 200 million.

The Dublin Transport Office is envisaged to have a role in the introduction of workplace travel plans to all city centre private and public employers, as part of any such campaign.

Paul Melia in the Irish Independent reports:

THE full roll-out of an integrated ticket for Dublin commuters will not happen until the end of 2010, almost eight years after it was first announced.

The “smart card” allowing Dublin commuters to use one ticket on bus, Luas and rail is expected to cost €49.6m, the Department of Transport revealed yesterday.

The integrated system will be launched in September 2009 but only for Dublin Bus, Luas and Morton’s Coaches — a private transport operator.

It will be extended to Irish Rail, DART and commuter services over the following year, while Bus Eireann will undertake a “trial project”.

A tender document for a consultant on the project says that the full roll-out is not expected until the end of 2010.

Fine Gael Transport spokesman Fergus O’Dowd said: “It seems to me that this is about getting everyone (the transport operators) to agree how much they will get from the ticket,” he said.

“It doesn’t make sense to me to be employing more consultants, it’s a bit much.”

TRANSLINK has defended its decision to refuse a woman who applied to be a bus driver on the grounds that she is deemed too fat.
The woman, who weighs around 12 stone, has the PSV licence required to drive a large vehicle and has spent 20 years driving buses in England.

When she responded to a Translink recruitment drive to increase the number of women bus drivers, the publicly-owned company told her that she had not been selected.

When she queried why she had been turned down despite her extensive experience, Translink said she would be reconsidered in six months if she lost weight.

Translink said it applied the controversial body mass index or BMI, which uses a person’s height and weight to decide if they are overweight, and the woman failed that part of its medical test.

Of course, Dublin Bus have a different way of handling this problem.

You can listen to the interview online now, using the player below.

Download audio file (busrage-on-dublin-city-fm.mp3)

THE Luas tram ground to a halt for an hour and a half yesterday morning after a man blocked the line with his jeep before jumping into the Liffey.

It is understood that the man parked his car across the tram tracks at Heuston Station around 11.30am before making for the river.

Four units of Dublin Fire Brigade rushed to the scene following an emergency call, and a rescue boat from Tara Street fire station was dispatched.

A member of the rescue team said that the divers feared the man had sunk to the bottom of the river at first when they arrived after taking the call at 11.35am.

“There was no sign of him,” he said.

“At first they thought he had gone to the bottom as there was no sign of him or shouting.

“Eventually he was found under the bridge at Heuston Station. They did good work.”

The Dublin Fire Brigade’s river-rescue boat finally brought the man to safety. The man, wearing soaked jeans and a brown top, was carried away from the river bank by four firemen.

A spokesperson for the Luas operator Veolia said the tram service was stopped from Connolly Station to Blackhorse Avenue on garda advice, although the vehicle blocking the tracks had been moved quickly.

Dublin Bus said it would honour all Luas tickets in the areas affected for passengers wishing to travel during the disruption.

AA Roadwatch issued a warning to traffic around Heuston Station on St John’s Road West and Parkgate Street as the emergency services attended the scene.

The Luas service has experienced a number of delays due to traffic issues and incidents in the regions where the lines run.

Last October, a blaze at a derelict building near St James’s Hospital left tailbacks of traffic in the capital and prevented the Luas from travelling in the area.

In February, the first death involving a Luas tram since the light-rail service began occurred when Anthony Creed, from Dublin’s Tallaght, was struck at Cookstown Way, between the Hospital stop and the Tallaght stop on the red Luas line from Connolly to Tallaght.

Now, a bridge was announced previously for the Luas that would link Hawkins Street with Marlborough Street, which would be used to carry the Luas, however it has also been announced that construction of line BX will not start until 2013 at the very earliest, so what is this bridge really for?

Apparently It’s being built to take traffic off O’Connell bridge while the metro and interconnector are both being built. Hopefully we can take DCC’s Director of Traffic (for now) Michael Philips at his word when he says

…the bridge to be built for Luas line BX is ‘urgently needed’ to keep buses moving when works start in 2010.

We would go further than that, as what is quickly becoming obvious here is that this is not a Luas bridge at all, but yet another bridge for cars, with the bus being tagged onto it to give it public service credentials, and no doubt receive the right level of funding. Why not do it properly and announce it as a bus bridge, for buses only - if you want to drive across the city centre during the massive upheaval of two of the largest construction projects this part of the city has ever seen then be my guest, but don’t expect to be rewarded further for your folly by having a new bridge handed to you.

Oh and did we say two construction projects? Of course we meant to say three as while all of this is going on they’ll be building this too.