http://busrage.com/forum/ BUSRAGE Discussions » Forum: Deregulation - Recent Posts en Sat, 31 Jul 2010 02:36:12 +0000 http://busrage.com/forum/topic/1120#post-5319 Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:53:55 +0000 MylesKenny 5319@http://busrage.com/forum/ the following could be AMC new route: <br> <br>16a From DUBLIN AIRPORT <br> <br>Aerport Atha Cliath, Seantrabh, Beaumont, Droim Conrach, Sr. Uí Chonaill, X Araild, Tír an Luír, Ráth Fearnáin Íoch. <br> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/1120#post-5267 Tue, 18 Dec 2007 09:51:23 +0000 MylesKenny 5267@http://busrage.com/forum/ RT is right http://busrage.com/forum/topic/1120#post-5233 Thu, 06 Dec 2007 09:26:04 +0000 Anonymous 5233@http://busrage.com/forum/ why doesnt Liams Bus Hire not give AMC a bit of competition<br/><em>[posted by: RT]</em> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/1120#post-4971 Thu, 19 Oct 2006 09:42:09 +0000 Biddy 4971@http://busrage.com/forum/ I have used AMC buses and I will tell you that they can be unreliable, uncomfortable and overcrowded. Parkwest has used a cheap bus service and so we are forced to use the bus. <br> <br>All the best. <br> <br>Biddy http://busrage.com/forum/topic/4942#post-4969 Mon, 16 Oct 2006 18:49:04 +0000 Ray 4969@http://busrage.com/forum/ Gosh I hope the next 15% increase isn&#39;t on the 39 bus route. I&#39;d hate that to go to a Privateer pal of the Minister for Silly Mistakes. Jeez they sure got the top of the pile with this one didn&#39;t they. <br> <br>Made a mess of Aer Fungus and then he gets all uppity because the big bad bogeyman wanted to buy it cheap. <br> <br>Then there are the computers! <br> <br>And now the Privateers!! Way to go Minister. http://busrage.com/forum/topic/4942#post-4942 Sun, 01 Oct 2006 02:41:29 +0000 Al 4942@http://busrage.com/forum/ <p align=justify>All here in this <a href=http://www.transport21.ie/MEDIA/Press_Releases/Extra_Buses_and_Role_for_Private_Operators.html>Transport 21 press release</a>...and I&#39;m not too fond of it, of course. The private bus thing has been tried and tossed out in different markets. All that will happen is that the whole shebang, when it falls apart, would probably be handed over to Stagecoach or (gasp) Connex. Just fixing what ain&#39;t broken.<br><br>Not to mention, this "Dublin Transport Authority" is merely a way to waste more money. The transport goes from being fully integrated to smashed into a million disparate parts that don&#39;t talkk to each other? Lovely. It&#39;s nice to get the new buses, of course, but how to get people to ride them when the implementation&#39;s so chaotic?<br><br>Well, here&#39;s the text, in case it&#39;s not archived:</p><blockquote><hr><p align=justify>Extra Buses and Role for Private Operators <br>Date: 28 September 2006 <br> <br>&#40;100 news buses for Dublin Bus… <br> <br>160 new buses for Bus Eireann… <br> <br>Next 15% growth in the Dublin bus market will go to private operators…&#41; <br> <br>Transport Minister, Martin Cullen, T.D. has announced today (Thursday, 28th September 2006) that, based on his proposals the Government has made a number of significant decisions that will provide a solid basis for expanded and improved bus services for commuters, while ensuring better value for money for both passengers and taxpayers. The decisions made are in line with the Agreed Programme for Government. <br> <br>The Government decided that the regulation of the bus market and future decisions on the allocation of all public subsidies for bus services in the Greater Dublin area will be taken by the new Dublin Transport Authority, which is being established under legislation (that legislation is now at an advanced stage of preparation). The Dublin Transport Authority will have responsibility for contracting with all operators in the Dublin market, including Dublin Bus. It will also be responsible for monitoring the quality and cost of service by all operators and ensuring value for money on all routes.<br><br>Under Transport 21, it is anticipated that there will be a requirement in the Greater Dublin Area for an expansion of the number of buses providing scheduled services. This will require an increase in the total number of buses to around 1,800, with a requirement for at least 200 extra buses over the next two years. The Government has decided to meet this initial requirement by:<ul><li>Providing up to €30m immediately to enable Dublin Bus to buy 100 additional buses for delivery over the period 2006/07; and</li> <br><li>Mandating the Dublin Transport Authority to procure the additional 100 buses from the private sector to provide services on new routes.</li></ul><p align=justify>Minister Cullen said: &#40;The 100 buses procured from the private sector will form part of an initiative to facilitate the entry of new, private operators by awarding franchises to operate routes accounting for 15% (approx 200 buses) exclusively to such operators by way of competitive tendering. Following this period, all new routes will be subject to a competitive tendering process open to all operators. The precise arrangements will be approved by Government on the basis of proposals from the Dublin Transport Authority. This approach will encourage new investment and innovation in the Dublin bus passenger market.<br><br>The Government also agreed that in the interests of stability and integration of the bus network, the legislation establishing the Dublin Transport Authority will allow it to enter into a direct contract with Dublin Bus, in accordance with EU law, on the basis of it continuing to operate without a diminution in the size of their current bus fleet. The Dublin Transport Authority will allocate all subventions, both to Dublin Bus and to new operators, on an objective, transparent and even handed basis so as to maximise value for public money.<br><br>The integrated nature of the Dublin bus market will be underpinned through the Dublin Transport Authority having responsibility for traffic management strategy, which will prioritise public transport, and for integrated ticketing, fares and information systems. The Dublin Transport Authority will also be empowered to organise the allocation of routes to operators in such a way as to maximise their prospect of efficient operation and the coherent development of the bus network.<br><br>The Government is also investing up to €50m for the delivery of up to 160 buses for Bus Éireann in the period commencing 2007 for non-commercial services outside of Dublin.<br><br>In line with commitments in the Programme for Government, new legislation will be brought forward to replace the Road Transport Act, 1932 with a modern regulatory and licensing regime. This will be designed in a manner consistent with EU law on public service obligations and State aids and in such a way as to create new opportunities and a level playing field for private operator involvement in the bus market.<br><br>The combination of immediate investment in new bus capacity and structural reform to introduce competition and enhance incentives for efficiency, represent a balanced strategy to benefit bus passengers and taxpayers alike. It follows extensive consultation with interested parties and study of mechanisms used internationally to achieve efficiency and effectiveness in the bus market. The Government&#39;s strategy will deliver immediate benefits and secure steady and continuing progress into the future.<br><br>Minister Cullen added: &#40;The Government&#39;s Transport Investment Programme Transport 21 recognises the critical role that an expanded bus service will have in meeting transport needs, including new and expanded feeder services to support a substantially expanded rail network. In total the programme provides approx. €770m for upgrading bus services, with €530m being provided for the Greater Dublin Area and €240m for the rest of the country.&#41;</p><hr></blockquote> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3244#post-3928 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 09:02:04 +0000 Anonymous 3928@http://busrage.com/forum/ let liams bus hire join in as well<br/><em>[posted by: stegan leech]</em> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3756#post-3867 Tue, 26 Apr 2005 11:47:21 +0000 Anonymous 3867@http://busrage.com/forum/ my da can help<br/><em>[posted by: robert tedders]</em> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3756#post-3849 Thu, 21 Apr 2005 19:02:53 +0000 Al 3849@http://busrage.com/forum/ <p align=justify>That never happens, unless you are running long-distance bus trips with all of your buses full. Never happens with city bus service. Off-peak bus service doesn't make money. <br></p> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3756#post-3846 Thu, 21 Apr 2005 15:49:21 +0000 Anonymous 3846@http://busrage.com/forum/ You still make money but just enough to keep the company going.<br/><em>[posted by: Daz]</em> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3756#post-3837 Wed, 20 Apr 2005 13:38:13 +0000 Anonymous 3837@http://busrage.com/forum/ Hey Daz! How do you provide a service without making a profit?<br/><em>[posted by: GO SHARP]</em> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3756#post-3836 Wed, 20 Apr 2005 09:57:15 +0000 Anonymous 3836@http://busrage.com/forum/ A little vignette for your delectation. During the Kildare north by election I was waiting at the 67A bus stop in Maynooth when a Merc pulled into the terminus. (Which is signposted as for buses only but never mind.) And who popped out but a couple of FF hacks who proceeded to canvas the bus queue. When they got to me they asked how I found the bus service in Maynooth. I said that it was reasonable but needed more buses. The canvasser said "Ah yes we'll be trying to do something about that of Aine (Brady) gets elected." I then asked him if that was why Bertie was holding back on the extra buses promised in the NDP. He looked a little taken aback so I pushed on. "You just want to slice it up for your rich mates. That's what you mean by more buses." Now for some reason when political canvassers realise that they haven't got a hope they ask you to consider them for a preference, which is what he did with the kind of cute hoor wink FF are renowned for. I answered that there was no point as I was registered in Dublin and wouldn't be voting anyway. He gave me a look as if I was something unpleasant he'd just stepped in. Then (thankfully) the bus arrived.<br/><em>[posted by: zeppo]</em> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3756#post-3832 Tue, 19 Apr 2005 17:12:11 +0000 kevin 3832@http://busrage.com/forum/ Tell Mary Harney that , she want,s to sell it off to her mates in the P.D,s just so they can get the subvention and do a runner .Again I say have a look across the water http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3756#post-3831 Tue, 19 Apr 2005 11:35:56 +0000 Anonymous 3831@http://busrage.com/forum/ "The CIE monopoly needs to be broken, the public are fed up with Semi-state services, with "jobs for life" unionised staff!" <br> <br>Dublin Bus is there to provide a service not to make a profit!! <br> <br><br/><em>[posted by: Daz]</em> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3756#post-3827 Mon, 18 Apr 2005 16:39:19 +0000 kevin 3827@http://busrage.com/forum/ It,s not only profitability there would be no guarantee of an off-peak service just look across to our neighbour,s in Britain http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3756#post-3764 Thu, 07 Apr 2005 17:38:50 +0000 Al 3764@http://busrage.com/forum/ <p align=justify><i>The CIE monopoly needs to be broken</i><br><br>Brilliant...and where will the funding come from when you have <i>disparate bus and rail companies again</i>, mind telling us that? You can't make money in public transportation. The more companies you have in the mix, the more the government has to pay out to support these separate companies.<br><br>There is a <i>reason</i> why companies like CIE came into existence, the aforementioned lack of profitability being chief among them. Think before you post. <br></p> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3756#post-3759 Thu, 07 Apr 2005 13:16:33 +0000 AlekSmart 3759@http://busrage.com/forum/ Well Joe,It aint going to be so. <br>The new Secretary of the Dept of Transport,Mr Andy Cullen (No Relation ?) has decided NOT to recommend to his Minister that the Break-Up of CIE be proceeded with. <br>This recommendation is subject to some agreement on a new regulatory structure for the Public Bus Sector in Dublin AND an immediate rewriting of the 1932 Transport Act. <br>Since those changes had already been agreed in principle by the various interested parties in the Dublin Public Transport Forum report in 2000 it represents a real advance,even if we have had to acknowledge that Seamus Brennans period of madness achieved absolutely nothing for Dublin or its Citizens. <br>It is implicit in the Departmental Secretary`s observations that he recognizes how we have a system in place which many of our EU partners dispensed with some time ago and are now bitterly regretting doing so. <br>Changes are definitely on the way !! http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3756#post-3758 Thu, 07 Apr 2005 06:22:05 +0000 Anonymous 3758@http://busrage.com/forum/ The CIE monopoly needs to be broken, the public are fed up with Semi-state services, with "jobs for life" unionised staff!<br/><em>[posted by: Joe Public]</em> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3756#post-3757 Wed, 06 Apr 2005 09:17:34 +0000 Al 3757@http://busrage.com/forum/ <p align=justify>If there were a profit to be made in providing local bus service, no public takeovers would ever have occurred. The only profitable times are during morning and evening rush, and during "shoppers' time" on the weekends. Other times of day are big money-losers; only way there would be money to be made would be to run on-demand un-timetabled bus service, and you don't ever get groups of people large enough assembled in order to make that a worthy exercise (which is why taxicabs have always been around, even since the era of horse-drawn vehicles)...<br><br>With private operators, you are paying the same subsidy (or possibly more) for inferior service, inferior-quality buses, ad nauseam... <br></p> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3756#post-3756 Wed, 06 Apr 2005 06:37:58 +0000 Richard 3756@http://busrage.com/forum/ From what I have seen of the Goodbody report commissioned by private operators, it is the most utter piece of tosh ever written on the subject. It completely fails to recognise that bus subventions are an environmental and economic necessity for a city like Dublin, and that only a publicly controlled bus system can respond properly to the real needs of all Dublin's transport users. http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3535#post-3538 Tue, 08 Feb 2005 10:36:51 +0000 Anonymous 3538@http://busrage.com/forum/ People like this guy probably think that the Gardai should'nt stop him for blasting through a red light past the Luas because "he pays there wages"... Get a life, DB like any other semi-state take an active part in the community...unlike Mr.Ryan.<br/><em>[posted by: Xp]</em> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3535#post-3537 Mon, 07 Feb 2005 20:37:48 +0000 Al 3537@http://busrage.com/forum/ <p align=justify>Yes...that is quite a rant over absolutely nothing.<br><br>Didn't yoiu read in the news that DB has made a surplus for two years running? If you want to complain, then you have to go right to the top—those indomitable ministers on Sráid Chill Dara.<br><br>PS. Don't wish for privatisation too quickly, unless you want the quality of both the bus' condition and the bus' time-keeping to plummet lower than DB's current status quo. <br></p> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3535#post-3536 Mon, 07 Feb 2005 17:25:14 +0000 kevin 3536@http://busrage.com/forum/ Oooh we are upset did we miss the bus then? http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3535#post-3535 Mon, 07 Feb 2005 14:43:47 +0000 Martin Ryan 3535@http://busrage.com/forum/ How can Dublin Bus justify their misuse of taxpayers' money by <br>spending it on community support programmes when they are not a <br>charity, not an NGO, nor a private or public company which has mandate <br>for such expenditures? <br> <br>As a regular Dublin Bus user, I was quite offended when I saw <br>advertisements about this initiative on double-deckers which I use to <br>commute around the city. For those readers who do not use public <br>transport (yet still fund it through their taxes) have a look at: <br><a href="http://www.dublinbus.ie/home/community_support.asp" rel="nofollow">http://www.dublinbus.ie/home/community_support.asp</a> <br> <br>I view this as a collosal, indecent and illegitimate flushing of <br>public money down the toilet. It is perfectly fine for private and <br>public companies to use some of their profits to support community <br>programmes. Strong arguments can be made for the added value which <br>shareholders of private and public companies gain from corporate <br>social responsibility (especially in the long-run). <br> <br>However, Dublin Bus doesn't have any profits and it doesn't need to <br>invest in social responsibility. It is a monopoly entity, protected by <br>the cowardice which is symptomatic of our dithering nanny state <br>governance. What benefit could shareholders receive from investments <br>in social responsibility when the Dublin Bus service is the only <br>option for public-bus transport? <br> <br>In short, Dublin Bus do not have a mandate for this activity, nor does <br>it make any straegic sense. The final straw was the 5 per cent rise in <br>Dublin Bus fares at the start of the new year <br>(<a href="http://busrage.com/news28.html)" rel="nofollow">http://busrage.com/news28.html)</a>. This rise in fares is twice the rate <br>of Irish inflation and simply beggars belief. What is the extra <br>revenue being spent on? Community support programmes? <br> <br>I demand, as an indirect shareholder/stakeholder in Dublin Bus, that <br>they stop wasting my money. And I also demand, as a reluctant customer <br>of Dublin Bus, that they stop charging me extra to subsidise <br>unnecessary investment in social responsibility initiatives. Its true <br>that Dublin Bus have a lacklustre public image, but what matter when <br>there is no alternative for commuters such as myself? <br> <br>If I ever become Transport minister, I will not hesitate in opening up <br>the bus-lanes to private operators. In fact, I would also be quite <br>willing to invest my savings in a private bus-operator. As I'm on the <br>subject about the ways in which I prefer to spend my money, I would <br>like to offer the following caveat to the unions at Dublin Bus: I <br>would rather pay your social-welfare support than your wages from <br>Dublin Bus. I hear that Willie Walsh has experience in making a <br>success of low-cost transport. Why don't you ask him to set up a <br>bus-company and send in your CV? <br> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3244#post-3356 Sat, 15 Jan 2005 15:02:00 +0000 kevin 3356@http://busrage.com/forum/ Look around you my friend he is doing it already http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3244#post-3355 Sat, 15 Jan 2005 09:10:28 +0000 Anonymous 3355@http://busrage.com/forum/ if dualway can do this why cant AMC do it as well<br/><em>[posted by: stegan leech]</em> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3244#post-3246 Mon, 20 Dec 2004 15:09:31 +0000 kevin 3246@http://busrage.com/forum/ That,s Dual-way operating from city centre to City west that,s one of the licences that was issued by Mr Brennan when he said he would,nt until negiation,s with the union,s were finalised http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3244#post-3245 Mon, 20 Dec 2004 13:47:50 +0000 SickCert 3245@http://busrage.com/forum/ Been around a while - the private boys are here!!! http://busrage.com/forum/topic/3244#post-3244 Mon, 20 Dec 2004 08:41:30 +0000 Anonymous 3244@http://busrage.com/forum/ Can anyone enlighten me as to what exactly are these non-DB buses which go around the place with route numbers? An example is a Dualway bus I saw at College Green this morning with "613 Lucan" on it. I have also seen a bus stop marked with these routes. I am sure these are not DB services, nor are they those BE services which use hired private coaches.<br/><em>[posted by: Richard]</em> http://busrage.com/forum/topic/2207#post-2224 Tue, 11 May 2004 08:19:49 +0000 David 2224@http://busrage.com/forum/ Those of you who have read my other postings will know my dislike for privatisation. I agree with most of what you say Al. Private bus companies only outprice and compete with each other, devaluing the public transport SYSTEM!