The most disheartening thing in all of this present mess is that Seamus Brennan is percieved as being the single most successful of This Governments Ministers.
I have long ago given up on any recognition of The Bus Service being regarded as an integral part of Dublins Life.
We have one of the least public-Transport friendly Councils in the Western World who will never allow an opportunity pass to discommode Public Transport users in favour of Car Drivers,Unicyclists or any other form of mobility.
To give one example: Why after many months of prepriatory work and long detailed examination and planning was it possible for the City Manager to Suspend the operation of the Pearse St/Tara St Bus-Gate during Operation Freeflow.
Wads the City Manager Unaware of the INCREASED strategic importance of this piece of infrastructure given the DART closure and the Funderland/Ice Rink events in the RDS.
The City Managers decision left Bus Atha Cliath without this Vital item which when combined with some special Allocated Kerbside space COULD have allieviated the situation on this corridor (See Discussions).
Instead The City Administrators took to the Hills leaving behind a recipe for chaos which cooked just fine.
The Bus-Gate issue is but a single one of many where the CITY has abandoned its public transport using citizens and the Companies tasked with serving them.
If anybody doubts the levels of Incompetence,disinterest and possibily dishonesty within Dublins Administration then look no further than the shameful state of O Connell St itself over the Christmas Holiday.
I contend that the poorest least democratic state in the known world would have displayed more civic pride in its Capital City than what was all too visible to citizen and visitor alike in Dublin.
And our liberal elite speculate on the reasons for the drop in Asylum Applications..?
Take away the Cash Money allowances and Ireland is left in all its very visible shambolic nakedness....
What a shower of wasters we continually elect..!
BUSRAGE Discussions » Fares and Ticketing
Fares Rise
(18 posts)-
Posted 4 years ago #
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Jees Alec, that's certainly some deeply held views you expressed there. I have to sympathise with you and agree with much of what you say.
Certainly the City Fathers, Mothers, Aunts and Uncles don't give a toss about a transport policy in Dublin. Their car park at St Michaels Hill (entrance to the Civic Offices) is a case in point where there are traffic lights AND a yellow box provided, so that their staff can drive into and home from work. I know, because I see this every evening as I wait on the top deck of a 39X or 39B, in the Q of traffic held up trying to get onto the quays. What about a bus lane there??????
As to the fare increase, 5 cent is derisory. I don't mind paying for a good service. If the fare went up 25c I wouldn't mind, so long as I could get a bus without fuss and that it brought me to where I want to go, without scenic tours on the way.
I will not appreciate asreohles holding up the bus while they look for the 5c, AFTER they get onto the bus. What on earth is wrong with cashless buses with the onus on the great travelling public to pre purchase appropriate tickets for their journeys. Is this asking too much? Every other bloody country seems to be able to do this. Why not Paddy the Irishman?Posted 4 years ago # -
Too Bloody Right are my views deeply held.
I work for a Public Bus Service which for most of its history has been chronically underfunded and used as a personal tool by successive generations of Parish Pump polititians including Seamus Brennan.
Not a single one of these creatures had the slightest notion of what a properly integrated and FULLY funded Bus Service could do for a capital city.
Yet...after a belated wake-up call and the allocation of catch-up funding in the now almost forgotten National Development Plan the CIE companies are now being pilloried for carrying out to the letter the requirements of the NDP`s Public Transport instructions.
You see while the NDP`s shifting of emphasis from endless Roadway expansion made perfect sense to most people,it flew straight in the face of narrow minded political dinosaurs such as S.Brennan.
This man appears to be unaware and worse still nobody from within is telling him,that his much vaunted Franchising Solution is essentially twenty years old and dubiously regarded in almost every other Country which HAS a functional Public Bus Service.
What is yet more Galling is the constant unrestricted access to the Print and Broadcast media enjoyed by Mr Brennan.
Every mad pronouncement is dutifully reported on and accepted without any attempt at investigation or analysis.
Bus Atha Cliath`s fleet of 1,200 is at very least 25% underutilized at peaks simply due to late running alone.
Allowing the Company to tackle the NON-Traffic related causes of this would be one way of securing SERIOUS improvement at Zero Cost.
Bus Stop Dwell times and Passenger through-flow improvments are only ONE way of securing these improvements.
But as posted elsewhere.....We first have to pay some friendly consultant to point out that beautiful wood over there in the middle of all those trees !
Mr Angry.Posted 4 years ago # -
Congestion charges, similar to those imposed in London could be the answer to Dublin's traffic problems. Perhaps a daily €10 charge could be imposed on cars carrying only one occupant. Cars carrying two people could be charged €5, while cars carrying a full load could be exempt. This would also help the sales of inflatable dummies.
[posted by: Mr Angry]Posted 4 years ago # -
This works well in London because London traffic policy is run by one authority. This is not the case in Dublin.
In principle I, personally, would back congestion charges however the local authorities in Dublin would not apply them in the same manner as London, and the "oirish answer" would be unworkable.
The reasons for this are as follows:
Dublin City Council (and transport czar Owen Keegan) are interested in collecting congestion charges, the idea being that motorists would use "park and ride" facilities outside the city, and then use luas/bus/rail to enter the city.
This is all wonderful, except for the fact that the parking facilities in question would be outside DCC's area and would fall into the jurisdiction of the other three local authorities in Dublin (Fingal, South Dublin and Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown).
While DCC collected the money the other local authorites would pick up the tab for the building, maintenance and security of the car parks. All of this while getting, if even, a small chunk of the congestion charge pie.
Since the local authorites in question are not even considered urban (last time I checked Dun Laoghaire Rathdown were not receiving any DoE money for the building of footpaths, for instance) they are unlikely to help DCC solve it's congestion issue.
Think I'm joking? Call one of the councils up and ask how much money they currently receive from DCC to fund carparks near DART or QBCs.
By the way, be careful who your bedfellows are when calling for these charges, there are politicians in Dublin chomping at the bit to turn our bus lanes into car pool lanes. A congestion charge is just a step away from "pay €10 per day and use the bus lane".
So all in all, congestion charges are good idea when applied properly (London), but with 4 local authorites, 2 government departments and various quangos (DTO etc...) involved, not the mention wee Seamus "Press Release" Brennan, I do not hold out much hope for a decent version of this emerging in Dublin.Posted 4 years ago # -
Too Bloody right Army.
Your point about Dun Laoire Rathdown is well made and can be underlined by the fact that Bus Atha Cliath`s Number 11 route has been "Offically" a Low-Floor Disabled access route for nearly 4 years now.
Yet the stretch of Route in Minister Brennan`s own constituency remains without ANY piece of the required Roadside Infrastructure such as Kassel Kerbing or Tactile panels.
Only Yesterday,in the Sunday Independent, Disabled Rights activists were calling for greater access to public transport.
Bus Atha Cliath got the inevitable mention,yet Minister Brennan once more emerges smirking with,it appears,No responsibility for Anything except carving 25% off BAC`s route network.
Why I Wonder are the compliant media not hounding This Senior Minister to enquire from him the reason for large stretches of Goatstown and Kilmacud Roads being without ANY footpaths let alone Modern Public Transport Compliant ones.
As I said in another post the Divil Is in The Detail and thus far Seamus Brennan has been allowed to fudge and misinform in relation to the eventual outcome of his Plans.
The Bottom Line remains...Not a Single EXTRA route or Bus is provided for anywhere in his grand scheme.
So until he is brought to task on this simple issue what hope have the disabled or for that matter the Park N Riders....Posted 4 years ago # -
Maybe, as an alternative to congestion charges, all cars carrying less than four passengers could be banned from the city's roads at peak times. Guaranteed to reduce traffic.
[posted by: Mr Angry]Posted 4 years ago # -
Calm down alek. Control your emotions.
[posted by: a2000]Posted 4 years ago # -
Nurse..!...The screens !!!Posted 4 years ago #
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Maybe, as an alternative to congestion charges, all cars carrying less than four passengers could be banned from the city's roads at peak times
Full car-pooling, eh? What an intelligent idea. Now we have to find people that have both intelligence and political power to implement such a policy. (Congestion is costing billions daily, too…so when will it reach the breaking-point already?)Posted 4 years ago # -
Alas and alak, what we all have missed here is that Paddy the Irishman has not evolved enough to be trusted to drive a car safely and correctly. Nor has Paddy the Irishman evolved enough yet to plan a traffic system in a modestly sized city.
I'm afraid we're stuck with what we have and while we have "planners" who insist on providing homes for people to live in as far away from the city centre as possible we're going to continue to have traffic chaos.
Look at the Navan Road at Blanchardstown any morning. Because many people live in County Meath and have to travel under their own steam (there's only an odd 70 every hour from Dunboyne), the Navan Road is backed up beyond Mulhuddart. As these motorists live outside the Dublin Bus catchment there's not a whole lot that can be done.
UNLESS, Park and Ride!!!!!!
And not with a car park in the docks either. What about Fairyhouse Racecourse? That has a bloody great big car park that's empty all week. There's a site for a "Park and Ride" --- AND nobody from that area would have to drive into the city centre to use it. How about that Séamus?? Do you reckon you could get some privateers , oops I meant private operators, to set up something there, or are you only interested in giving them the lucrative Dublin Bus routes??????????
The same kind of operation could set up at Punchestown, Leopardstown but then maybe they're not near enough to the city centre to make a complete mollicks of it!Posted 4 years ago # -
Speaking of planners and park and rides, the new car park facility at the Point Depot has hit a fresh snag.
For those of you that missed it, International Car Parks (ICP) opened a supposed "Park and Ride" facility on Monday, offering parking and a bus trip into town for €5.
Strangely this was located at Dublin Port, effectively inside Dublin City, so motorists would still have to travel through Dublin's gridlock to get to it (another great "oirish" solution).
They had no customers on Monday, a big fat zero. On Tuesday parking was offered for free, as it was being sponsered by News Talk 106FM. It is reported that a around 15 cars availed of this. If the commercial pressures weren't enough, ICP have hit a new barrier, and are being forced to close the "Park and Ride" from tomorrow (Thursday 15/01/2004).
It turns out that they never got planning permission from Dublin City Council (DCC) for the car park in the first place! DCC have threatened legal action, so the Dublin Port Company, owners of the land (it's only being leased to ICP), have told ICP to shut it down.
You'd think a company like ICP would realise you needed planning to build a car park, but I suppose they have gotten so used to plonking car parks all over Dublin that they must have assumed that this would be no different.
Perhaps somebody forgot to lodge the brown envelopes...Posted 4 years ago # -
Is this new car park anywhere near the planned “North Port Interchange” which is supposed to lead into the Port Tunnel? Maybe that is what these bright sparks had in mind, not to mention possible parking/riding on the Luas “Line C” whenever that gets built. (What genii, you can never underestimate ’em…but a little to early for this P/R lot, eh?)
Anyone know if there is any plan in effect to increase the bus service on routes 53 and 53A to serve this car park? because that €5 certainly will not cover the expense of providing a dedicated privately-operated bus into and out of town.
Anyhow…just what is the purpose of sending all of the automobiles down the port via this tunnel? I can understand sending the trucks down there, but what is down there for cars to want to drive through? Not to mention, will there be any express bus service operating through Dublin’s version of the “Big Dig” once open to traffic? What dizzying questions. (Also find it amazing that they could build a Port Tunnel for Dublin that goes virtually nowhere near where everyone wants to go, but can’t build a simple métro line. Flabbergasting, eh…?)Posted 4 years ago # -
I spent 7 years in sydney -91-98 and never once considered using a car to get to work in the city as the bus was so regular and cheap.
people bought a weekly ticket (and that includes plenty of expensive suits)-and then q'ed in line at the bus stop. something we should implement here-stop people browding onto full buses. Great site and will recommend it around.
[posted by: niall]Posted 4 years ago # -
Great points being made on this forum, and might I just say how delighted I am to have found this website! I was outraged the other day when I got on the bus and discovered the fares had risen. Again. Yet the bus service was still as ridiculously badly-run and disorganised as ever!
My folks live out in Malahide, on the Northside, and I live on the other side of the city in Harolds Cross. In order for me to pay them a visit, I need to take a bus into town which costs 1.30. Then I need to wait for the No. 42 bus, the ONLY bus serving Malahide, which will generally keep you waiting at least half an hour (no matter what the timetable says). This bus now costs a whopping 1.75. Double these figures for a return journey and you have the crazy figure of 6.10 euro for a jaunt across the city!! Unebelieveable.
I have today sat down and drafted letters to Dublin Bus, the Minister for Transport and the Irish Times. The only way we can hope for results is to tell the big boys what we want!! The more letters and complaints they receive, they more they will be forced into a corner. We will be waiting a long time for the implementation of a better public transport system in Dublin, but we need to start somewhere.
If anyone is interested in seeing the letters I have drafted, or wants to offer amendments and so forth, send me an email at giant_eye@hotmail.com.Posted 3 years ago # -
"the crazy figure of 6.10 euro for a jaunt across the city!!"
There is an easy solution to that particular problem. Go into your local friendly newsagent and purchase a ten-pack of Travel 90 tickets at the cost of ¤15.00. Travel 90 tickets are valid for 90 minutes travel, with the final journey starting within 90 minutes of boarding the first bus. This should get you from Harold's Cross to Malahide AND back, for the princely sum of only ¤3!!
[posted by: Mr Angry]Posted 3 years ago # -
FYI, here's the other "fares rising" thread that has a link to the current list of new fares.
Posted 3 years ago # -
WEll done Mr Angry and Al for taking the time and trouble to lead the righteous along the path to their own salvation.
All too often it`s simply much easier to whine and beat one`s breast at the sheer awfulness of it all completely ignoring the reality that exists merely around the corner.
People who wait at Bus Stops close to major intersections merely to burst forth with invictive to the Driver about their 30 min wait.....when 150 mtrs away lies a main road with several far more frequent services bootin along it....
It`s what makes us what we are I suppose...a nation of cute hoors who are SO cute as to be largely imbicilic....????
If ye don`t believe me just watch how our new Asian Gastarbeiter shun the Cash transaction and make FULL use of the pre-paid ticket from Day one In-Country....So sorry Joey (Australian ?)...Its time to get your thinkin cap on....and a value-pack of Travel 90`s....!!!!Posted 3 years ago #
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