Why is it that every other civilised country in the EU can arrange a timetable for their bus and tram systems to show the ARRIVAL time at a particular bus/tram stop. But in Dublin they insist on ONLY showing the DEPARTURE time of the bus.
Surely to God it can't be that difficult to organise timetables for individual stops? I mean, the Dutch, French, Germans, Swedes and Finns (to name but a few) are ALL able to do it? Come on Bus Eireann, get with the program!
BUSRAGE Discussions » Timetables and Routes
Arrival times at bus stop
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Posted 4 years ago #
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Well, I guess you might just as well have to use your brain to calculate the estimated arrival time then? ;-) Being a German citizen I can tell you that we have timetabels that tell you the exact minute a bus is supposed to arrive at the station. This madness ends in busdrivers waiting at stations until the given time, even if they are not busy and everyone on the bus misses the train because the next stop e. g. IS busy. I think one could expect customors to arrive at a bus stop a couple of minutes before the bus arrives, in case it might be early. Let's find a European version for all of us half-way between the Irish and the German version.
[posted by: the torch]Posted 4 years ago # -
Hear hear Torch.
I am heartily fed up with hearing this nonsensical slur on Germanic principles being constantly trotted out.
The time-at-stop principle is fine as long as the bus service has guaranteed access to its road space.
In Dublin this simply does not and will not happen.
There is even a discussion thread on Uk.transport which sees people complaining about Busdrivers "Crawling" along at certain times in order to adhere to the required time limits of their "Franchised" contract.
As you rightly point out this practice annoys the hell out of those passengers who HAVE used their brains and did a little pre-planning of their journey.
Lets get back to basics before we attempt to fine tune a system which as yet does not exist.Posted 4 years ago # -
Even in the early 1970s when DCS tried to give an indication on the bus timetables as to length of journey, they were not the most accurate. Each timetable had a little line in italics stating "Time taken..45 mins" (in the case of the 66 from Maynooth). Took at least an hour during the day for buses to go from Leixlip into town.
[posted by: Luaswatcher]Posted 4 years ago # -
I seem to recall that during the 1970s, the “time taken” estimate on the route 66 timetable read “55 minutes”. That was back in the days when the children’s fare was a mere 10p, too.
Posted 4 years ago # -
But why do drivers not realise that the time on the terminus stop in town is the DEPARTURE time of the bus and not the time for it to pull in and start loading up thus running 10 minutes late from stop 1?
[posted by: A2000]Posted 4 years ago # -
A2000 you are absolutely correct. Why can't buses stand at the stop as soon as it's vacant, and start loading passengers as they arrive at the stop.
Why on earth must there be 60 people milling at a terminus BEFORE the bus is allowed to scrape up by them, hoping that nobody slips into its way???????????????Posted 4 years ago # -
RS you seem to think the buses are run for the benefit of passengers ????
[posted by: MPU]Posted 4 years ago # -
It seems difficult to actually time a route. Here in London i worked a N44 to Sutton last weekend, there is so much time allowed between Aldwych & Wandsworth that in order to maintain the scheduled timing points i had to stop at every stop (regardless of anyone boarding or alighting) and drive at not more than 25mph, after Wandsworth it's pedel to the metal. At the other end of the scale our N11's (Liverpool St - Wembley) are so tightly timed that i have never reached Wembley on time, the average late arrival is around 10 mins but some slower drivers can reach Wembley anything up to 40 mins late!!!, and we are talking about the early hours of the morning with no traffic about. I once drove the route at the legal speed limit end to end and arrived in Wembley 35 minutes late!!!.Posted 4 years ago #
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As a driver passes a stop s/he presses a button on the ticket machine. I presume this is so the next printed tickets display the correct destination for the fare paid.
I had hoped that the time of each stop was recorded and then DB could print the normal/earliest time a bus arrives at each stop.
Is this too obvious?Posted 4 years ago # -
Damien: Id say its very hard to do this because you know what the traffic situation is like in town, u really cant plan for a bus to be at every stage at this exact time like a train
If there are any bus drivers out there could you please tell me weather you try and depart from the terminus at the time that it says on the time table r whether you just depart whenever you like. Just curious because the 39 (or should i say dirty nine!!!) NEVER departs from the time specified on the timetable. I live near the terminus in clonsilla and they just seam to come and go with no structure at all
[posted by: Bar]Posted 4 years ago # -
Bar, I've always wondered about the 39 timetable, and the 39B timetable recently.
I reckon the bus drivers won't hang around at that lonely terminus spot for fear of attack. And who can blame them. You'll probably never find a bus on its own at that terminus.
Perhaps Seamus the Minister could sort something out there. He seems to be able to do nothing else.Posted 4 years ago # -
You know on every bus stop in Czech and Slovakia has a timetable of local bus arrival, and guess what> It arrives on time!!!
Dublin bus should send someone over there to learn what service is.
[posted by: Mark]Posted 4 years ago # -
I am not an apologist for my employers, but DB could spend millions on sending "suits" on junkets to the Czech Republic and it wouldn't make a jot of a difference to arrival times. People seem to think that bus drivers in this city deliberately arrive late. We don't! Unfortunately, buses get stuck in traffic. When are people going to get that simple fact into their thick skulls and stop hassling drivers (who have spent half the day miserably stuck in traffic) when their bus arrives late. At the moment, in Dublin it is totally impossible to run any kind of punctual bus service.
I do agree about the ridiculousness of drivers waiting until departure time before beginning to load up at termini. I always try to get the hell out of town as quickly as I can, when possible.
[posted by: Mr Angry]Posted 4 years ago # -
Mr Angry, stop near aston quay and you will find 6-8 drivers takling to th inspector outside the corner shop and buses only start loading at the time the should depart.
Also due to sccafold outside old virgin store the fooothpath is even narrower thatb the faithfull on in wellington key. A lesson learned or what
[posted by: A2000]Posted 4 years ago # -
Mr Angry you missed the point slightly/.
How come in Prague, Bratislava even Budapest with all its traffic faults that public transport runs on time and arrival times do exist on bus stops and accurate to 3mins.
Dublin is not that exceptional with its 1960s infrastructure and lack of planning for 40 yrs.
They got it right here with a lot less money to go round.
Send a driver over from each Garage to see it work here not sone conceited old fook in a suit..ie manager..
[posted by: Mark]Posted 4 years ago #
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