Wouldn't it be great if DB had compition, like the big Blue AirCoaches. it seems like I see more of those coaches then Dublin Buses and the only run on one route!
BUSRAGE Discussions » Deregulation
Privatise the Buses
(7 posts)-
Posted 7 years ago #
-
One route is right. The Airport. No junkies to worry about. No social rejects kicking the windows out. No permanent marker touts. No degenerates ripping the interiors of a quarter of a million pounds worth of rolling stock up. Privatisation of plum routes is all Aircoach et al wants. Arseholes like you are what they pray for.
John
[posted by: John]Posted 7 years ago # -
Dublin bus have already tried to tender out routes they don't want to service. I was told by an official in Donnybrook garage that they tried to tender out the 75 route to an outside company but nobody would touch it.Posted 7 years ago #
-
There is only ONE solution to Dublin Bus and its merrygoround of ineptitude:
Regulated Competition.
When Dublin Bus start to lose franchises through the abysmal standard of some services, heads will roll in senior management.
This will mean proper prior planning (like actually forseeing the need for extra garage space!) and an unwillingness to roll over to the NBRU every couple of years (thus preventing investment in anything other than wage packets).Peter Bunting and his union pals are smart people - it is they who currently run Dublin Bus. But they run it as a workers' collective, not a public service.
Politicians may seem to be the last people who can solve our commuter problems but they can't be ignored. The vested interests in CIE management and unions don't ignore them and keep getting their way! When your local political hopefuls come calling soon, don't just bleat about transport, demand competition!
[posted by: Kevin Ryan]Posted 7 years ago # -
the proposed competition would mean one route would be serviced by one company exclusively.
this would result in the same thing: a monopoly
deregulation is what the bus service needs, but not by creating more monopolies. if you remove the competition element, then what's the point?
if you had COMPETITION, i.e. three or four different companies servicing the stillorgan road, you would have a choice.
so if one company decides to go on strike, or their buses are late, or crap, or whatever, then you just use another company.
it's simple...
but so many lefties here seem to think competition/deregulation is bad??? what are u, NBRU? i thought as much...
t-boy :-P
: There is only ONE solution to Dublin Bus and its merrygoround of ineptitude:: Regulated Competition.
: When Dublin Bus start to lose franchises through the abysmal standard of some services, heads will roll in senior management.
: This will mean proper prior planning (like actually forseeing the need for extra garage space!) and an unwillingness to roll over to the NBRU every couple of years (thus preventing investment in anything other than wage packets).: Peter Bunting and his union pals are smart people - it is they who currently run Dublin Bus. But they run it as a workers' collective, not a public service.
: Politicians may seem to be the last people who can solve our commuter problems but they can't be ignored. The vested interests in CIE management and unions don't ignore them and keep getting their way! When your local political hopefuls come calling soon, don't just bleat about transport, demand competition!
[posted by: t-boy]Posted 7 years ago # -
No, I'm not in the NBRU (or even Dublin Bus), but t-boy got one thing right: regulated competition would mean one route serviced by one company exclusively.
Think about it, having different companies on the same route would not affect consumer preference: whichever company came along first would simply pick up everyone at that stop. It's not like people are going to wait (how long?) for their favourite company to show up. Loyalty only stretches so far... In addition, the competitors would never agree on investment in shelters, publicity, lobbying for bus lanes, etc.
However, with franchises awarded to different companies for different routes (most likely bundled from a common garage and including less attractive routes), competition would be encouraged by the renewal of licenses. If a company didn't maintain a decent service and invest in shelters, etc. then it could lose its franchise when license-renewal time rolled round.
I've seen this work in London both with bus and rail services. And before anyone bitches about Railtrack and Connex, they still care far more for their customers than Iarnrod Eireann.
Best of all, this wouldn't require the politically difficult privatisation of Dublin Bus. That said, if it didn't pull up its socks and compete, Dublin Bus would die a slow death as a company - to be replaced by efficient, passenger-focused competitors.
: the proposed competition would mean one route would be serviced by one company exclusively.
: this would result in the same thing: a monopoly
: deregulation is what the bus service needs, but not by creating more monopolies. if you remove the competition element, then what's the point?
: if you had COMPETITION, i.e. three or four different companies servicing the stillorgan road, you would have a choice.
: so if one company decides to go on strike, or their buses are late, or crap, or whatever, then you just use another company.
: it's simple...
: but so many lefties here seem to think competition/deregulation is bad??? what are u, NBRU? i thought as much...
: t-boy :-P
:
: : There is only ONE solution to Dublin Bus and its merrygoround of ineptitude:: : Regulated Competition.
: : When Dublin Bus start to lose franchises through the abysmal standard of some services, heads will roll in senior management.
: : This will mean proper prior planning (like actually forseeing the need for extra garage space!) and an unwillingness to roll over to the NBRU every couple of years (thus preventing investment in anything other than wage packets).: : Peter Bunting and his union pals are smart people - it is they who currently run Dublin Bus. But they run it as a workers' collective, not a public service.
: : Politicians may seem to be the last people who can solve our commuter problems but they can't be ignored. The vested interests in CIE management and unions don't ignore them and keep getting their way! When your local political hopefuls come calling soon, don't just bleat about transport, demand competition!
[posted by: Kevin Ryan]Posted 7 years ago # -
There are a lot of questions to be raised when it comes to farming out the routes, though (or even having competitors run buses on a DB route), not the least of which is fare structure. A private company, depending on the level of subsidy they receive, may charge lower fares than DB (or even higher); they also may refuse to accept monthly, annual or senior citizens' passes, depending on what their management decides. Next will be condition of buses; the cleaner ones, I would imagine, would be the more popular. (I've seen private operators on certain routes refuse to display the route number; that gets confusing.) Then, of course, there's the question of actual regulation, because if you deregulate completely, you'll have maverick operators running unscheduled trips; depending on the number of operators on one route, this could lead to lengthy court battles over rights to a route. Then, the unions will step in; they'll lambast private operators who don't pay benefits, who don't give overtime, who aren't unionised themselves, etc. (and you will see these union representatives going to the drivers and mechanics of the private companies, to be sure). Of course, you may end up seeing non-standard equipment from a private operator (imagine the 66 being operated by Barton Coach; you could end up riding on a school bus to work or to town shopping). If such a movement gets off the ground, of course, expect it to expand to Bus Éireann also, since they operate city services in other major cities around Ireland like Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Galway and even Drogheda, and also on the provincial routes.
BTW...any way I can get a 65 to Donard ever again...? ;-)
Posted 7 years ago #
Reply
You must log in to post.